Wednesday, 1 April 2026

 Joe McCRACKEN (Western Victoria) (18:26): (2462) The new Ballarat railway station overpass opened this week to much fanfare. Let me be clear: I will always support accessibility, and I will always support disability inclusion – that is not the issue for me. The issue for this project was the cost, because what should have been a sensible, practical project has turned into a case study of government excess: $51 million of excess, for an overpass that local experts, engineers and common sense advocates tell us could have been done for much, much less – $6 million or thereabouts, and frankly, that is being generous. That leaves at least $45 million not invested, not allocated, but wasted.

When governments waste money like this there is always a cost, because $45 million could have done a lot. It could have funded 330 teachers – teachers that our schools desperately need – or 300 police officers, fully equipped and ready to serve. It could have delivered 375 nurses, easing pressure on our hospital system, which is already stretched to breaking point. It could have provided 50 new trucks to the CFA, resources that our volunteers desperately need, or 125 ambulances, instead of people waiting for too long. It could have delivered 75 new classrooms or 2500 kinder places, giving kids the best possible start. It could have delivered 100 homes that families desperately need or 45 kilometres of resurfacing on our roads – roads in western Victoria that I know my constituents go on every single day. It could have funded 345 mental health clinicians or cleared 9000 surgeries off the waiting list. It could have repaired country bridges, built mobile towers or finally fixed the black spots that my constituents experience every day. That is what $45 million looks like. No ribbon cutting, no press release – real services, real outcomes and real priorities.

When a government spends $51 million on something that should really cost $6 million, that is not just bad budgeting, that is a choice – a choice to waste, a choice to ignore what really matters, a choice to put headlines ahead of people. Victorians pay more and get less. And while we on this side are busy backing Victorians, those opposite are busy backing bikies, backing cover-ups and backing con artists. The action that I seek from the Minister for Transport Infrastructure is to conduct a review into the Ballarat railway station redevelopment and release those findings publicly. Locals deserve answers, and we will be fighting to get them.