Thursday, 15 August 2019

In reply to  Mr BARTON (Eastern Metropolitan) (13 August 2019)

Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Roads, Minister for Road Safety and the TAC, Minister for Fishing and Boating):

The Andrews Labor Government is committed to delivering the best possible freight outcomes for rural and regional Victorians.

The Murray Basin Rail Project is about enhancing access and competition for the freight network in Victoria and significant progress has already been made with Stage 1 complete and Stage 2 largely complete.

These works have already seen freight trains returned to the Mildura and Murrayville to Ouyen lines with standard gauge access, and to the Maryborough to Ararat line, which has been reopened after 15 years.

A new junction has also been installed near Ararat Station, with associated signalling works to be commissioned in the coming months.

We know how important this project is for farmers and the freight industry and that’s why we got moving on the works in the first year of our first term.

It was the Andrews Government that secured the Federal funding needed for this project back in 2016 and it is the Andrews Government that will continue to partner with the Federal Government—and engage with industry—to work through future stages of the project and deliver the best possible freight outcomes.

The Minister for Transport Infrastructure is happy to offer a briefing to the member on the project.