Keep Emailing your local politicians...

Victoria’s taxpayers would be rightly appalled at the millions of dollars spent by the State Government on a top-tier law firm in pig-headed resistance to a faster to build and cheaper route for the Western Highway near Ararat.

And they might well be as upset by misleading information repeated here on Tuesday by Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan ("Lives depend on Western Highway fix", 10/9)  that the fiercely disputed stretch of road is so unsafe that there were 11 deaths there in six years. Major Road Projects Victoria cited road deaths for the whole stretch of 124 km between Ballarat and Ararat as if they happened on the 11.9km section near the sacred site. In fact, there have been no fatalities on this 11.9 km stretch in the past five years. The Minister also ignores the fact that the alternative route is safer to build, according to a former VicRoads engineering advisor.
Sworn statements lodged in the Federal and Supreme Courts  show that the “full and independent environmental effects statement” prepared for the project is a sham. It skipped the competitive tender for key consultants, had surveys that overlooked endangered species, rare grasslands and Aboriginal heritage, and put three non-environmentalists on the route selection panel.
On top of these irregularities, the Minister also ignores recent ABC revelations that documents point to a key Aboriginal authority benefitting from its sign-off on this project, while the head of the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council is seeking an audit of the approvals process. In a 6 month period to April 2019 there has been an unexplained  66% blow out in 2018 contract, according to affidavit evidence in the Supreme Court case.
The deeply flawed process was also laid bare in a letter to The Age last week by a former senior manager at VicRoads, Rob Evans. He said pressure from Ministers and the Premier force senior bureaucrats to come up with the cheapest,  quickest option, often overriding community consultations and social and environmental concerns. This sums up this debacle, with the exception that here the more expensive route has been chosen. This exception could explain the suspicious level of government resistance to a better route, as may eventually be established by IBAC or the Auditor general.

If, as Minister Allen claims, the feedback from traditional owners has been listened to, why are more than 200 people from many backgrounds still camped out to stop the destruction of indigenous culture? The police realise they can’t all be arrested. Jacinta Allen's line that people’s lives depend on this work could scarcely be more sad and misleading. Safety can be achieved on other routes and is not under debate here.