Metro Tunnel
Ms RYAN (Euroa) (14:29): My question is to the Minister for Transport Infrastructure. Yesterday’s Auditor-General’s report found that the Metro Tunnel project is likely to cost $12.58 billion—$220 million more than predicted in the budget just seven weeks ago. In total, this is $3.5 billion more than initially promised by the government. Only 4 per cent of this overrun is attributable to COVID, according to the Auditor-General. Minister, why is this project so far over budget?
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: Order! Members on my right! The member for Sunbury is warned.
Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop) (14:30): I thank the member for Euroa for her question on the Auditor-General’s report that was tabled yesterday. I am pleased to advise the house that the Auditor-General actually found that the Metro Tunnel project ‘is being delivered satisfactorily’—that it is a project that is being delivered satisfactorily. On that point, do you know what was not satisfactory for the Metro Tunnel project? Do you know what was not satisfactory for people relying on more public transport in the city or the country?
Members interjecting.
The SPEAKER: Order! I know this is the last question on a Thursday, but members who are shouting will go, so please let the minister answer this question.
Ms ALLAN: Thank you for that support, Speaker. What was not satisfactory was this was a project that was discarded by those opposite for four long years. If you want to talk about the cost of delivering transport projects, do you know what one of the biggest challenges in delivering transport projects is? It is time. Time is money. If you can get on and deliver a project and you can deliver a project as quickly as you can, that has a direct impact on the cost of the project. Just like we are ahead of time in removing 85 dangerous or congested level crossings, just like we are ahead of time on so many of our other projects in road and rail, do you know what we also know from the Auditor-General’s report and other reports on the Metro Tunnel? The Metro Tunnel is a full year ahead of schedule despite the challenges that the project has had.
The member in her question mentioned the pandemic, and I want to thank those 8000 workers who have been working on the Metro Tunnel, because do you know what they were doing during the pandemic? They were delivering the Metro Tunnel project. They were finishing the tunnelling part of the project, they were fitting out the station boxes. And they had to do all of that during a pandemic when they had a significantly impacted and changed working environment because of the requirements to operate in a COVID-safe way. Yes, that did have an impact on the project budget, and we have been transparent in releasing that information. That is why we are determined to deliver this project—because of the enormous benefit it will bring in delivering more train services for the state of Victoria.
Ms RYAN (Euroa) (14:34): The Auditor-General found that a large part of the government’s commitment to high-capacity signalling on this project has been de-scoped. A third of the previously announced high-capacity signalling system will not be put in place. What is the projected impact on travel times and congestion of the removal of one-third of the high-capacity signalling on the Metro project?
Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop) (14:34): In answering the member’s question I am going to quote the Auditor-General’s report again directly on this matter, because the Auditor-General’s report found, when referring to the scope changes with the Metro Tunnel project and particularly this issue on the changes to the high-capacity signalling, that those scope changes were ‘prudent’. So not only is he saying the project is being delivered satisfactorily, he is also saying that it was prudent to make those changes. Do you know why we had to make these scope changes? Because the Metro Tunnel is enabling us to deliver the airport rail project and the Cranbourne line duplication and to make the Pakenham and Cranbourne lines level crossing free. Those opposite stopped the Metro Tunnel project previously, and they have said they would do it all again if they were given the chance.