Tuesday, 15 October 2024

Suburban Rail Loop

John PESUTTO (Hawthorn – Leader of the Opposition) (14:11): My question is to the Premier. When sneakily announcing the additional $837 million blowout on the Metro Tunnel before a three-day weekend, the Minister for Transport Infrastructure said it is ‘costing more to build anything anywhere in the world’. Why doesn’t this cost escalation on major projects apply to the Suburban Rail Loop East?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:12): I am very pleased to answer a question about the delivery of the Metro Tunnel project. Of course if those opposite had not scrapped the Metro Tunnel project, it would be open by now. The Leader of the Opposition has more front than Myer. ‘Sneakily’? This is a man who has been in the witness box for week upon week, where the question of character –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, this is just demeaning.

The SPEAKER: I ask members to raise their points of order succinctly, without commentary. Premier, I ask you to come back to the question.

Jacinta ALLAN: The minister is making the details around the additional investment that we are making in the Metro Tunnel, because this is a project that is going to transform the way people move around our city and state.

John Pesutto: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, the question was actually about cost escalation in relation to the Suburban Rail Loop East.

The SPEAKER: I cannot direct the Premier how to answer the question, but she was being relevant.

Jacinta ALLAN: I remind the Leader of the Opposition that his question referred quite clearly to the Metro Tunnel, and this is a project that will be opened a full year ahead of schedule next year and will transform the way people move around our city and state. That is why we are continuing to work with our construction partners to deliver this vitally important project. It will bring tens of thousands of additional people in and out of the city every single day because they will be able to have more easy access to our train network, and that is exactly what the Suburban Rail Loop is also going to deliver.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, the Premier is debating the question and is not dealing with the substance of the actual question. Her answer is responding generally rather than dealing with the substance of the question.

The SPEAKER: The Premier has discretion in the content of her answer. She was being relevant to the question.

Jacinta ALLAN: The Leader of the Opposition asked me about the Metro Tunnel and the Suburban Rail Loop, and I am delighted to answer about both of those vital projects, remembering that these are projects that are not supported by those opposite. They do not support these projects, the workers who work on them and the Victorians who will benefit from them. That is why, in terms of the delivery of the Suburban Rail Loop, we are focused on –

Members interjecting.

Jacinta ALLAN: It is a word you find hard to say. This is such an important project, and that is why we were pleased to be at the site in Burwood which will see tunnel-boring machines at work in 2026. We are working hard to deliver this project, as we should, because not only is it going to deliver the vital transport connections our growing city and state need, but around those six Suburban Rail Loop East precincts we will have the opportunity to build 70,000 more homes for more Victorians. This is vital to provide more opportunities –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, this is now the third answer where the Premier has been evasive and not answered the substance of the question.

The SPEAKER: The Premier was being relevant to the question that was asked.

Jacinta ALLAN: As we have been announcing contract awards, we have been providing updated information on how this project is progressing, both in its delivery and in the funding for this project. This is such a vital project, and no question from the untrustworthy Leader of the Opposition covers the fact that they are opposed to this project every step of the way.

John PESUTTO (Hawthorn – Leader of the Opposition) (14:16): In September 2022 Infrastructure Australia asked for more information about the Premier’s pet project, the Suburban Rail Loop. On 19 September 2024 the Minister for Transport Infrastructure said the Victorian government would provide the requested information ‘as soon as practicable’. Has this occurred?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:16): I know the Minister for Transport Infrastructure and the department have been providing a significant amount of information to both Infrastructure Australia and the federal department for this project. The reason why they have been doing that is of course that in the federal Labor government we have a partner in this project, a partner in this project that has provided $2.2 billion. I was asked earlier about the Metro Tunnel –

Richard Riordan interjected.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Polwarth is warned.

Jacinta ALLAN: Not one single dollar from the federal Liberal government of the day was provided to this vitally important project. They found plenty of money, that federal Liberal government, for projects in Sydney and for projects in other parts of the country, but not here in Victoria. So, yes, we are working closely with Infrastructure Australia and the federal government on the delivery of the Suburban Rail Loop.