Tuesday, 8 September 2026

 Jess WILSON (Kew – Leader of the Opposition) (14:01): My question is to the Treasurer. Treasury warned the government in 2020 that interest on borrowings for the Suburban Rail Loop could cost around $25 billion based on a 30-year bond rate of just 2.6 per cent. With the 30-year bond rate now at 5.7 per cent, what is the government’s revised estimate of the total interest cost of the Suburban Rail Loop?

 Colin BROOKS (Bundoora – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations) (14:02): We are proud to be getting on with building this important piece of infrastructure. We know those opposite do not support the project. The opposition –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Youth is warned.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, sledging is not relevant. If the Treasurer does not understand, he should just say that. If you do not understand, just say it.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Minister for Youth, this is your second warning. I remind members of the correct way to raise a point of order. The Treasurer to come back to the question.

Colin BROOKS: The financing arrangements for the SRL are transparent: a one-third contribution from the state government, one-third from value capture and one-third from the federal government. I am proud to be part of the Carroll Labor government, which has found already $2 billion worth of savings on this project and brought the overall cost of the project down to $33.3 billion.

 Jess WILSON (Kew – Leader of the Opposition) (14:03): If the government does not have a revised estimate, how can the Treasurer credibly claim that the Suburban Rail Loop is affordable when the borrowing rate underpinning Treasury’s original $25 billion interest estimate has more than doubled?

 Colin BROOKS (Bundoora – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations) (14:04): The answer goes to the fact that we have already brought the cost of this project down to $33.3 billion, and as the Premier has outlined, further work – the technical review of the two stations packages – is where we are expecting to find a further billion dollars worth of savings and then find further savings –

Danny O’Brien: On a point of order, Speaker, on the question of relevance, both the substantive and the supplementary relate specifically to the financing costs of this project, which the Treasurer has not gone anywhere near.

The SPEAKER: I cannot tell the Treasurer how to answer the question. He was being relevant to the question.

Colin BROOKS: Just to conclude the answer, for the benefit of the opposition, the answer is that we are still looking for further savings in this project and we are bringing the price of the project down.