Their anger increased upon hearing that that at 4pm federal environment minister Peter Garrett had approved channel deepening and that it could start as early as tomorrow.

'It is clear to me that Minister Garrett cannot have acquainted himself with all the issues involved. More environmental monitoring and reporting by the Port will not protect the sensitive Port Phillip Bay environment or the international sites of significance. In particular, monitoring of the dredge material grounds will not ensure that toxic material does not escape into the Bay,' she said.

'This whole environmental assessment process has been a farce,' she said.

'Today in Parliament, I moved to refer the shaky economics of channel deepening to the state upper house Committee on Finance and Public Administration, and to introduce a bill to prevent the Port of Melbourne
from depositing toxic material in Port Phillip Bay,' she said.

'This debate is not over. The community is becoming more and more aware that this project is not economically or environmentally sustainable,' she said.