Greg Barber MLC is one of the elected Greens in the Upper House of Victorian State Parliament and he represents the Northern Metropolitan Region. Find out more at Greg's About page

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Labor green-lights East West tollway

22nd May 2013 3:50 pm

Greg Barber and Adam Bandt at the billabong that will be destroyedGreens MPs Adam Bandt and Greg Barber have criticised a Gillard government decision not to require an environment impact statement for East West tollway roads and open cuts tunnels that will wreck Royal Park environment reserves and parkland.

"Minister Burke's decision to fast-track approval for the East West tollway shows Labor's opposition to the East West tollway is hollow,” Australian Greens Deputy Leader Adam Bandt said today.

“The Minister cannot hide behind the letter of the law. He has been more than happy to look for creative ways to halt other environmentally destructive projects, such as Alpine grazing, but here he has given the East West Tollway the green light instead of going the extra mile to stop this environmental vandalism."

"The tollway will be a pollution nightmare and wreck one of Melbourne’s great natural parks."

Dairy farmer confidence plummets as triple crisis hits

21st May 2013 12:17 pm

Photo by Greg Barber showing lack of rain in South West Vic dairy countryVictorian Greens leader Greg Barber has called on the Liberal state government to develop a plan to address the crisis in the dairy industry, after a new survey shows confidence amongst dairy farmers has plummeted.

"Confidence amongst western Victorian dairy farmers has collapsed in 2013 to 46% down from 63% last year.  Even during the shocking drought times such as 08-09, confidence was much higher, with a 70-80 percent positive outlook."

"Given the significance of the dairy industry to Victoria, you'd think the state government would have said something about the triple crisis of climate, market and competitiveness hitting the industry."

V/Line performance beyond a joke

20th May 2013 5:22 pm

Victorian Greens leader Greg Barber says V/Line's latest performance figures show a system that is failing, with the Geelong line on a downward spiral and regular passengers on every line but one eligible to claim compensation for poor punctuality.

"This is getting beyond a joke. I call on V/Line to publish the reasons for each and every delayed train so the Napthine government can be held responsible for starving V/Line of funds," said Greens MP Greg Barber

Victoria's black hole: East-West road tunnel

The state government has announced a tollway and multi-lane road tunnel through inner suburbs of Melbourne between Collingwood and Flemington. 

Where will the toll road go?

Many of the details remain a state secret.  But the video released by Linking Melbourne Authority shows the toll road starting at Hoddle Street, then going  underground in Alexandra Parade, continuing under hundreds of homes, the Melbourne Cemetery and Royal Park. 

East West Tollway tunnel exit to destroy park, traffic in city

17th May 2013 10:09 am

The planned East West Tollway will have an open cut exit ramp at Elliott Ave Parkville, between the Royal Melbourne Zoo and the Children's Hospital, which will dump traffic in the city.

"It will destroy open space and wetlands in Royal Park, expose residents to pollution and pour traffic onto Elliott Avenue near Flemington Road, making road congestion worse," said Victorian Greens leader Greg Barber

"You'd better believe we will fight this one all the way." 

"The route animation released by the Linking Melbourne Authority shows the Elliott Ave exit before the CityLink exit.  We always knew the tollway would have a city exit or nobody would use it," said Mr Barber

Declare western Vic drought to help dairy farmers

9th May 2013 1:32 pm

Greg's photo of dairy country in western vic, where autumn rains have failedVictorian Greens leader Greg Barber has asked the State Government to declare western Victoria as drought affected, triggering Federal assistance.

Speaking in Parliament yesterday, Mr Barber said "I am requesting that [the Minister] take action to have western Victoria declared to be drought affected, and to lobby for federal assistance for farmers in that area. Last week Queensland declared large parts of the state to be drought affected."

"Over the past couple of weeks I have been all over western Victoria and the picture is quite stark - poor rainfall over the last six months, record lows in some areas, and a forecast for more of the same. It must be obvious to the Premier, given that this is part of his own electorate. He cannot have missed the fact that there is a lot of heat and drought affecting his electorate."

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