Tuesday, 8 March 2022

Somerton intermodal rail hub and freight project

Mr McGUIRE (Broadmeadows) (19:24): (6255) My request is to the Minister for Ports and Freight. The action I seek is an update on the landmark Somerton intermodal freight rail hub. This is vital for economic development, it is a project of national significance and it is important to the state of Victoria, because what it does is connect this terminal in Somerton, in the state district of Broadmeadows, to the docks as part of the port of Melbourne’s $125 million project.

I had the pleasure of being with the minister in the greenfield site at Somerton when this announcement was made in December 2020. It is part of the Victorian and Australian governments’ attempts to make rail freight cheaper for businesses and take trucks off suburban roads through a $16.2 million investment in direct rail freight between the port of Melbourne and Somerton. This is important to my role as chair of the Broadmeadows Revitalisation Board 4.0. We are trying to fast-track through deindustrialisation to advanced manufacturing to create new industries, jobs and export opportunities. This upgrade is part of the Victorian government’s work to continue supporting the port of Melbourne, and here is the kicker: the port of Melbourne contributes $6 billion to the Victorian economy. Now, the further opportunity we have is to make this part of the proposed city deal, which has been hard fought and I have pursued for a number of years—and this came out of the strategy Building Smarter Cities: Stronger Communities in 2018—and then to get this done.

There is a contest between the federal government and the Victorian government on where the next major intermodal hub should be—whether it should be in the north at Beveridge or whether it should be at Truganina, or perhaps we can do both. This is, as I say, of state and national significance. The other thing that it would do is it would be incredibly helpful for the national food plan, because we have been able to relocate the Melbourne wholesale markets to Epping. There is a lot of land next door to that—there is 51 hectares of state-owned land that could also be used—and there is a wonderful project of international significance I think for Australia that La Trobe University and the CSIRO are looking at for a major food development proposal on the campus at La Trobe University. So this is the re-visioning of Melbourne’s north. This is how we can actually bring these key pieces together and deliver economic prosperity.