Tuesday, 1 April 2025

Ministers statements: transport infrastructure

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:18): We have seen how Victorians have been very clear that they want and need projects like the Suburban Rail Loop and the airport rail project. They have voted for them. They want governments to get on and deliver them. Victorians know this because they are the projects our state needs. You might be a young person who wants to go to Monash University and study a course to get the career or the job of your dreams. You might be a nurse who wants to get to Box Hill TAFE, or you might be a commuter in Caulfield or in Bacchus Marsh who wants to be able to jump on a train and get to the airport with an easy connection through Sunshine. These are the projects that Peter Dutton’s Liberal Party have said they will cut to Victoria.

Bridget Vallence: On a point of order, Speaker, Speaker Maddigan, in Rulings from the Chair, page 156, said it is out of order to discuss a possible future government’s policy. It is out of order to do so because it is hypothetical.

The SPEAKER: I am not sure the Premier had gone down that path, but I do remind the Premier of that ruling from the Chair.

Jacinta ALLAN: I am referring to an alternate policy that directly affects Victoria and Victorians that has been released today. Of course it is 1 April – it is April Fools’ Day – but this is no joke. If you cut funding to Sunshine, you are leaving passengers stranded at the station. You cut access to the western suburbs. You cut access to regional Victoria being able to connect to the airport. But also, worse than that, you are seeing cuts to jobs, workers losing their jobs and families losing those pay packets that they rely on every single week. If you cut these projects, you cut those jobs. If you cut these projects, you cut these vital connections. Whether you want to get to university, get to TAFE or be able to have a house next to one of these great transport connections, the message to Victorians today from Peter Dutton, backed in by his colleagues here in Victoria, is: we will cut funding to the projects Victorians want and need.