West Gate Tunnel construction suspended after being blocked in Parliament

The multi-billion-dollar West Gate Tunnel project has been blocked by Victorian Parliament’s Upper House, after the Opposition united with the Greens to revoke planning approval.
Labour has described the move as an “unprecedented act of economic vandalism”, which has suspended work on the project, throwing 800 Victorian jobs into limbo.
As a result of the move, major construction work has been suspended at both the Northern Portal Site – where work is underway ahead of Tunnel Boring Machines being launched – and on the West Gate Freeway, which will be widened to 12 lanes.
The $6.7 billion project would see twin tunnels built under Yarraville between the West Gate Freeway and the Maribyrnong River to ease congestion in Melbourne’s west.
It is set to be funded by a controversial deal that will see toll road operator Transurban contribute $4 billion to the project, in exchange for extending tolls on CityLink — on the other side of the city — for another decade.
The Coalition and the Greens today voted 22 to 18 to block planning changes needed for the project.
Ahead of the vote, Premier Daniel Andrews said it would not stop the tunnel being built.
“There’s 700 people working on this project right now,” he said.
“We have alternative pathways. This project is getting built because it needs to be built.”
Neither the Premier or Roads Minister Luke Donnellan would say what those “pathways” would be.
In a statement released this afternoon, the Andrews Labor Government have said they will give certainty to the 800 families thrown into limbo by the Liberal-Green decision, reissuing planning approval for this vital project by tomorrow allowing work to recommence.
Transurban has announced that activities that do not require the Planning Scheme Amendment (PSA) GC65 for the West Gate Tunnel Project will continue.