Tuesday, 4 February 2025

Suburban Rail Loop

Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (13:28): My question is to the Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, a member for Eastern Victoria. Last week it was reported that the Commonwealth offered an extra $2 billion to fully fund the airport rail link, a project Victorians actually support. Meanwhile, ratings agency S&P has warned of a potential credit rating downgrade if the Allan government recklessly pushes ahead with the Suburban Rail Loop without federal funding. Minister, has the federal government confirmed it will provide the $9 billion required from the federal government to complete the SRL East?

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (13:29): Thanks, Mr Mulholland. I am really determined to continue the work that was given the go-ahead across two elections for the development and delivery of the Suburban Rail Loop as well as to make sure that we continue to engage with communities across SRL East – that is, Cheltenham to Box Hill – and again the work to make sure that as we work to get tunnel-boring machines into the ground by 2026 we can continue to deliver on the sort of planning and the sort of consultation and engagement that mean we are making the very best use of the resources that we have across all levels of government.

Mr Mulholland, when we look at the Suburban Rail Loop and around $14 billion of spend, we are talking about $11 billion from the state government. You have read the budget papers from 2020–21. I am not sure whether you have read the business case, though. It has 400 pages of really important detail. It has also 300 pages of additional technical assessment. I am very, very happy to actually take you through the detail in that document. But we are also talking about legislation that has been part of this particular development of the project as well. You, I think, would have read the comments from people in the course of the development and the debate on the Suburban Rail Loop Act 2021. Mr Davis was a prolific contributor to that particular debate, and no doubt he will have some things to say that perhaps walk back some of his earlier positions on the Suburban Rail Loop.

We have got, again, a partnership on infrastructure for the state of Victoria that will deliver what we need as far as nation-building projects go – SRL East alone, 70,000 homes. The rhetoric that we are hearing from you – the rhetoric that we are hearing from Peter Dutton in Canberra – is not going to build a single home. When we look at nation-building projects and when we look at infrastructure like the Suburban Rail Loop, again, we are talking about a return on investment of between $1.10 and $1.70. Now, again, to compare and contrast with the –

Evan Mulholland: On a point of order, President, I did ask if the federal government had confirmed the $9 billion required to build the Suburban Rail Loop.

The PRESIDENT: I will call the minister back to the question.

Harriet SHING: Mr Mulholland, again, I will take you to comments that have been made by my predecessor and also by the Prime Minister of Australia. $2.2 billion is in the budget, and this is a nation-leading project that is being delivered in stages. We have sufficient funding, as you would have seen, from the $14 billion allocated already to continue with this work to make sure that we have got trains running in 2035. We will be taking hundreds of thousands of cars off the road. We will be providing services that, in peak, will be intended to deliver every 2 minutes and every 4 minutes respectively as demand increases. Again, I just want to carefully contrast this with the east–west link. When we had a business case that was developed by you lot it returned, at its best, an 84 cent –

David Davis: On a point of order, President, I do not think that is an appropriate phrase that the minister is using, and she might choose to refer to the opposition or others more appropriately.

The PRESIDENT: I will uphold the point of order, and I will call the minister to the question.

Harriet SHING: When you and your mates decided to put in a business case that delivered 45 cents in the dollar or 84 cents in the dollar, it was not ever going to stack up. We are getting on with the work that will change our nation – (Time expired)

Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (13:33): Minister, when – approximately what year – does the government expect the Suburban Rail Loop to reach Werribee?

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (13:33): Mr Mulholland, this is a project that will span generations. And this is a project that, if you have anything to do with it, will not be getting anywhere because you have decided that, rather than actually build infrastructure, you are going to press pause. Now, what you are saying –

David Davis: On a point of order, President, question time is a time for ministers to answer questions, not to attack the opposition. She could answer with a very simple date.

The PRESIDENT: The minister was responding to the question and the tone of the question.

Harriet SHING: I am going to pick up on an interjection that Mr Welch made: ‘Take us through the business case.’ Do you know what? The business case is public. It is 400 pages and then there are an additional couple of hundred pages of technical assessment. Print it out. Mr Davis says he has read it. Again, if you are going to stand up now and say that you are not going to build the Suburban Rail Loop, that you are not going to deliver 70,000 homes, that you are not going to embark upon delivering infrastructure that your leader in Canberra backs –

Evan Mulholland: On a point of order, President, on relevance, my question was very short and clear. It was on when the government expects the Suburban Rail Loop to reach the good people of Werribee.

The PRESIDENT: I believe the minister was relevant in her answer at the start of her answer.

Harriet SHING: If you have your way, Mr Mulholland, it is never going to get there, because you oppose nation-building infrastructure that is going to make sure that we can provide hundreds of thousands of homes to people who deserve them outside of Brighton, Mr Mulholland – outside of Brighton.

Evan Mulholland: On a point of order, President, the minister is refusing to answer a very short and clear question on when the government expects the Suburban Rail Loop to reach Werribee.

The PRESIDENT: As I said before, I believe the minister addressed the question at the start of her answer, a long time ago. The minister has got 4 seconds.

Harriet SHING: Read the business case.