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The Making and Unmaking of East-West Link
Melbourne University Publishing: The Making and Unmaking of East-West Link: James C Murphy The definitive account of a hotly debated political project in Melbourne Melbourne’s aborted East-West Link – the…
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The Law of Large Numbers – How much does it cost to stop a freeway?
Honest figures about cancelling East West Link, with an attempt to include everyone else’s time and expenses. Inside Story: The Law of Large Numbers by James Murphy (2 July 2018)…
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Melbourne is in the middle of a transport planning nightmare
From Sustainable Cities: Melbourne is in the middle of a transport planning nightmare. Our elected officials are committing to megaroad projects that won’t ease congestion. Instead we’re left with transport,…
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Zombie Project hidden in North East Link Option A?
So you’ve heard about the proposed North East Link, but do you know about the options? Option A , one of the proposed options looks alarming for Collingwood, Fitzroy, Carlton…
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Murphy v East West Link Supreme Court Challenge website now archived on YCAT
We have archived the entire Murphy v East West Link Supreme Court Challenge website from 2014- 2015 on YCAT for future reference and have included a new Media Coverage section. Note:…
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The risk of unsolicted proposals
Will the Victorian government read the VAGO report, take a breath and reassess that unsolicted Transurban bid for Western Distributor? Read the VAGO Report: Applying the High Value High Risk…
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You Stopped the East West Toll Road
Saturday May 9, 2015: You Stopped the East West Toll Road, opening speech by Adam Bandt. Celebratory drinks at The Fox Hotel, Collingwood for everyone who worked so hard to…
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East West Link “Letter of Guarantee” demands investigation
YCAT Editorial Here is a copy of the East West Link “side letter” to the consortium, signed by the Napthine Government that blackmails Victorian taxpayers. The timing of this document…
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The Battle for Alexandra Parade
The proposed East West road tunnel is not the first time the inner northern communities of Melbourne have faced the onslaught of massive road developments. In 1970s and 1990s, the…
The Making and Unmaking of East-West Link
Melbourne University Publishing: The Making and Unmaking of East-West Link: James C Murphy
The definitive account of a hotly debated political project in Melbourne
Melbourne’s aborted East-West Link – the massive, multi-billion-dollar inner-city toll road project that promised to knit Melbourne closer together-was divisive from the start.
Intense picketing and protests, multiple court challenges, breathless media coverage and bitter politicking consumed the Victorian parliament for years.
The link brought the downfall of the single-term Baillieu-Napthine Liberal government; its cancellation cost the state half a billion dollars, and it lives on in infamy – a byword for brinkmanship, waste and politicisation of infrastructure.
But where did this notorious megaproject come from, and what explains its fate? Was it a project hand-picked by state premiers who miscalculated its electoral value? Was it foisted on the government by cunning roads bureaucrats, unprepared for the public backlash?
Or was it simply that opponents of the project succeeded by turning it into an election issue? James C Murphy explores the saga from competing vantage points, detailing the layers of politics that saturate infrastructure policymaking in Australia.
James C Murphy lectures in politics and public policy at the University of Melbourne. His writing on Australian politics and history has appeared in The Canberra Times, The Conversation, and regularly in Inside Story.
