Thursday, 19 March 2026

 Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop, Minister for Housing and Building, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (12:33): Last week I saw the remarkable progress at the future SRL East Burwood station, which will provide Deakin University with a train station for the very first time. I joined the members for Glen Waverley, Box Hill and Ashwood and of course Ms Terpstra to announce the eight tunnel-boring machines, which will be named after innovative, influential and inspirational women. These tunnel-boring machines’ names were chosen by local primary students because it is these students who will be among the first to use the Suburban Rail Loop East stations to get to school, to TAFE, to university or to work when this game-changing project takes passengers in 2035.

Labor is not wasting a day. Major construction steams ahead and over 3000 workers are onsite building this project, because we are committed to fighting for the future of Victorians. That is exactly why Labor has only ever had one position when it comes to the Suburban Rail Loop – that we are building it. It is a project which Infrastructure Australia has confirmed is a national priority once again and is investment ready. The experts understand Melbourne is growing and needs more public transport and more homes in the right places, and that is what the Suburban Rail Loop is delivering. It is our commitment to young Victorians, like those who voted for the tunnel-boring machine names, that under an Allan Labor government we will not just grow but grow well. Future generations will have even better transport connections, spending less time getting to work and the doctor and more time doing the things that they love.

Come November, Victorians have a choice – a choice between those who turn their backs on Victorian families, block housing and block the delivery of infrastructure. Those opposite have only ever wanted to scrap the project, sink the tunnel-boring machines and sack thousands of workers. When those opposite say they will pause and review, what they are really saying is that they will slash 70,000 homes, sack 3000 workers and again leave those tunnel-boring machines to sink into the ground. Under a Liberal government – $11.1 billion in cuts – there are no solutions because Victorians will be on their own.