Most Eastern Freeway traffic would have headed to the CBD, Melbourne's inner north or south of the Yarra, the modelling shows. This would have increased traffic congestion on some of Melbourne's busiest roads. Former premier Denis Napthine spent a small fortune on spin, including ads for the doomed East West Link. Credit:Wayne Taylor Treasurer Tim Pallas accused the former government of lying to Victorians, claiming the $6.8 billion project involved a $2.1 billion black hole. "This is public malfeasance and fraud of a massive scale. What this tells us is a government who knew that the project that they were proposing ... actually didn't stack up." Last week Mr Abbott said he was determined to deliver the project.

Mr Pallas warned Mr Abbott against pursuing a "malevolent agenda" by withholding $3 billion of federal funding earmarked for the road. "I hope Tony Abbott recognises that he has probably been part of the confidence trick that the former government has sought to affect on Victorians generally," he said. Cabinet documents reveal the former government opted not to submit an initial version of the business case to Infrastructure Australia because it feared a lower range benefit-cost ratio could be used to dismiss the project. An initial assessment from March 2013 found the road would return just 45 cents for every dollar spent. After factoring in so-called wider economic benefits - including an assumption people would work longer hours and pay more tax because of the road - this was lifted to a loss-making 84 cents for every dollar spent. Three months later the government prepared a new business case which relied on separate projects including widening CityLink, the Tullamarine Freeway and the Eastern Freeway, and north-south tram and bus upgrades, to produce an estimated return of $1.40 for every $1 invested. These figures were spruiked by the former government in a glossy short-form business case.

The documents pointed out the Eastern and Tullamarine freeways would need to be widened to handle increased congestion caused by traffic using the link. "While East West Link users are expected to receive considerable benefits from using the project, the other CBD-oriented traffic is likely to receive a disbenefit due to marginally increased travel times created by the additional traffic." Former treasurer Michael O'Brien stood by the project on Monday, saying it was "desperately needed for Victoria". "The business case shows that Victoria needs the East West Link. The cost of congestion is crippling this state and Daniel Andrews' only plan is to be a wrecker not a builder." He said the numbers stacked up and tolling existing roads to pay for the East West Link was never on the agenda.

The Andrews government ordered the East West Connect consortium to stop work on the project on Friday, putting about 4300 jobs it was expected to create in limbo. The state would have paid the consortium about $340 million a year in availability payments, beginning in June 2020, documents show. The full 18-kilometre East West Link between the Eastern Freeway and Western Ring Road was needed to address Melbourne's poor east-west connectivity. The road would "change the face of Melbourne [and] ... support new patterns of economic development, residential growth and urban renewal and deliver substantial economic benefits to the Victorian and national economy", the business case states. The eastern section would have been a short toll road at just six kilometres, with only one tolling point, and would have reduced the opportunity to recoup construction costs. Tolls would have generated $112 million a year, the business case predicts, meaning it would have taken 56 years to pay off the $6.3 billion construction costs. Variable tolls were proposed for East West Link: $5.50 for cars, $8.80 in the peak for light commercial vehicles, and up to $16.50 for heavy commercial vehicles in the peak.

Hiking fees on existing toll roads and introducing new tolls on the Eastern and Tullamarine freeways were considered by the former Napthine government to pay for the project. The former government had ruled out the politically unpalatable option of putting new tolls on existing roads. Australian Industry Group Victorian director Tim Piper said the government urgently needed to consider an alternative project to boost jobs and economic activity. "We have already been losing skills to other states and this is not going to help that situation," he said. The Abbott government did not respond to calls on Monday.