Wednesday, 3 May 2023

Melbourne Airport rail link

Peter WALSH (Murray Plains) (14:22): My question is to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. The Andrews government has stated in relation to the proposed Melbourne Airport rail that:

No matter which train line you use, you’ll be able to easily catch public transport to the airport in 2029.

It has now been revealed that the project will not be delivered as promised by 2029. The project has been the responsibility of the minister since its inception, and I ask the minister: Minister, when will the Melbourne Airport rail now be completed?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Commonwealth Games Delivery) (14:23): I do think the Leader of the National Party is being a little brave asking a question about the airport rail project, given that when he was a member of government, when he was in cabinet, all he and his government did was print pretend tickets to a pretend train line to the airport.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, standing order 58: ‘succinct’. The minister was asked when the project will be delivered, and I would ask you to direct the minister back to that question: when?

Mary-Anne Thomas: On the point of order, Speaker, the minister was being entirely relevant to the question, which of course asked her about airport rail, so I suggest that you rule the point of order out of order, and we would all benefit from less time wasted on these pointless points of order from those on the other side.

David Southwick: On the point of order, Speaker, the minister was asked very, very simply when the airport rail would be completed. Question time is not the time to actually criticise the opposition but to answer the questions.

The SPEAKER: Points of order are not an opportunity to repeat the question, member for Caulfield. I ask the minister for transport to answer the question, but I cannot direct her how to answer the question.

Jacinta ALLAN: Sorry, I was just having all those fond memories of those fake tickets that were being handed out. I could not help myself. My apologies.

As the member has referred to Melbourne Airport rail, this is only a project again that can be talked about in these terms because the Andrews Labor government have made it firmly part of our agenda to deliver better transport connections and also deliberately deliver it in a way that means it is connected into the suburban train network through the Metro Tunnel, another project that was left languishing for four long years under those opposite.

Peter Walsh: On a point of order on the issue of relevance, Speaker, the minister has now very clearly said that it is part of their infrastructure pipeline. Could she now answer the question of when it will actually be built?

The SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

Jacinta ALLAN: Not only have we made sure of that by connecting it through the Metro Tunnel, a tunnel that we have had to deliver on our own because of the failure of the former federal Liberal government to even give one dollar to the Metro Tunnel project, we have also made sure that it is being delivered through Sunshine so that passengers from Geelong in the south-west, Ballarat in the west and Bendigo in northern Victoria can connect to the airport. This is a project that is being delivered in partnership with the federal government and also in partnership with Melbourne Airport, the private owners of the airport. We have been working progressively, and as a number of colleagues know already, early works are already happening out on the ground to support the delivery of this project. We are continuing to work through the delivery of the airport rail project, because to deliver a train line to the airport we have to deliver a train station at the airport and into the environment of the airport, and as I already said publicly indeed the best part of 2½ weeks ago, those discussions that we have been having with the private owners of the airport have been a little challenging and have caused some delays to the project.

Members interjecting.

Jacinta ALLAN: I have just answered your question.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the Opposition will come to order.

Peter Walsh: On a point of order, Speaker, in the last 30 seconds remaining could I please ask you to ask the minister to actually answer the question that was asked?

The SPEAKER: I cannot direct the minister how to answer the question. The minister is being relevant to the question that was asked.

Jacinta ALLAN: Also, as has now been clearly signalled by the federal government, as part of cleaning up that absolute mess that was left behind by the former Morrison Liberal–National government, the airport is a project –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: The member for Frankston can leave the chamber for 1 hour.

Member for Frankston withdrew from chamber.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, standing order 58 does require the minister to be direct, and I do not think anyone could argue the minister has been even remotely direct in answering when the project will be delivered.

The SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

Jacinta ALLAN: Perhaps if the member spent more time listening and less time auditioning for the seat of Goldstein I would be able to provide him with the answer that he is seeking.

Peter WALSH (Murray Plains) (14:28): It has also been revealed by a government minister that the Geelong fast rail project is no longer a priority for the Andrews government, and I ask the minister: when will the Geelong fast rail project now be completed?

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Berwick can leave the chamber for 1 hour.

Member for Berwick withdrew from chamber.

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Commonwealth Games Delivery) (14:29): I will pick up from where I was interrupted by one of the many points of order from the member for Brighton. The answer to this question is also similar to the answer on the airport project in that the federal government have clearly identified significant challenges with the vast range of projects that were more about press releases for the former Morrison–Barnaby Joyce-led government than they were about delivering projects. As a consequence they are undertaking a review of the national infrastructure pipeline, and we are going to work with the Commonwealth –

Peter Walsh: On a point of order, Speaker, in the last 17 seconds remaining could the minister please show some respect to the people of Geelong and actually tell them when this project will be built?

The SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

Jacinta ALLAN: This is a review that the federal government have indicated will be carried out over the 90 days starting from Monday. We will seek further advice from the Commonwealth government as to the content and process of that review as it unfolds.