Thursday, 18 May 2023

Transport infrastructure projects

David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (09:55): I want to draw the chamber’s and the community’s attention to the debacle that is occurring with infrastructure projects in this state. Almost every infrastructure project this government has touched in transport and elsewhere is over budget, and sometimes massively over budget. Whether it is the West Gate Tunnel, the Metro Tunnel at nearly $4 billion over budget or the airport rail, all of these are over budget. But now it appears, through a process that predates the federal government’s decisions, this government is going to chill, or put on ice, a number of important projects, including the Ballarat fast rail project and indeed the airport rail connection. Some of us have been around long enough to remember Joan Kirner talking about the rapid transit link to the airport. Labor talked big on these projects but never actually delivered.

Members interjecting.

David DAVIS: Well, we would have delivered it. It would be finished now if we had been in government. We would be in government. Let me be clear here: the government did choose an inferior model for the airport rail link that steals capacity off the Metro – six services an hour actually is the proposal – and there were better proposals on offer. They should have chosen the IFM proposal, which actually meant we would have had new dedicated tunnel capacity from Spencer Street to Sunshine and then out to the airport.