Wednesday, 14 May 2025

Suburban Rail Loop

Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (12:12): (904) My question is for the Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop. Martha and Victor are a retired couple who downsized and bought a duplex in Highett. They have raised serious concerns about toxic soil, loss of green space and compulsory acquisition associated with the Suburban Rail Loop. They attended a recent information session provided by the Victorian government and found it to be:

… a PR exercise with sugar coated answers to our questions.

They went on to say:

… we did the right thing and downside and now this government is put us in this position.

Why is the minister for the SRL punishing and talking down to vulnerable retired Victorians?

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:13): Thank you, Mr Mulholland, for your question about the work we are doing with communities as we deliver Australia’s largest housing project. I note that the last question you asked me about the Suburban Rail Loop was back on 1 April, and since then we have seen your colleagues and the coalition go very, very silent on this project that you had previously indicated a strident opposition to. Just to be really clear before I get into the detail of the work that we are doing, I just want to note that your position remains absolutely unchanged: you do not support it, you have never supported it and you will never support it.

David Davis: On a point of order, President, it was a simple question. The minister is clearly heading out on a frolic into different terrain which is not related to the simple set of questions that were asked.

The PRESIDENT: I had some difficulty with the question, but I will not externalise it. I will just call the minister.

Harriet SHING: How fitting in fact that the interjection and the objection raised came from Mr Davis, who has previously been so strident in his opposition to various infrastructure projects that if you do a search on the word ‘monstrous’ I am sure that you will find every bit of infrastructure has been described as such by him in the past.

David Davis: On a point of order, President, the minister is heading off on a frolic, attacking the opposition. She should just answer the question.

The PRESIDENT: I will call the minister back to the question.

Harriet SHING: One of the things that we have seen is a commodification of the questions, the concerns and the desires for certainty of community members by those opposite. You are very, very happy to foment division and concern from residents about things that they deserve –

David Davis: On a point of order, President, the minister is again attacking the opposition and refusing to answer a simple question.

The PRESIDENT: I think the minister was reflecting on the question.

Harriet SHING: When we talk about the work that we are doing with communities, it is so important that we underscore the care and the process and the time and the provision of the information across a significant period for people who have quite reasonable questions about the way in which this nation-shaping project is being delivered.

We have sites that have been operational since 2022, and the Suburban Rail Loop Authority has been working really, really closely with communities to make sure that the safety of our communities and its workers across sites and environments is the highest priority as works proceed. The discovery of non-friable asbestos is really, really common across worksites. There is dust and disruption that occurs across major worksites; that is not unique to the sites across the Suburban Rail Loop worksites.

We do have a range of mitigation measures to address the sorts of challenges that have been raised by the people in your example, and we do continue to work with people on the options available to them. I have met with residents who have expressed questions, concerns and uncertainties about the impact of construction works on them, as have local members. The member for Clarinda and a number of members in this place are continuing to have conversations with communities about the sorts of information that they need and that they deserve. There are options and opportunities, whether that is respite or temporary relocation. The sorts of consequences of disruption are met and addressed, and they include options for potential voluntary purchase.

Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (12:17): On the supplementary, Martha says that she has been:

… a Labor voter for 50 years …

and that she has:

… lost faith in the Labor Party, particularly here in Victoria …

reflecting on how she has been treated. Infrastructure Australia does not back the SRL, local communities do not back the SRL and even Labor loyalists do not back the SRL. Will the minister admit that she has got it wrong and finally cancel the Suburban Rail Loop?

Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:18): Right, so here we get to the nub of the question. Yet again you have taken local examples from people who want to know about this project and used them as the stalking horse for a particular political narrative, the sting of which is in the tail of the supplementary question, Mr Mulholland. Here is the thing: you have never supported the Suburban Rail Loop, you do not support the Suburban Rail Loop and you never will support the Suburban Rail Loop. In distinction –

David Davis: On a point of order, President, it is again a very simple question, and the minister is going to head off on another frolic to attack –

The PRESIDENT: The minister is being relevant to the question.

Harriet SHING: Infrastructure Australia do support the project, and you can see that in their report where they allocate it as a priority project. Mr Mulholland, the sorts of things in that report are basically part of the work that happens across major projects that are delivered with the sort of funding requirement in the Suburban Rail Loop. It is a priority project; Infrastructure Australia supports it, the Prime Minister supports it, the infrastructure minister supports it, the Treasurer supports it, Victorians support it. We have had four elections now, Mr Mulholland. You will never support this project. Just come clean and say that you oppose it.