Tuesday, 15 October 2024

Suburban Rail Loop

John PESUTTO (Hawthorn – Leader of the Opposition) (14:36): My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier rule out implementing any value capture tax prior to Suburban Rail Loop East being operational?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:37): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question and the opportunity to go back and remind the Leader of the Opposition about information that is already on the public record when it comes to delivery of the Suburban Rail Loop, a vitally important project that we simply cannot afford not to build. Whether you want to see the construction of more homes, whether you want to see the construction of more train services, whether you want to see the opportunity for people to live close to those train connections, this is what the Suburban Rail Loop project will deliver. When we released the business and investment case in August 2021 – actually, no, I go back to a further point in time. When we announced this project in August 2018, and of course since then Victorians have had the opportunity to twice endorse the delivery of the Suburban Rail Loop as a project that they want to see the government get on and deliver, particularly those communities –

John Pesutto: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, I did allow the Premier some time before rising to make this point of order, but the question was very specific to whether the Premier can rule out a value capture tax.

The SPEAKER: The Premier is being relevant to the question that was asked. I cannot direct the Premier how to answer the question.

Jacinta ALLAN: I am delighted to go back to talking about the delivery of the Suburban Rail Loop, because when we first announced this project we did say – we were very clear about this – that because of the significant benefits that will come from the delivery of this project, it would be funded from a third federal, a third state and a third non-government sources. We said this. This is consistent ‍–

John Pesutto: Who are they?

Jacinta ALLAN: I refer the Leader of the Opposition back to the August 2021 business case. I know the Leader of the Opposition has been a little distracted. He has been reading court papers, not business cases. I know it has been a bit busy for the Leader of the Opposition these last few weeks. We have been really clear that this is a project of national significance. It is going to deliver significant, enormous benefits, productivity uplift and job uplift. That is why we are seeking support from the federal government, and we are so pleased to have a partner in the Albanese Labor government in this project. In addition, this is consistent with what we have seen around the removal of our level crossings, where there has been a value uplift realised for some private landowners around those sites. We have been clear about this.

And, you know what, this is not a foreign concept. This is a concept that was advocated by people like Malcolm Turnbull when he was Prime Minister for projects like the Sydney Metro, which was delivered in part by the Liberal government of the day in New South Wales. It is how parts of the city loop have been delivered. This approach of having non-government revenue from those who will see a value uplift in the project is common practice, and we have already indicated that that is something that we will be pursuing as part of the delivery of the Suburban Rail Loop.

John PESUTTO (Hawthorn – Leader of the Opposition) (14:40): Will the Premier rule out a land tax surcharge to pay for the Suburban Rail Loop?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:40): Indeed I am happy to come back and correct the date if my memory has served me incorrectly, but when we released the business and investment case in August 2021 we did say at that point in time that we would not be looking at residential properties. But we did say that there was an opportunity for some who would see some value uplift to look at value capture partnerships from those projects. This is consistent with what we have seen with the Sydney Metro and with the city loop in the past. This is completely consistent with that we have seen in the past.

John Pesutto: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, Frankie Carroll in his evidence to PAEC in May of this year said that a land tax surcharge had been submitted to government as an option.

The SPEAKER: Order! That is not a point of order. On relevance, the Premier was being relevant.

Jacinta ALLAN: There are lots of options over there at the moment – lots of people considering their options over there. This is all about the Leader of the Opposition demonstrating that he cannot be trusted with vitally important projects. Opposing the Suburban Rail Loop, opposing the Metro Tunnel, opposing the North East Link and opposing level crossings is entirely consistent with the record of the Leader of the Opposition.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Malvern is warned again.