Thursday, 19 February 2026

 Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (12:09): My question is to the Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop. Minister, the Rotting from the Top report by eminent integrity expert Geoffrey Watson SC estimates the cost of the Big Build has blown out by a massive $15 billion in rorts. Given this, how can you possibly stand by your half-decade-old business and investment case that claims the SRL will cost a maximum of $34 billion?

 Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:10): Thanks, Mr Mulholland. Well, it is always interesting to hear how you characterise various commentators who express various opinions and views on various matters. When it suits your purposes, certain people are eminent, but what also does not suit your purposes is that, for example, that same draft report, which was in fact in parts not accepted by the independent administrator because it did not stack up when certain opinions were expressed, refers to 30,000 workers across construction industries and job sites, who do a power of good work, who are good, hardworking and honest people, who deserve fair pay and terms and conditions and who deserve safe workplaces. Mr Mulholland, yet again, if you had your way, construction workers in this state would not be paid any more than the minimum wage. Consistently, you oppose any increases to minimum terms and conditions. Consistently, you vote against legislative reforms, wage theft, industrial manslaughter and nurse-to-patient ratios. Time and time again, you show the fact that you care not one jot for workers’ terms and conditions.

Members interjecting.

Harriet SHING: See, you do not even want to hear the answer to the question, Mr Mulholland.

Evan Mulholland: On a point of order, President, my question was about the half-decade-old cost estimate of $34 billion and how the minister can claim it is not going to go over.

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

Harriet SHING: Again, you refer to a report and you refer to eminent commentary, and again I am in a position to talk to you about what is in a draft report, what remained in a draft report and where certain opinions and views did not stack up and were removed by the independent administrator, an administrator who deals in facts alongside Victoria Police, who deal in facts, and alongside the work that is being undertaken by a range of assessment processes to address the issues that have been raised time and time again. Members of your own party have raised matters and referred them on to integrity agencies, Mr Mulholland. Let us let that work continue.

Mr Mulholland, for the third time, I am really happy to see about tabling this business and investment case if you would like to see it again. We have had workers, thousands of workers, on sites across Suburban Rail Loop East since 2022. These workers have terms and conditions negotiated with contractors, which are subject to tests by the Fair Work Commission in order to make sure that those agreements have been made genuinely and without coercion – the only basis upon which such agreements can be certified.

Mr Mulholland, this is a project that is on time and on budget. You hate this project. We have only ever had one position in relation to this project; you have had three times more positions on this project than you have had leaders, and that is no small number. Mr Mulholland, we are continuing to build this project. We have got one position on it. Victorians have voted on it time and time again. It is on time and on budget. Tunnel-boring machines are arriving this year. Tunnel boring starts this year. Thousands of workers are working hard on this project. If you are saying that those workers are criminals because they have got fair terms, conditions and safe systems of work, then that just shows that they can expect a knock on their door if you are ever in power.

 Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (12:13): Minister, the cost of construction has risen by at least 21 per cent since the business and investment case was printed, and as the Treasurer stated on Tuesday in this house, cost escalations within the construction industry have very much been driven by things such as ‘labour shortages and indeed increased costs in relation to raw materials’. Can the minister explain why the Treasurer’s claim of widespread cost escalation does not apply to the Suburban Rail Loop’s 2019 cost estimate of $30 billion to 34 billion?

 Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:14): Mr Mulholland, you do not seem to know very much about business cases and the things that go into factoring the TEI as it relates to the development and delivery of major projects, and the reason that you do not know anything about them is because your party never build anything when they are in government. What we have done is deliver a pipeline of work. Whether it is building the new Footscray Hospital, whether it is the Melbourne Metro Tunnel or whether it is the removal of more than 86 level crossings, the work goes on. What happens when you manage the work and infrastructure that is delivered by tens of thousands of hardworking people in dangerous conditions, Mr Mulholland, is that as that work tapers off you are able to deliver more work. That is exactly what is happening under the Suburban Rail Loop.

Evan Mulholland: On a point of order, President, the question went to explaining why the Treasurer’s claim did not apply to the Suburban Rail Loop, and I have not heard an answer to that.

The PRESIDENT: She did respond to the question at the start of her answer.

Harriet SHING: Thank you, Mr Mulholland. Well, if you had ever delivered a major project, you would know that to publish an outcome of negotiated envelopes before that has actually been concluded is, I would say, the height of economic irresponsibility, Mr Mulholland. Again, we will continue this project on time and on budget. You will continue your dozens of different positions on it, and – (Time expired)