The Australian Government is investing $7.6 billion in Victoria to fund major projects, including:

• the East West Link, an 18 kilometre motorway connecting the Eastern Freeway with the Western Ring Road;
• the Regional Rail Link, including up to 50 kilometres of dedicated dual track link from West Werribee to the Southern Cross Station via Sunshine and the extension of platforms and other capital works;
• Western Highway Ballarat to Stawell, to complete planning for the duplication of the Western Highway from Ballarat to Stawell and duplicate approximately 57 kilometres from Ballarat to Buangor; and
• Princes Highway West duplication (Winchelsea to Colac), to duplicate approximately 38 kilometres of the Princes Highway West from Winchelsea to Colac.

Commitments the Australian Government has made in Victoria since the 2013 Federal Election are detailed below.

East West Link is an 18 kilometre motorway that will connect the Eastern Freeway at Clifton Hill with the Western Ring Road at Sunshine West. The estimated $14‑$18 billion project is vital to the Australian and Victorian economies and will help address the major transport challenges currently facing Melbourne. East West Link includes an Eastern Section (Stage 1) ‑ a six kilometre link that will connect the Eastern Freeway to CityLink; a Western Section (Stage 2) ‑ a 12 kilometre link that will connect the Port of Melbourne to the Western Ring Road; and a Port Connection ‑ a separate link that will connect CityLink to the Port of Melbourne.

East West Link will reduce travel times by up to 20 minutes for commuters travelling from areas such as Geelong and Ballarat to the City.

The Eastern section alone is expected to allow 80,000 to 100,000 vehicles each day to bypass around 23 sets of traffic lights.

East West Link will improve accessibility to important economic and employment centres across the city and will provide an immediate boost to the economy by creating approximately 6,000 jobs during peak construction periods of both sections.

The Australian Government has committed $1.5 billion for the Eastern Section of the motorway and has more recently committed a further $1.5 billion to accelerate delivery of the Western Section. Construction on the Eastern Section is expected to commence in late 2014 and be completed in 2020. Construction on the Western Section is expected to commence in late 2015 and be completed in 2023.