Thursday, 31 October 2019

 Ms RYAN (Euroa) (11:30): My question is to the Minister for Transport Infrastructure. At a Delphi Bank event earlier this month the Treasurer said that the government was no longer committed to building dedicated rail tunnels as part of the Melbourne Airport rail link. Given dedicated rail tunnels are essential for an express airport service, why is the government abandoning fast rail to the airport?

 Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure) (11:31): I thank the member for Euroa for her question. You will forgive me, Speaker, for perhaps repeating some of the information I provided to the house last sitting week when I was asked a not dissimilar question. I think it was from the Leader of the Opposition on that occasion. I may have on that occasion reflected on how we need to get on and plan for the best way to deliver an airport rail link that benefits the most Victorians and why we have been determined that that route goes through Sunshine. I believe the Treasurer was in Sunshine at that breakfast on that occasion. It was a great opportunity. The member of St Albans and I were talking just the other day about the great opportunities that are going to come for the Sunshine community by having that become an important transport hub—and of course for regional communities.

I will tell you what, there has been a lot of talk and a lot of planning about how to deliver rail infrastructure in Victoria. There was of course a government who printed tickets to an airport rail link that did not even exist.

Ms Ryan: On a point of order, Speaker, while I would be more than happy to invite the Leader of the House to repeat her antics from last sitting week and incur your wrath, on the point of relevance, this was a very specific question about why the government has abandoned fast rail to the airport by refusing to build the dedicated rail tunnels that are required. The minister has not come close to answering that specific point about dedicated rail tunnels, and I would ask you to bring her back to answering the question.

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister is to come back to answering the question.

Ms ALLAN: Speaker, the reason why I was talking about how to best plan rail infrastructure—

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Hastings!

Ms ALLAN: Perhaps take the advice of the member for Warrandyte—what is good for both sides of the chamber—

The SPEAKER: Order! Leader of the House, through the Chair.

Ms ALLAN: And in terms of how we best plan to deliver rail infrastructure, I must say to the member for Euroa that I will not be taking her advice. And the reason for this is pretty simple. In an earlier—

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for South-West Coast!

Ms ALLAN: In an earlier sitting of this Parliament, the member for Euroa failed to understand how V/Line trains could run on the metropolitan network. She failed to even understand that simple approach to running an integrated regional and metropolitan rail network. The member for Euroa is also someone who does not understand that you need to upgrade track—

Mr M O’Brien: On a point of order relating to relevance, Speaker, the question relates to the government walking away from its commitment to build dedicated tunnels to service fast airport rail. The minister is now devolving into an attack on the member for Euroa. I ask you to bring her back to answering the question.

The SPEAKER: I do ask the minister to come back to answering the question.

Ms ALLAN: Well, Speaker, I do put it to you that I am being entirely relevant, because the issues that were canvassed—

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! If members shout across the chamber at the minister and I cannot hear her answer, I will not be able to rule on further points of order.

Ms ALLAN: Thank you, Speaker. The issues that have been canvassed by the member for Euroa are not ones that have been determined by the government. Because what we are doing is we are properly planning how best to deliver an airport rail link. We will not take the approach of those opposite and print tickets to an airport rail line that does not even exist. We are working, as the Premier has already indicated to the house and to the public—

Ms ALLAN: We are having very good, constructive discussions with the federal government on how to deliver an airport rail link that benefits Victoria.

 Ms RYAN (Euroa) (11:35): The Treasurer also said at the same function that the government was considering having airport trains stop at suburban stations. But at a press conference in early September the Premier rejected the airport trains stopping at suburban stations, saying:

… if it’s slow and congested and ‘stopping all stations’ people won’t use it.

So who is right, the Treasurer or the Premier?

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party! The minister to resume her seat. I have already warned members: if the chamber is so noisy that I cannot hear the minister’s response, I am sure that many members of the public cannot hear the minister’s response. The minister has the call.

 Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure) (11:36): I will tell you what is wrong: it is that the member for Euroa clearly has no understanding about how to best plan to deliver rail infrastructure here in Victoria. And I will also put it to you that in terms of planning for the airport rail link, we want trains to stop at Sunshine. The reason why we want those trains to stop at Sunshine is so travellers from Bendigo, Geelong and Ballarat can interchange with the airport rail link.

I say to you, Speaker, the member for Euroa has let the cat out of the bag today. She does not want those regional communities to have those trains stop at Sunshine.

Ms Ryan: On a point of order, Speaker, I renew my earlier point of order, on relevance. The question was: who is right, the Treasurer or the Premier? The Premier has said that we cannot have an airport rail train stopping at all suburban stations, and yet that is what the Treasurer is advocating to the business community. So I renew my question and ask you to draw the Leader of the House back to answering the question.

Ms ALLAN: On the point of order, Speaker, I am being entirely relevant to the question that was asked. The member for Euroa is verballing both the Premier and the Treasurer, and I am entitled to dispute what she puts to the house as ‘fact’ in answering the question. That the member for Euroa does not understand the operation of the metropolitan and regional train network is not my problem. It is her problem in how she frames the question.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! Thank you. I need to rule on the point of order.

Mr Walsh: On the point of order, Speaker, there are deliberate quotes from the Premier about this issue and quotes from the Treasurer from the speech he gave at a business breakfast.

Ms Allan interjected.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Leader of the House!

Mr Walsh: When it actually comes to understanding rail, perhaps the minister could explain what went wrong with the Murray Basin rail project.

The SPEAKER: That was not a contribution to the point of order. I do not uphold the point of order. The minister is being relevant to the question.

Ms ALLAN: Thank you, Speaker. As I have said to the house before, and I will say it again, we will continue to work with the federal government, who we are working with quite cooperatively, on how to best deliver airport rail.

I do need to say that yesterday I did not accurately represent to the house the support the Leader of the National Party has. He has only got seven votes in his party room, not 11.