Thursday, 28 November 2024

 Richard WELCH (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:47): (1350) I like the idea that having started my parliamentary career at the start of the year, I get to do the very last adjournment of the year. I would like to thank you, President, for your guidance and indulgence. I hope that it will not be necessary next year.

My adjournment matter is for the Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop. Many locals, observers and the like have expressed serious concerns about the lack of transparency surrounding the Suburban Rail Loop and its use of taxpayers funds. This government continues to push ahead with the SRL, the most expensive infrastructure project in Victoria’s history, yet the public remains in the dark about how that money is being spent. Recent anomalies in the SRL’s report have raised serious questions. Financial disclosures contain inconsistencies that are yet to be explained, leaving Victorians wondering if the public funds are being mismanaged or misallocated. In my experience, where there is smoke there is fire, and the annual report is inadequate.

Typical of these doubts and concerns – and this is smoke – is the recent SRL garden party held last weekend. The way the information about this event was disseminated raises questions about the nature of the SRL’s intentions. It is highly unusual for a project supposedly intended for the benefit of all Victorians to be broadcast so narrowly. This raises questions such as whether it was more about optics than genuine community engagement, and more serious questions. Restricted promotion raises doubts about whether it was designed to serve a narrow political agenda rather than genuinely engage with the broader community in Box Hill. My chief concern is that there is a lack of transparency. But worse, I am increasingly concerned that an environment fertile for corruption has been created, and only transparency can address that. The action I seek from the minister is to provide the Victorian people with a detailed list of community groups, organisations or entities – those not directly involved in building, trains, tunnelling or related transport work – receiving SRL funding or entering into financial contracts or arrangements with the Suburban Rail Loop Authority. This must include their names, the amounts received and how their involvement aligns with the project’s objectives.