Mr PALLAS (Treasurer) (11:29:11) — I rise to update the house about the work that is going on delivering the infrastructure that Victoria needs and to supplement the advice from the ministers who have already addressed this place. As we know, of course major infrastructure works come with disruption. They come with road closures, replacement buses and delays. This is the price of getting things done, and people are pretty understanding of the necessity for it. The alternative of course is to watch Melbourne’s population and commute times grow and do nothing about it.

Unfortunately, having experienced four years of that under the snoozers opposite, Victorians know what that feels like. For four years Victoria’s population kept growing, and for four years they did nothing. If it is a choice between the frustrations of disruption and the death of Victoria’s livability under those opposite, we choose progress. This government is doing what those opposite could not do — build infrastructure. Our investment in infrastructure at the moment is $10.2 billion a year over the next four years. That is double the 10‑year average.

You have to ask whether those opposite are entirely happy with their leadership. Mr Davis in the other place is out of control and out of friends, while the Leader of the Opposition continues to indulge his four‑year tantrum. For your information there are some free character assessments available in today’s Herald Sun on page 10 from the business community explaining to those opposite, who have turned their backs on the legacy of the Liberal Party — whether it is those members opposite or the federal government — that they are short‑changing Victorians, Victorian motorists and the Victorian economy.