The Age: Worrying financial signs for the road ahead. October 1, 2014. Josh Gordon State political editor for The Age.

Denis Napthine is surely gilding the lily when he claims the cost to Victorian taxpayers to build the first part of the East West Link is “only” $2 billion.

You can quibble about the words “Victorian taxpayers”, but the actual cost to the public of the 5.5 kilometre road link will be much greater.

The total direct bill for the road, as the government revealed on Tuesday, will be about $6.8 billion. That includes the $2 billion hit to the state budget’s bottom line during the construction phase referred to by Napthine. Continue Reading…