Tuesday, 18 February 2025

Suburban Rail Loop

Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (12:26): (801) My question is to the Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop. Minister, your government says the SRL East will create 70,000 new homes. In order to achieve a one-third contribution from value capture, that would require taxes of between $140,000 and $160,000 per home. Will the government release the full modelling on how the value capture taxes will be charged?

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:27): Again, Mr Mulholland, one of the challenges that you have in reading out questions that have perhaps been prepared for you by somebody else is that you are missing the point around the way in which value capture will operate. In seeking to create a connection between homes and development as the only link between a value capture model for the purpose of funding, you are missing the point about all of the other work that is taking place around precinct development, around industry and around the work that we are doing in commercial and other parts of the land use.

Mr Mulholland, what I will take you to, for example, is the work that is happening in and around Monash University. With the delivery of an underground rail station at Australia’s largest university we are in a position to be able to supercharge the precinct around it. And if you ask anybody who lives out in that part of the world who is looking forward to being able to access everything that comes along with precinct development, you will know that housing is one part of what it means to activate precincts. As I have said in previous answers to you in this place and as I have said publicly on a number of occasions, this is about making sure that we are building houses but that we are building them in locations that are proximate to public transport, jobs, open spaces, health care and education. When we do that, Mr Mulholland, there is an entire spectrum of opportunity that exists – in partnership with developers and in partnership with industry.

Mr Mulholland, I would really encourage you, again – I have got another copy of it here just in case you still have not read it from the last sitting week – to read the business case, which talks to activating sites in a way that brings additional housing and investment across the board.

One of the examples on this, Mr Mulholland, that I just want to give you is in the context of what is happening across another precinct. Arden will activate 34,000 jobs. It will have 20,000 people living in it. This is because of a range of partnerships. This is what we will do across the Suburban Rail Loop. It is what we will do when and as we continue to send strong messages of support for the purpose of investment across the middle ring. Mr Mulholland, again, if you do not support this work to make sure that people can live closer to where they grew up, can live closer to where they work and can live closer to where their jobs are, then you and the current members of the opposition need to come clean with people who are just looking for an answer around how we can grow the city in a way that people need and will need for decades to come.

Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (12:30): Minister, the Premier failed to rule out new taxes, levies or charges on Monash University and Deakin University given they stand to supposedly benefit from the SRL East. Will you rule out any levies, taxes or charges on Monash University and Deakin University that they may be asked to contribute to fill your $20 billion black hole on the SRL East?

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:30): Thanks, Mr Mulholland. Here we are again. When we talk about the development in and around the stations, in and around the precincts, the focus that I have about funding and finance strategies – again, which were referred to extensively by Minister Catherine King when she confirmed delivery of that $2.2 billion – is about making sure that we are catalysing investment from developers and industry where that benefit will be conferred. Mr Mulholland, again, what I would invite you to do is to have some conversations perhaps yourself and directly with Monash University and with Deakin on the work that we are doing with them. They both roundly support this project, and the reason that they do is because of the benefit that it will deliver, not just –

Evan Mulholland: On a point of order, President, I have waited patiently to see if the minister would answer my question ruling out whether Monash University or Deakin University will be asked to pay extra taxes, and I have not heard an answer as such.

The PRESIDENT: The minister has finished her answer. I believe she was being relevant to the question.