Wednesday, 27 August 2025

Department of Treasury and Finance

Budget papers 2025–26

Ryan BATCHELOR (Southern Metropolitan) (17:38): I rise to make a statement on the 2025–26 budget, which was tabled on 20 May, noting the funding that is in this year’s budget to operationalise the Metro Tunnel. The Metro Tunnel, which is going to open later this year, is one of the most visionary projects we have in Melbourne, and I am very much looking forward to it. I am looking forward to getting on a Metro Tunnel train and getting across our city faster and easier than ever before. The biggest upgrade to our transport infrastructure since the City Loop stations began operating in 1981, the Metro Tunnel is going to change the way Melburnians live, work and move across our city.

It did not just happen by accident that we will have the Metro Tunnel. It took a vision and it took determination from this Labor government more than a decade ago to realise that the City Loop was reaching capacity, that there was a limit on how many trains could run around those tracks and that something needed to be done. Here we are, closing in on the point where the Metro Tunnel is opening its doors to Victorians. There are going to be five new stations: Anzac, Town Hall, State Library, Parkville and Arden, located next to hospitals, universities and top tourist attractions, growing like our city to meet our future needs and growing to support our growing tourism industry. I just wanted to mention that we had some figures recently showing that hotel occupancy has been at an all-time high for a series of consecutive months in Melbourne thanks to the world-leading events program in this city backed by the Labor government. The Metro Tunnel is going to help propel that events industry forward. It is going to help carry us to work, to learn, to get health care. It is going to connect our north-western suburbs to our south-eastern suburbs, and I cannot wait for it to open.

Alongside the funding to operationalise the Metro Tunnel that was contained in the May budget in these budget papers that we are taking note of this evening was also some additional funding to bring more passengers onto the Sandringham line, boosting capacity for between-peak trains, which will run every 10 minutes instead of every 15 minutes – big news for the Sandringham line.

Obviously for those on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines, they will now be now serviced by the Metro Tunnel, getting from Clayton or Oakleigh or Carnegie through Caulfield and Malvern before going through the tunnel. Those living around Caulfield will have the benefit of both city loop and Metro Tunnel trains, with Caulfield station becoming a critical juncture and interchange point for passengers wanting to transfer between these two lines. It is a modern network. For those of us who have had the opportunity to visit some of these brand new stations, they are a marvel. They have excellent new features – things like, for the first time, passenger safety doors, making sure that the platforms and the train lines have a protective barrier, with automated doors opening in line with where the trains connect; and all new high-capacity trains, which offer 20 per cent more capacity than the older trains.

The Metro Tunnel is going to transform the way that Melburnians get across our great city. It is going to connect parts of the city in ways that we have never seen before. Anzac Day will be different when the Anzac station opens. People will be able to get to and from the dawn service like they have never done before. For those fans going and visiting the grand prix at Albert Park, that station will be just a short walk away. Students studying at the University of Melbourne will for the first time have a train. People needing treatment at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre or at the Royal Melbourne Hospital will have a train line at their doorstep. This is going to be revolutionary for transport around Melbourne, and I cannot wait to see it open.