Wednesday, 2 August 2023

Western suburbs rail lines

David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (14:17): My question is to the Deputy Premier. In 2018 and 2022 the Deputy Premier promised two new electrified Metro rail lines to Melton and Wyndham Vale. The Deputy Premier has now broken this promise along with Geelong fast rail and Melbourne airport rail. Following her role in the Commonwealth Games debacle, will the Deputy Premier now apologise to commuters in Melbourne’s western suburbs for breaking a promise of the much-needed public transport projects in the west?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop) (14:18): Firstly at the outset let me say to the member for Caulfield if he is using the reference in the media today and the reports in the media today, those reports are wrong. They do not reflect the decisions of government. The member for Caulfield referenced what I might say to the communities of the western suburbs. Let me tell you what we would say to the community of the western suburbs: we would say that we have been working hard for eight years now on a range of projects that are all about providing more room for more passengers across the western suburbs, and there are a series of projects. There are so many projects –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: The member for Lowan will come to order.

Jacinta ALLAN: that some have been completed, some are under construction and some are in planning stage.

The SPEAKER: The member for Lowan will come to order.

Jacinta ALLAN: And we are working very, very hard. Let me give you some examples.

The SPEAKER: The member for Lowan can leave the chamber for half an hour.

Member for Lowan withdrew from chamber.

Jacinta ALLAN: Let me give you some examples. When I say ‘you’, Speaker, I am hoping the member for Caulfield is tuning in as well. The Metro Tunnel – I have mentioned this already today, but specifically when we talk about what it means for the western suburbs, it means more trains more often, particularly on the Sunbury and Werribee lines. Lines that will be level crossing free. What it will mean, for example, in the member for Footscray’s area is it will mean a train every few minutes during the peak period. There will be more trains too in the area of Laverton. In the Sunshine station area there will also be more trains. And of course the Metro Tunnel is a full year ahead of schedule, which means those benefits come to those communities a full year earlier. When it comes to the Melton corridor in particular there is no better and bigger advocate for the Melton community than the member for Melton himself. We have committed to the Melton community to make the Melton area level crossing free. We are also, as part of that, with the Melton line upgrade, going to provide more seats for more passengers on the Melton line. We are also –

David Southwick: On a point of order, Speaker, just on relevance, this was particularly around the Western Rail Plan in dealing with Melton and Wyndham Vale – the electrification – and I ask you to bring the member back to the specifics of those two areas that have been cancelled.

The SPEAKER: There is no point of order. The Acting Premier was being relevant to the question that was asked.

Jacinta ALLAN: Of course, being asked about planning, you can only go and make Melton level crossing free, you can only go and deliver the Metro Tunnel if you do that important planning and have each project build on the other. The work that has gone on in Melton comes off the back of the Ballarat line work, which saw the track duplicated around Deer Park and Melton, which means that we now run an additional 220 services every single week for the Melton community. There is a lot more, and that is exactly what we are getting on and delivering for those communities.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: The member for Frankston is warned.

David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (14:22): Melbourne’s western suburbs experienced commuter chaos, with the government telling people to stay at home last month while the Deputy Premier was off on holiday. Why is it that people in Melbourne’s west are being punished by the Deputy Premier’s broken promises?

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Ringwood can leave the chamber for half an hour.

Member for Ringwood withdrew from chamber.

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop) (14:22): I am pleased to have the supplementary question, because it enables me to continue to refer to the list of projects in the west that we are either delivering, planning or have completed. There are of course the new stations that we are building in Albion and Tarneit West; it is not just about you, member for Melton, there is other work going on as well. There are works going on on the Wyndham Vale line. Not only are we building these trains in Victoria, where we have had to reverse the previous decision, which was making trains in South Korea – we prefer them to be made in South Dandenong and Ballarat – those trains are being made bigger to be able to run on the Wyndham Vale and Melton corridors and to take more passengers, because unlike the member for Caulfield, who needs to take a packed lunch to the western suburbs, we are engaged every single day with western suburbs communities. What they tell us they want is more seats and more services, and that is exactly what we are delivering under a sequence of planned and delivered investments.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: The member for Bulleen is warned.