Libs slam Eastlink ‘fat cats’

THE STATE Opposition is up in arms over the salaries of transport authority employees overseeing the Eastlink tollway’s construction.
Eastlink, known also as the MitchamFrankston freeway, will link the eastern end of the Eastern Freeway with the Frankston Freeway and will run through Knox.
It is scheduled to be completed in 2008 following a fouryear construction period, and will be tolled.
Opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder said his Government counterpart, transport minister Peter Batchelor, had confirmed in writing to the Liberal Party that $254,000 was paid to Southern and Eastern Integrated Transport Authority (SEITA) during the month of January 2005 for its supervisory role in Eastlink’s construction.
Mr Mulder said the minister had confirmed a figure of 32.3 equivalent full time staff received the sum of money, which over a 12month period would equate to an average $94,300 salary.
Mr Mulder labelled the employees “fat cats”.
“While SEITA’s salary bill is bumped up by the high amount SEITA’s chief executive receives, it all has to be paid for by Victorian taxpayers,” Mr Mulder said.
But a spokeswoman for Mr Batchelor said the SEITA arrangement was no different to that of the Kennett Government’s establishment of the CityLink Authority, which oversaw the construction of CityLink.
“Some of the senior management appointed by the former Kennett Government to work on CityLink have now been employed at SEITA to perform the same role on CityLink,” she said.
“The Liberal Party seems more intent on attacking public servants going about their jobs than working one their unfunded, irresponsible plan to ‘buy back tolls on Eastlink.”