Wednesday, 3 June 2026

 David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:04): I move:

That this house:

(1)   notes:

(a) the significant population growth in the Clyde North area within the City of Casey, which has placed increasing pressure on existing transport infrastructure;

(b) that local residents, community groups, and stakeholders in the City of Casey have been calling for an extension of the Cranbourne line for more than 10 years;

(c) that public confidence in such projects is best upheld through open access to relevant documentation and business cases; and

(2)   in accordance with standing order 10.01, requires the Leader of the Government to table in the Council, within eight weeks of the house agreeing to this resolution, documents related to any business proposal, funding agreement or feasibility study between the federal government and the Victorian government concerning an extension of the Cranbourne train line, including but not limited to, all business cases, cost–benefit analyses, economic assessments, and feasibility studies prepared for, or by, either the federal government or the Victorian government.

A bit of background: for nearly 30 years there has been discussion of extending the Cranbourne train line to Clyde. Steve Bracks promised to do it in 1999, and the Labor Party promised to do it again in 2002. In 2018 the Labor government pledged to duplicate the line to Cranbourne as a prerequisite to the Clyde rail link extension. Thankfully the government have duplicated the line to Cranbourne, and assuming there was not money funnelled to organised crime, probably this is an example of a good infrastructure project, but the Clyde rail extension, sadly, remains a dream. For residents of the outer south-east this project is an important priority, with one community survey in Casey stating that 97 per cent of residents support the Clyde rail link project. The Cranbourne duplication has been completed for years. For people out on that side of town, this is a project that would transform one of the fastest developing areas of Australia.

Apparently there has been a business case developed. Somebody somewhere – and presumably a Victorian government department – has a copy of it, and apparently it was the federal government that did this business case. Deciding whether or not this is a project that should proceed is a discussion that would be better informed by seeing the actual work that has apparently been done to understand the costs, benefits and possible cost of the project. It is something that has been raised with me by stakeholders in the south-east, and it is something that should be a public document for consideration of residents of the south-east and other Victorians that want to consider infrastructure spending.

I will make the point to the Leader of the Government in this place that, as we do not know the exact name of the document, the production order necessarily is a bit wider than what I would otherwise ask for, but I am happy to use our new mechanisms to narrow down to the exact document, because I am really after just that one document, which is the business case, but as I do not know what it is called I necessarily had to cast a wider net. But I am sure the government can make use of these new procedures to give us just the single document that we need. I urge all members to support this motion asking for production of that business case.

 Michael GALEA (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:07): I am pleased to rise to speak on the motion that has been put forward by Mr Limbrick today. This is something that is of particular interest – of keen interest – to me and my colleague Mr Tarlamis, who is in the chamber for this debate as well. At the outset I state that I am very pleased to be speaking in favour of this documents motion, and I very much look forward to the conversations that will ensue as a result. It is a very important subject and indeed one that I have had many good conversations with people in my community about. Even though I do not represent the majority of Clyde, I do have Clyde North indeed as well as Cranbourne East and surrounding areas in my electorate, and whether it is with key stakeholders or local residents out on the doors, this is a frequent topic of conversation and I know something that we are all very keen to see into the long term.

There is quite a history to this project, as Mr Limbrick has outlined, and yes, it is quite right to note that it has been a key topic of conversation for about 30 years, because of course it was 30 years ago that the Liberal Party closed the rail service to Clyde. There was previously a rail service to Clyde and indeed on to Koo Wee Rup all the way as far as Leongatha, but that was closed and cut back by the Liberal government, as is their wont. The area continues to evolve and continues to grow, and whilst we see significant investment in rail infrastructure across metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria, including in the south-east – and I could happily talk about level crossing removals across the entire Pakenham and Cranbourne lines, I could talk about of course the Metro Tunnel and I could spend a lot of time talking about the recent bus upgrades that have been undertaken into the area as well to quickly respond in line with population – I will also note that Mr Limbrick outlined the commitment of the then Andrews Labor government in 2018 to duplicate the line as a prerequisite, and that is entirely correct and it is entirely sensible as that it is the right thing to do. The Cranbourne line previously was a single track, bar possibly one or two passing loops, all the way from Dandenong through Lynbrook and Merinda Park to Cranbourne. Extending a line onto that existing network would have been the equivalent of building a brand new three-lane each way freeway and funnelling all that traffic onto a single-lane road – it would not have been a viable solution. So it is correct that the government has identified that as the priority and indeed, in accordance with its commitment, has delivered on that and in doing has then fully duplicated the Cranbourne line between Dandenong and Cranbourne and in doing so also delivered a major upgrade to Merinda Park station.

