Book 8 - Parliament of Victoria

ADJOURNMENT
1588 COUNCIL Tuesday, 31 May 2011
ADJOURNMENT
Hon. D. M. DAVIS (Minister for Health) — I
move:
That the house do now adjourn.
Rail: North Shore station
Ms TIERNEY (Western Victoria) — If Mrs Coote
is listening in her room, I can inform her that I am far
from wilting. I am standing here and ready to talk about
the North Shore train station in Geelong. It is an
adjournment matter for the Minister for Public
Transport, Terry Mulder.
The North Shore station is one of three Victorian
stations the previous Labor government chose to
redevelop into a community hub. A task force was set
up to do this which included representatives from the
Department of Transport and the City of Greater
Geelong as well as local residents. Plans had been
drawn up for buildings and landscaping, and the
Department of Transport set aside $1.5 million for these
works. The project is particularly important as the
North Shore station is the only stop in Geelong for the
Overland train travelling from Adelaide to Melbourne
via Stawell three times per week, due to the standard
gauge line.
On 11 May I joined the meet-and-greet volunteer group
which meets passengers getting off the Overland train
at North Shore. It was a freezing cold late afternoon in
Geelong. These volunteers give up their time to greet
the passengers three afternoons a week to ensure that
they are welcomed to Geelong and informed about how
to get to the centre of Geelong. Members in the
chamber might think it is a little bit lavish for visitors to
be met and greeted as they arrive in Geelong off the
Overland, but it is more a necessity than a luxury due to
the facilities, or lack thereof, at the North Shore station.
At present the station has no phone, no rubbish bin, no
toilet, no signage about how to travel into the Geelong
city centre and a very small, inadequate shelter.
When I met with the meet-and-greet group I saw
firsthand the problems arising from the lack of
facilities. On the night I was there a couple from the
central coast of New South Wales who had never
visited Geelong before got off the Overland from
Stawell assuming that they would be at Geelong’s main
train station. They had no idea where they were in
Geelong. North Shore station is 7 kilometres from the
city centre in the middle of a residential area. It is far
from the first impression we want our visitors to have
of our region.
The rejuvenation project initiated by the previous Labor
government was designed to solve this issue, but it
seems that with the change of government the money
for this project has disappeared. The coordinator of the
meet-and-greet group, Dr Coralie Jenkin, who is also a
member of the task force committee, was told by a
Department of Transport representative that there is no
money in the budget, and the most recent explanation
from the department was that it would be difficult to
find out about the plans for the station until the staff at
the Department of Transport had returned from the
Easter break. Of course that was some time ago.
Dr Jenkin and the task force committee have been
meeting on this issue for three years, and now they have
found out it has all been for nothing. I ask the Minister
for Public Transport to inform me and the people of
Geelong of where this $1.5 million is and when it will
be made available for this important project.
Point Cook: traffic management
Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) — I wish to raise
a matter this evening for the attention of the Minister
for Public Transport, the Honourable Terry Mulder. It
concerns the area of Point Cook in my electorate. I can
assure those who might not be familiar with Point Cook
that it is a delightful place that has gone ahead in leaps
and bounds in recent years. It would be safe to say that
most of it did not actually exist five years ago, but it is
certainly now a thriving metropolis with a thriving
commercial hub in its town centre.
Along with that has come very strong population
growth and a huge number of families who have moved
into the area over the last few years. As such it is a great
place to live. Next door is Sanctuary Lakes, and I am
sure even Mr Barber would be aware of Sanctuary
Lakes with its golf course and its lakes, named after the
suburb itself. It, too, is a great place to set up stumps.
Mr Jennings — It’s a duck-hunting site!
Mr FINN — You might like to come down,
Mr Jennings, at some time. Come over to the western
suburbs and have a look! You would be very
welcome — or perhaps not.
I ask the minister to take that into consideration as I
request him to prepare a traffic management plan for
the Point Cook area.
Mr Barber interjected.
Mr FINN — Buses are traffic too, Mr Barber. We
have a major traffic problem. Point Cook Road is not a
lot better than a goat track, particularly at the moment,
after a good deal of rain. We have thousands upon