Pollies and the peak-hour

By BEN CAMERON

CARDINIA Shire Mayor Graeme Moore has stirred up several senior government figures, after accusing them of snubbing the Living in the Outer Suburbs Challenge.
The challenge, which offered a first-hand experience of the daily commute challenges faced by some Cardinia Shire residents, was put to a list of senior figures including the Premier of Victoria, the Deputy Premier and the Minister for Transport.
Cr Moore said the challenge offered a chance to walk in the shoes of local residents by experiencing poor access to transport, road congestion and a lack of community infrastructure, first-hand.
“There was no specific link with the area but it’s disappointing,” he said.
“If it’s good enough for the people who live out here, it should be good enough for the very policy makers that have influenced underfunding of critical transport services and road infrastructure.
“I am sure all these government figures live within a few hundred metres of the closest latte or healthcare service, but in the outer suburbs it’s not like that.
“There is a shortage of community infrastructure and services that forces residents to spend hours commuting every day.”
However a spokesperson for the Deputy Premier Peter Ryan, a Sale resident, said he completed the peak-hour journey from Pakenham to the city “many times a week”.
“Mr Ryan appreciates the challenges of living outside of metropolitan Melbourne,” a government spokesperson said.
“Mr Ryan lives 213 kilometres from the Melbourne CBD and so completes the peak-hour journey from Pakenham to the city – and further – many times a week.
“As well as driving from Sale to Melbourne, he also drives around his vast electorate.
“Mr Ryan is a fierce advocate for all those who live outside metropolitan Melbourne.”
A spokesperson for the Premier said “as a representative of the South West Coast electorate and a Resident of Port Fairy, which is a four-hour drive from the CBD” the State Government had spent $66 million on the Kooweerup Bypass, $12.6m on the Cardinia Road duplication in Officer and was committed to the Cranbourne-Pakenham Rail upgrade.