The prerequisite infrastructure is there, which indeed does make this a timely opportunity to discuss future possibilities and future options that Mr Limbrick also went to in talking about how he believes this may be a federal document. Indeed we are in a position where it is a very good thing that Victoria is now receiving a decent federal buy-in to our infrastructure spend, although I will note that even though we have come up to 50 per cent parity from the federal government on major infrastructure projects, we still have not been – I do not know if ‘compensated’ is the right word, but it still has not made up for the nine years of complete neglect from the former Liberal government, which did not invest a single dollar into major city-shaping projects such as the Metro Tunnel. Those are projects that the state has had to put more funds into, to go it alone, because we were not prepared to wait for the stagnant Liberal Party to get their act together. They were completely ignoring the interests of Victorians. We wanted to go it alone because the alternative of waiting was not an option. A lot of funds have then gone towards other major projects such as the Metro Tunnel, which is indeed directly servicing and benefiting communities along the Pakenham and Cranbourne corridor today. But there is certainly more work to be done, and it is an area that I am very excited to be deeply engaged in.

I do say, though, of course, to reiterate the point: that does not mean that we are sitting on our laurels by any means. Through this very budget we have seen major extensions and upgrades of local bus services announced, including routes 795, 896 and 897, which will directly go along that corridor, as well as indeed route 888 down to Clyde from Berwick, providing that network connection. That follows up on previous extensions of the bus network too. I am very excited to have this conversation, and long may we have many more conversations on this very important future project. But in the meantime we are also not waiting; we are getting on with delivering not only the road upgrades in the area but also significant bus upgrades year after year after year into Clyde North, into Cranbourne East and into Clyde itself as this area grows.

 Renee HEATH (Eastern Victoria) (10:12): I rise as well to support Mr Limbrick’s motion on the release of these documents. There has been absolutely huge support in the community for the extension of this rail line. There is currently a live petition to take it even further and to extend the rail line from Cranbourne to Koo Wee Rup, and at the moment, as it stands, there are well over 4000 signatures. I just wanted to put that in because this is not an outlier of an issue.

This project that was spoken about – and there has been, of course, not surprisingly, some blaming of the Liberals for this, regardless of the fact that the government have been in power for the last 12 years. But here are some facts: this is a project that Labor promised in 1999 and failed to deliver in 1999 – broken promise number 1 on this issue. Then they promised it in 2002. Guess what, they did not deliver it – broke that promise again. And then, third time unlucky, because here comes 2006: they promised it again. And while they are blaming the Liberals or the coalition or whoever knows – maybe George Washington! – while they are blaming everyone else, they again failed to deliver it. This is an area that is growing over and over again, and one of the many reasons I support the release of this document is – and these numbers might be out of date, because it has been a long time since they promised and failed and promised and failed. We are not allowed to say that anyone in particular is lying, but I think as a government you can collectively absolutely know that they have lied three times on this project. But regardless, $3 billion was the amount that they said that it would probably cost to pay for this project.

It is amazing to put this into perspective, and I will do that right now. This is why integrity in government matters, because if they say they are going to deliver something, it should not be to buy your vote, it should be because they are going to deliver it. And the fact that in 1999, 2002 and 2006 they stayed true to form and just promised whatever they wanted, took your votes and then completely treated Victorians with contempt is one reason why integrity matters, because you should not be lied to. The second reason that integrity matters is this cost was costed at around $3 billion. If there was proper integrity in this state, we could have used that $15 billion that was lost to corruption, which experts say is a conservative number, to build this train line not once, not twice, not three times, not four times but five times over. I just want to highlight that that is why integrity in politics matters. Next time – and it will probably happen very soon – when you have a Labor candidate or a Labor member standing in front of you saying, ‘We’re going to deliver this line,’ they probably will also, like Mr Galea, say, ‘You should be thankful because of the Metro Tunnel.’

Michael Galea: On a point of order, President, Dr Heath needs to be very careful not to misrepresent here, because this Labor government in 2014, 2018 and 2022 did not make the promise that she is alleging. If she wants to go back as far as decades ago, we can talk about Jeff Kennett closing the rail line in 1993.

The PRESIDENT: It is not a point of order.

Renee HEATH: You have just eaten 40 seconds or so of my short time.

A member: It was a good contribution.

Renee HEATH: Not really. But Ms Gray-Barberio asked for a very similar document recently. She asked for the Upfield line railway study, a 2017 document. In August 2025 the Attorney-General wrote back to the chamber saying that they needed more time. They have not handed it down. I am raising that because we have now had years of requesting documents, and I am really not sure how many we have seen. We are still waiting for the towers. We have got two documents motions every Wednesday, and just like an alarm clock – it is that reliable – the Clerk stands up and says, ‘Sorry, the government won’t deliver them because they need more time.’ Integrity matters. I hope you deliver these documents. I am very thankful to Mr Limbrick for bringing this forward, and I commend the motion to the house.

 Sheena WATT (Northern Metropolitan) (10:17): I am going to join with my colleague Mr Galea in saying that the government will not oppose this documents motion before us, as has been convention in many sessions before this, and just speak a little bit about the government’s history in delivering transport in the south-east suburbs, because the truth is this is an area that is booming, there is no doubt about it, and it is only Labor that has a plan to make sure the vibrant parts of our state have the public transport infrastructure that they need.

