Government should release Box Hill Transport Interchange report

The report by a ministerial advisory group was handed to the Minister for Public Transport earlier this year, but the government has not released the report and has refused to respond to media inquiries about it.

Establishing a ministerial advisory group on the interchange was hastily announced by the then Labor opposition in August 2014 after it heard that the coalition government was holding talks on upgrading the interchange with the owner and operator of the Box Hill Central Shopping Centre and other stakeholders.

In its media release announcing this promise, the Labor Party told voters the advisory group would “produce a clear direction for the future of the Box Hill Interchange” and that “only Labor will find a solution for the Box Hill Interchange”.

However, the advisory group was not established until June 2015, and it did not actually meet until October 2015. Since then the group has met in secret and has not sought submissions from the community.

It was required to report by October last year but failed to do so, and not a single dollar was allocated in the state budget towards improving the interchange.

This is yet another example of the Labor government’s disdain for residents of Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. Labor talked big about its support for improving the interchange prior to becoming government; it is now time for it to start delivering.

For the Whitehorse Leader’s report on the government’s refusal to release the advisory group’s report, see  Victorian Government refusing to release findings of Box Hill public transport interchange report.  For my call in Parliament for the report to be released, see Question re release of Box Hill Transport Interchange report.