Getting creative with the facts I see.
The Napthine government sabotaged the project out of spite. They should be held accountable for the financial loss.
And guess who did the deal for them ?
" More details have emerged about the questionable dealings over Victoria’s East-West Link toll road, with The AFR revealing today that former Liberal Party Treasurer, Michael O’Brien, signed a side letter specifying that the Victorian Government would pay compensation to the consortium partners (East West Connect), even if a court declared the project contract illegal, invalid or unenforceable:“EWC will be exposed to significant pecuniary loss and damage,” the letter states. “The resources devoted to this bid have meant that not only have the global consortium members expended considerable time and money in their retrospective endeavours, but that there is also a significant opportunity cost to each of them given the many infrastructure-related opportunities around the world.”New Labor Treasurer, Tim Pallas, responded by labeling the side letter an “act of treachery” and a “fraud” against Victorian taxpayers, and denies the consortium should be entitled to be compensated for its opportunity costs: "
https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2015/02/libs-east-west-link-treachery/
disallowed/business/the-true-issue-is-how-napthine-has-kept-buried-all-details-of-the-east-west-link-20140911-10f9bp.html
" The Victorian Government has signed a multi-billion-dollar contract to build the first stage of the East West Link tollway in a move described by the Opposition as an act of "arrogance and desperation" ahead of an election.
Just hours after a bid to delay the project was thrown out of court, the consortium East West Connect also signed the agreement for the $5.3 billion project connecting the Eastern Freeway to Citylink. "
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-09-29/east-west-contracts-given-green-light-by-high-court/5776826?nw=0
That was just 4 weeks before the election and well after Labor had campaigned not to build the road.
" Greens leader Greg Barber called on the Government to release the details of the contracts."The full contents of the contracts must be made public immediately, right now, today, so the voters can see what the Libs have gotten us into," Mr Barber said. "
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-12-15/east-west-link-victorian-goverment-business-case/5966938
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/east-west-link-business-case-revealed-56-years-to-pay-off-20141215-127dyq.html
" Despite these frightening cost estimates, however, the state has kept its base case for the East West Link shrouded in secrecy. There has been no information on how the project is to be funded.
Given the dearth of detail in the public domain – and court challenges to the project – yesterday’s back-flip by Labor should be regarded as a sensible move. It would have been better if they had had a consistent policy all along; better still if they had insisted on transparency from the start. "
https://www.michaelwest.com.au/the-true-issue-is-how-napthine-has-kept-buried-all-details-of-the-east-west-link/
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/denis-napthine-has-bad-poll-news-eastwest-link-not-popular-20140301-33szm.html
“The only irresponsible person here is Denis Napthine signing a sham contract before an election and throwing away $8bn that should be spent on the things we need,” he said. “East West will go to the November election whether Denis Napthine likes it or not. The Victorian people will decide the future of this project.”
Dr Napthine moved swiftly to sign the contracts late yesterday after High Court judge Susan Crennan refused to impose a temporary injunction sought by Brunswick resident and serial protester Anthony Murphy. "
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/denis-napthine-rushes-to-sign-link-contract-after-injunction-bid-fails/news-story/a5a659644c72787dabe1ea522e9d5106
