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Abandoned major road project costs Aussie state gov't more than 790 million USD: report

Xinhua, December 9, 2015 Adjust font size:

The real cost of scrapping one of the biggest road project in Australian history has been revealed, with Victoria's Auditor-General putting the figure at more than 790 million U.S. dollars.

The scathing report found the Daniel Andrews government had severely underestimated the cost of backing away from the East-West Link contract, which was signed by the previous Liberal government prior to the 2014 Victorian election.

"Following final settlement of outstanding costs, the state will have incurred in excess of (790 million U.S. dollars) in costs on the project with little tangible benefit for taxpayers," the report said Wednesday.

The report, tabled in Victorian parliament was also critical of the former government's decision to press ahead with the East-West Link project which would have joined the city's eastern and western suburbs with a new toll road despite its low cost-benefit ratio.

Deputy Auditor-General Peter Frost said "flawed advice" provided to the former government "disproportionately aimed at achieving contract execution prior to the 2014 state election rather than being in the best interests of the project or use of taxpayers' money".

"Signing the contract in these circumstances was imprudent and exposed the state to significant cost and risk," the report said.

"Some public officials involved in this audit indicated that providing frank and fearless advice when they believe a government does not want to receive it will negatively impact their influence or career opportunities."

One of the key election pledges from now-Premier Daniel Andrews was that if voted into office, he would personally rip up the controversial East-West Link contracts, saying they weren't "worth the paper they're written on".

In June, the Andrews government reached a settlement with the consortium hired to build the debunked roadway, paying out more than 300 million U.S. dollars.

The auditor-general said the multi-million-dollar cost would be slightly offset by the resale of properties acquired to build the toll road. Endit