Victorian government to fund Western Distributor without Federal funding

The Andrews government announced it will build the Western Distributor without federal funding.

The Federal Government wouldn’t stump up any money for the project, preferring to extend the Monash Freeway.

Roads Minister Luke Donnellan told Nick McCallum the offer of a loan from the Federal Government wasn’t good enough.

‘We don’t want to muck around anymore. This infrastructure is required,’ Mr Donnellan said.

‘The major pressure point is dealing with the growth in the west.’

Despite this impasse, Mr Donnellan said he is ‘very keen’ to work with the Federal Government moving forward.

Click play to hear Mr Donnellan’s interview

But Federal Infrastructure Minister Darren Chester said Victoria simply didn’t put forward a business case.

‘The Victorian government has decided to go it alone with Transurban, rather than send us the full business case,’ Mr Chester said.

Mr Chester also said he’s ‘very keen’ to work with his counterparts.

‘I’ve been very keen to find ways to get that $1.5bn working for Victorians rather than sitting in a bank account while politicians argue about it.’

Click play to hear Mr Chester’s interview