Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
outer limits, new suburbs appear, often before transport infrastructure and other essential
services are in place. And with inner Melbourne already out of reach for low-income
home buyers and renters, these questions grow in importance with every passing year.
In the heart of the city, it's no less complicated. A decade ago, the shift to higher-dens-
ity living saw the rise of the Docklands precinct and inner-city apartment complexes. Suc-
cess, however, has been partial at best. A lack of after-hours life and a failure to develop
the necessary services for those who remain in the centre after the sun sets continue to
plague area development.
Connecting the two extremes of Melbourne's human geography could be one of its
most controversial projects in a generation. The Liberal-National Party coalition of
Premier Denis Napthine is pushing ahead with construction of the East West Link, an
18km-long, mostly underground freeway that will connect Melbourne's eastern suburbs
with the west. With the loss of parkland in Royal Park, projected increases in traffic else-
where and with no concomitant rise in public transport spending, many wonder whether
the project (the first stage of which is due to be completed by 2019) will create more prob-
lems than it solves.
City-Rural Divide?
Country Victoria is so much more than a venue for a food lover's passions or a tree-
changer's escape. It's also a pillar of the state's economy and the place where many of the
state's most pressing environmental issues are being confronted.
The brown-coal power plants of Gippsland's Latrobe Valley may be a blight on the en-
vironment - the Hazelwood Power Station is the most polluting in the country - but they
also supply 85% of the state's electricity. Victoria is Australia's most deforested state,
with the highest number of threatened species. There's also an ongoing debate over
whether grazing or logging should be allowed in national parks: the conservative govern-
ment is generally in favour, predominantly city-based environmentalists less so. And then
there are the water shortages in the state's north and wider Murray-Darling River Basin.
In country Victoria, these issues are very often seen primarily in terms of farmers'
rights and important sources of employment for vulnerable communities. In the cities,
they're environmental issues of wider global significance. And this city-rural divide is re-
flected, in part, in the state's political landscape: rural electorates are dominated by con-
servative independents or the National Party (which has its roots in rural farming com-
munities), while the inner-city seat of Melbourne is the only lower-house seat in the coun-
