Victoria's new premier, Ben Carroll, has not ruled out redirecting billions of dollars earmarked for the controversial Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) to other projects, saying he is seeking to pursue the “greatest value for Victorians”.
Review of Suburban Rail Loop project
Speaking at the Essendon tram depot on Thursday, Carroll did not dispute reports that he would order a review into the costly 90km public transport project, which would also consider whether billions of dollars worth of construction contracts already signed could be redirected.
“I've got no announcements to make today,” he said. “What I can say is that every dollar of my government will be invested where it delivers the greatest value for Victorians – and it will be invested responsibly, transparently and respectfully.”
Federal funding and state commitments
Carroll, who spoke to Anthony Albanese for the first time as premier on Wednesday, said he did not discuss with the prime minister the prospect of diverting federal funds into other projects. Speaking on ABC News Breakfast on Thursday morning, Albanese said he would work constructively with the Victorian government “to make sure that the interests of Victorians are looked after”.
Albanese noted that under the former federal Coalition government, Victoria's share of federal infrastructure funding dropped to 8%. “They weren't getting their fair share,” he said. The federal government has allocated $6bn to the SRL, including $3.8bn in May's federal budget. The state government has also committed about $11.8bn for the first stage of the loop, known as SRL East – a 26km stretch of tunnels between Cheltenham and Box Hill – and signed $14.5bn worth of contracts. Two tunnel-boring machines are in the ground in Burwood, expected to begin tunnelling to Glen Waverley in four to six weeks.
Political reactions and cost analysis
The state opposition leader, Jess Wilson, has said if the Coalition is elected in November, she will pause and review the project. Last year, however, the opposition's transport infrastructure spokesperson, Matthew Guy, said once the “holes in the ground and the boring machines have started” it would likely have to proceed.
The SRL was first promised by Daniel Andrews ahead of the 2018 election and has been credited with securing a number of eastern seats for Labor. Jacinta Allan also championed the project, first as SRL minister and then as premier. But it has been the subject of repeated criticism over its origins, the veracity of its business case and the total cost.
The independent Parliamentary Budget Office released a costing on Thursday, commissioned by Libertarian MP David Limbrick, showing that cancelling the project now would improve the state's budget position by $21bn over the decade, though the government would have to spend $1.8bn in contract termination fees. “Nobody in my electorate is pining for a train trip from Cheltenham to Box Hill,” said Limbrick, who represents the south-east electorate where the SRL begins. “These figures show that it is absolutely not too late for Mr Carroll to take a new direction with the SRL. Continuing it for this reason amounts to a sunk-cost fallacy,” he said.
Work-from-home laws
Carroll also shifted away from another signature policy of Allan's on Thursday by flagging “sensible changes” to her bill that legislates the right to work from home two days a week for those who can “reasonably” do so. The bill is expected to pass the lower house by the end of today before moving to the upper house, where it will be debated during the next parliamentary sitting week beginning 11 August.
