Tuesday, 13 May 2025

Suburban Rail Loop

Meng Heang TAK (Clarinda) (19:06): (1124) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop. Can the minister please provide the latest information on how the Suburban Rail Loop – Australia’s largest housing and transport project – will benefit my constituents in the Clarinda district? It was fantastic to have the Premier, the minister and colleagues out to my electorate last week to visit the tunnel-boring machine launch site in Clarinda, where major construction is steaming ahead, with tunnelling to begin next year. Tunnel-boring machines will arrive this year before they start carving out the southern sections of the twin Suburban Rail Loop tunnels. I thank the minister for visiting and for her continued investment in the Clarinda district. It is not her first time. She also attended the electorate office last week to meet with several of my constituents living near the SRL stabling yard site in Heatherton to hear their concerns and to discuss ways to mitigate construction impacts on residents. I thank the minister for taking the time to engage with residents. I really appreciated her visit, and I know the community did too. It was a positive discussion, and I look forward to continued engagement.

The Suburban Rail Loop is powering ahead with major work, and I understand that the construction of the Suburban Rail Loop East from Cheltenham to Box Hill is creating up to 8000 direct jobs, with more than 3000 people already working on the project, and trains will be taking passengers on board by 2035. With major construction underway on the Suburban Rail Loop, we are closer every day to delivering more homes and better connections so people can stay close to family where they grew up and spend less time on the road. I thank the minister for her work and for her engagement, and I look forward to hearing more.