Let me talk about the Metro Tunnel, because that needs conversation today. It is the centrepiece of Labor’s commitment to public transport services in the south-east and is undoubtedly the biggest transformation of our public transport network since the opening of the city loop, which is, what, 40 years old now. Earlier this year, on 1 February, we had the long-awaited big switch, which added a thousand new turn-up-and-go services to key south-east Cranbourne and Pakenham lines. That is more trains more often and faster commutes right into the city. Some in this place tried to block the construction of the Metro Tunnel, but Labor indeed got on with the job, with no thanks to our friends in Canberra at the time, who, frankly, neglected us, so we funded it ourselves. We finished it ahead of schedule, and it is already making residents of Melbourne’s south-east’s lives easier from Cranbourne to Caulfield, from Pakenham to Prahran.

Of course while the Metro Tunnel is an important part of our investment in linking our rail network from the south-east to the west, it is just one piece of the puzzle. There are two key south-eastern lines in Pakenham and Cranbourne. They are now level crossing free. For those that make their way into the city of by car that is less time in traffic, and there are shorter commutes for those on the train and even more services to get them to where they need to go.

But I am not just going to talk about trains – and I do appreciate that this motion does speak to train services – because buses too have significantly been uplifted under the leadership of this government. I pay respect to the Minister for Public Transport Gabrielle Williams because, especially in the growth corridors, we have seen an investment in buses, and our government has invested $100 million into delivering better bus services to complement the thousand new turn-up-and-go train services on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines. That is upgraded and extended routes across the key growth areas in this community: Clyde, Cranbourne East, Clyde North, Berwick and Devon Meadows. I have had the good fortune of speaking to both Mr Galea and Mr Tarlamis today about the bus services that have been uplifted right there in their community, and I know that they are very much appreciated. It means that even those on the urban fringe can see the benefits of a project like the Metro Tunnel with the bus works they need to connect those new estates to the stations and take residents into the city for work, study, hospitals – whatever it is that you need.

While Labor invests in what really are state-shaping infrastructure projects that make lives easier for all Victorians, we know that this motion was introduced to continue to spread theories about what the government is doing when it comes to transport infrastructure projects. I know the members are opposed to the Metro Tunnel and opposed to free public transport and any measures that really do make life easier for those that live in the South-East Metropolitan Region. More concerning, though, is the connection between those in the Libertarian Party and the Liberal Party. I have heard time and time again from those opposite – what was it: ‘The Metro Tunnel is a hoax, and it’s never going to happen.’ They have opposed dozens of level crossing removals, and we know that they would cut services and close train stations if given the chance. Sadly, if the Liberal Party had their way, commuters from right across the south-east would be spending their time waiting behind boom gates and waiting for a train that they opposed on the Metro Tunnel and the increased services that it absolutely provides.

Only Labor can be trusted to fight for the public transport infrastructure that the south-east needs. I could speak about public transport right across Melbourne every moment I am right behind this mike. But for now can I just say that the critical investments into the South-East Metropolitan Region and the booming communities there are being met by an investment from state Labor when it comes to buses and trains right across the line. I have had the good fortune of being with many members on the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines since the opening of the Metro Tunnel, and I know how much of a significant difference that has made to their experiences. I encourage all members to get behind some really critical, important public infrastructure projects that our state enjoys.

 Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (10:22): I also rise to support the motion by Mr Limbrick regarding the extension of rail in the City of Casey to Cranbourne East and Clyde. I had the great pleasure of being the candidate for Cranbourne for the Liberal Party in 2018, and this was a Liberal election promise that we went to the election with. It was probably the most exciting election promise that I was part of. I know that the people in Cranbourne and Clyde were looking forward to having this railway line extended, and they were looking forward to having a station in both Cranbourne East and Clyde. Documents from the City of Casey show that some plans show that the actual station was going to be at Casey Fields, which would be great for those who are actually going to a sporting event; it would be wonderful to be able to catch the train and get off at Casey Fields. Other plans show that it could stop near Blue Hills Residences, which is an area of course with a huge retirement village at the back, and that could have allowed those people to be able to use that as well. Also, the line was to be extended into Clyde, which has now gone from being a very sleepy country area to being a huge growth corridor.

I am very, very familiar with the line. I am familiar with the old train tracks that were dismantled and needed to be refitted, and I am very, very aware that once upon a time this was a railway line that had been used to transport goods into country areas. It now needs to be fit for purpose, and that is why it needs to be extended. The old line was used for a very different purpose by diesel trains. These days we now need to have a new line with a duplication that will take it to these areas.

I want to reiterate that it is nothing like what Labor is trying to say. They are saying that the Liberals would never do anything like this, and I can tell you that in 2018 that was our election commitment to the people of Cranbourne and Clyde, and it was a great announcement that was made with Matthew Guy at the time.

Motion agreed to.