Wednesday, 9 February 2022

Shepparton bypass

Mr QUILTY (Northern Victoria) (18:14): (1727) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Transport Infrastructure. The Shepparton bypass is long awaited—very long awaited. This government initially produced a $300-$400 million estimate for stage 1 of the Shepparton bypass. The federal government agreed to contribute most of the cost for the $208 million commitment, but the project was still underfunded. In new estimates the project cost has tripled. The bypass is now expected to cost $1.2 billion. The government is refusing to reveal where the initial numbers came from and what explains the increase in costs. This has led to squabbling between governments. The Victorian transport infrastructure minister wants to shift blame onto the federal government, and the feds do not want to pay an additional $692 million because of the state government’s stuff-up. Barnaby Joyce suspects regulation is responsible for the blowout, but Jacinta Allan says he has no idea what he is talking about.

So, Minister, how about you enlighten us? I call on the minister to tell us why this project has tripled in cost and to specifically account for the additional costs incurred from compliance with environmental and cultural heritage red tape. While you squabble, the bypass is not getting built. Nobody is releasing the business case. A case developed for taxpayers using taxpayer funds is being withheld from taxpayers by politicians that are supposed to represent them. It is not your business case and it is not your information to keep secret. The information belongs to the public, and it is time you released it. In fact, Minister, I call on you to turn the Shepparton bypass into a case study in transparency. Put up the budgets and the costings with all their granularity online. Open it up to the crowd for scrutiny. Reveal every delay and cost overrun in real time. Let us monitor the project, warts and all. Turn what has been so far a typical case of government secrecy and stuff-up into a shining example of transparency.