Thursday, 2 November 2023

Melbourne Airport rail link

John PESUTTO (Hawthorn – Leader of the Opposition) (14:08): My question is to the Minister for Transport Infrastructure. When asked last week what the director of airport rail link, who is paid over $560,000 a year, was doing now that the project is shelved, the minister said that he was keeping himself ‘occupied and amused’. At a time when Victorians are doing it tough, why are they paying over $560,000 for this director to be amused?

Danny PEARSON (Essendon – Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Assistant Treasurer, Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC) (14:09): Your backbench certainly is not amused with your performance this week, mate. I will tell you that.

Members interjecting.

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

Member for Nepean withdrew from chamber.

Danny PEARSON: Unlike those opposite that took a four-year holiday from work, who did not invest in the critical infrastructure that we needed – they had the Doncaster rail that never eventuated –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, this question was a serious question that referred the minister to flippant comments that he had made, and I ask you to bring him back to the question.

Mary-Anne Thomas: On the point of order, Speaker, there is no point of order. The minister was being entirely relevant to the question, which referred to the airport rail and the people that are working on that project.

The SPEAKER: I ask the Minister for Transport Infrastructure to come back to answering the question.

Danny PEARSON: This individual involved is working as an engineer. He is working on very complex engineering projects in relation to rail. Unlike those opposite who did not do anything for four years and did not build a single piece of rail infrastructure, we have got a big pipeline and a big agenda. So in relation to this individual, he is working on that project. He is also working on the Regional Rail Revival project.

John PESUTTO (Hawthorn – Leader of the Opposition) (14:11): When asked last week how much the airport rail link project is costing taxpayers every day now that it has been shelved, the minister said ‘I don’t have those figures to hand’. Can the minister tell Victorian taxpayers how much they are paying every day for this shelved project?

Danny PEARSON (Essendon – Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Assistant Treasurer, Minister for WorkSafe and the TAC) (14:11): The issue here is that this project is the subject of a Commonwealth review. The review is underway in relation to whether the project proceeds or not, and we are awaiting the outcome of that review.