VICTORIA ELECTION
Vote for Victorian Labor and you can kiss goodbye to $3bn, says Tony Abbott
John Ferguson
THE AUSTRALIANNOVEMBER 26, 2014 12:00AM240 COMMENTS
Daniel Andrews with his wife Katherine at St Vincents Hospital. Picture: Jay Town
TONY Abbott has killed off any chance of Victoria receiving the $3 billion in federal funding committed to the nation’s biggest urban road and tunnel project if Labor is elected to power at the weekend.
The Prime Minister has warned Labor in writing that if it dumps the project it will miss out on the funds, opening the way for other states and territories to share in a multi-billion-dollar windfall.
Labor leader Daniel Andrews has campaigned on opposing the $7bn first stage of the East West Link road and tunnel project, claiming he can convince Mr Abbott to allocate the funds elsewhere.
But in an election-eve open letter obtained by The Australian, Mr Abbott has warned political leaders in Victoria that the $3bn will only be delivered if the road goes ahead.
This means that if Labor is elected it will have to return $1.5bn already advanced and it will have to extract $1.5bn from the budget forward estimates,’’ Mr Abbott writes.
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“I want to make it absolutely clear to the people of Victoria that the $3bn the commonwealth government has committed to this project is for one purpose and one purpose only — and that is to build East West Link.
“Let me repeat: the $3bn the commonwealth government has committed for the East West Link is only available to build the East West Link.”
Mr Abbott’s comments came as former prime minister John Howard warned of the dire consequences of Labor tearing up the road building contracts — and claimed Mr Andrews was too close to “radical” unions to be elected.
“I don’t want Victoria to fall into the hands of somebody who’s bound hand and foot to the radical CFMEU,” Mr Howard said.
“He (Mr Andrews) shows no sign of distancing himself from the CFMEU.
“He shows a marked reluctance to disown unacceptable behaviour and that is a big difference between a Labor man supporting the unions, which is par for the course.’’
The Napthine government revealed earlier this year that walking away from the road contracts would cost more than $1bn in fees.
Mr Howard told The Australian that the contracts policy by Labor was “reckless”.
“I think it is pretty scary that (Labor) is promising to rip up contracts. It’s not unusual, it’s reckless. It infects the investment climate.’’
Mr Abbott’s intervention in the East West Link debate amounts to the final say on the project from the commonwealth’s perspective.
It means that, if Labor is elected to office, its first budget is likely to be extremely compromised by a shortfall in funds.
Mr Abbott’s written warning to Mr Andrews and Victorian Premier Denis Napthine is also a clear instruction to other states as they face elections about the commonwealth’s intentions on federal funding.
The open letter comes as both sides of politics concede that a tight election result is the most likely outcome.
Dr Napthine yesterday campaigned in the Liberal seat of Burwood in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs, which has a margin of 6.4 per cent, suggesting some potentially big swings are looming in some seats.
The four sandbelt seats in Melbourne’s southeast still appear to hold the key to the election, with the Coalition needing to hold on to at least three of the seats to remain in power.
A spokesman for Mr Andrews said Labor would ignore Mr Howard’s warnings.
“Victorians are sick of tired old negatives,” he said. “Labor will not be taking any lectures from the architect of Work Choices. Labor continues to wish him well in his retirement.’’
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