In July 2013, the Coalition state government under Premier Denis Napthine released detailed plans for its East West Link road project, a tunnel from the city end of the Eastern Freeway to the CityLink M2 tollway through inner Melbourne. The plans included compulsory acquisition of 92 houses and 26 businesses in the project area, which the government claimed to be the bare minimum required to complete the road. However, the acquisitions were criticised by the Labor opposition, which accused the government of failing to consult affected residents, and speculation about a possible class action against the government was reported in the news media. The tollway project was subsequently cancelled by the new Andrews Labor government, who initially committed to transferring 20 of the acquired houses to the social housing sector specifically to house homeless people. However, only four or five of these were filled – with people with personal links to the social housing organisation managing the properties – the rest remained empty 6–18 months later while the state government waited to rent or sell them on the private housing market.
