Thursday, 15 May 2025

Suburban Rail Loop

Darren CHEESEMAN (South Barwon) (14:26): My question is to the Premier. With the federal election now out of the way, are there any remaining impediments to delivering Suburban Rail Loop?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:27): In answering the member for South Barwon’s question, we are very pleased to have a partner in Canberra in the Albanese Labor government on the projects that Victorians want and need, and that includes, yes, the Suburban Rail Loop. It includes the North East Link, where there is huge construction going on right now; support for that vital rail link to Melbourne and Victoria’s airport; and that big investment in Sunshine station that does not just unlock a train line to the airport, it unlocks more train services to the west. It unlocks the connections for the country train services from Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo to travel through Sunshine and connect into the city or into the airport as well.

In terms of what that means, to have a partner in Canberra, historically it has been a little unusual for this house to talk about having a partner in Canberra, because for 10 long years, cheered on by those opposite, the Liberal Party consistently and constantly dudded Victorians from getting their fair share of infrastructure funding. We did not hear boo from a goose from those opposite when Peter Dutton and their federal Liberal colleagues were ripping money out of Victoria. And if you go back to those earlier questions about how governments invest, well, we have had to do it alone on so much here in Victoria – on the Metro Tunnel project, opening later this year, a full year ahead of schedule. The Sydney Metro was 50–50 with the federal Liberal Party – Melbourne Metro, zero. Even worse than that, it was minus $3 billion, because the federal Liberal government, cheered on by Victorian Liberals, took money out of the Melbourne Metro project. West Gate Tunnel, level crossing removals – time and again Victoria had to go it alone because the federal Liberal Party, cheered on by the Victorian Liberal Party, did not give Victorians their fair share of infrastructure funding.

So we will work with the federal Labor government. The federal Treasurer has already indicated, as have a number of other federal ministers, how this is a project worth investing in because it is the project that our city needs. If you want to sit back and watch congestion grow, then you do not invest in the Suburban Rail Loop. If you want to deny kids the chance to go to Monash University on the train, then you do not invest in the Suburban Rail Loop. We are building the Suburban Rail Loop. We have a partner in Canberra in the Albanese Labor government. The alternative was ripping money out of this project, ripping away those jobs and ripping away those opportunities to continue to support our growing city and state.

Darren CHEESEMAN (South Barwon) (14:30): These big infrastructure projects not only are important for getting people around Melbourne but are also important for unlocking future housing. Why is this important for Victorians?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (14:30): It is no surprise to those of us on this side of the house to hear the guffaws and the derision from those opposite when it comes to a question on housing, because we saw just yesterday in the Legislative Council that the Liberal Party could not run into the place fast enough to vote against the building of more homes. They could not get into the house fast enough to vote against building of more homes around the 50 train and tram activity centres, which is exactly where you want more homes built – close to great public transport, close to jobs, close to the schools that we have invested in in those communities. If you are a young Victorian, you saw very clearly who was on your side and who was not. You saw that very, very clearly. We will continue to build –

Richard Riordan: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, the electors of South Barwon clearly would get no benefit from that member’s statement. The Premier was not relevant.

The SPEAKER: There is no point of order.