Tuesday, 1 April 2025

Ministers statements: Suburban Rail Loop

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:16): On this side of the house we know that the Suburban Rail Loop is not a nice-to-have, it is a must-have. It will support up to 20,000 jobs. It will enable us to build 70,000 new homes.

Members interjecting.

Sonja Terpstra: On a point of order, President, I am sitting very close to the minister here and I cannot hear her for the constant stream of noise that is coming from those opposite. I ask that the minister be allowed to be heard in silence.

The PRESIDENT: I uphold the point of order. I ask members to listen to statements without interjections. Can we reset the clock. I would just be mindful, Minister, that if you do provoke interjection you might receive it. From the top.

Harriet SHING: On this side of the house we know that the Suburban Rail Loop is not a nice-to-have, it is a must-have. It will support up to 24,000 jobs. It will build 70,000 new homes close to infrastructure and services. It will connect our growing suburbs and help to untangle our city-centric transport system. It will also take 600,000 cars off our roads. Now, that is not a just a plan. Construction is underway today – right now in fact. Those site works have been happening since 2022. Major works are happening at all six Suburban Rail Loop station sites, and tunnel-boring machines will launch next year. Trains will be running in 2035. This is a project that is on time and on budget.

Sadly, no-one should be surprised to see the alternate prime minister is today boasting that, just like all Liberals, he will also cut funding for critical Victorian infrastructure projects. This time it is a $2.7 billion cut, just like Tony Abbott, who cut $5 billion from Victorian infrastructure and then failed to reinvest for a decade. But the Suburban Rail Loop and Victorians living in Deakin, Menzies, Aston and Chisholm are not the only targets today. In a blow to the west, Peter Dutton will also cut $500 million from the Melbourne Airport rail project, which will stop that project from ever being delivered. Let us be clear: you cannot deliver Melbourne Airport rail without upgrading Sunshine station. That is like saying you will build a house without building any foundations. That means no connections to the city and no connections to the regions. What we do not know yet is whether those opposite have the courage to be honest and say that they are going to back in these Liberal cuts. Are you going to tear up contracts, sack 8000 workers, stop the tunnel-boring machines and let them sink into the ground? Are you going to force more people into Melbourne’s already bursting outer suburbs? We know that you are guaranteed to put Liberals first and Victorians last.