I rise to inform the house about the Andrews Labor government’s action aimed at unlocking the value in our public assets to remove 50 of Melbourne’s most dangerous and congested level crossings. In November 2013 the Victorian Labor Party released Project 10 000. It outlined our plan to develop a 21st century transport network, reduce congestion and create thousands of jobs — in fact 10 000 jobs.

Later today I will introduce into the Parliament the Delivering Victorian Infrastructure Port of Melbourne Lease Transaction Bill 2015. It will guarantee that the proceeds from leasing one part of our transport network will be invested in ensuring a continuing expansion and improvement of that network. It will build a foundation for sustained growth into the future. It will also be another demonstration that the Andrews Labor government keeps its word. But I am happy to say that this policy enjoys bipartisan support, and we look forward to working with the opposition to deliver these results for Victorians.

Work on the level crossing removal program began on day one of the Andrews government. The Level Crossing Removal Authority has been established to oversee scoping, design and delivery of the removal of all 50 level crossings identified in Project 10 000.

The first 17 level crossings have been identified; 4 are already out to market. We have commenced market sounding on an additional 4, and 9 level crossings from Dandenong all the way to the CBD will be removed as part of the Cranbourne-Pakenham corridor upgrade. The delivering Victorian infrastructure bill will be another big piece of the picture that will be put in place.