Wednesday, 3 June 2026

 Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:45): (2552) My adjournment is for the Minister for Transport Infrastructure. The action I seek, Minister, is for you to commit to building the Cranbourne East to Clyde rail extension, a project that the community has been waiting for for far too long. In 2018 I ran as the candidate for the Cranbourne electorate in the Victorian state election. I was not elected, clearly, but in my campaign the Liberals committed to building train stations at Cranbourne East and Clyde and to extending the railway, as well as to developing and improving bus services in the City of Casey. Here we are eight years later under a Labor government, and everyone is still waiting.

Massive residential development was evident in its early stages in 2015, particularly in Cranbourne rather than Clyde, and the City of Casey responded and planned for a rail extension and two new stations. I became aware of these plans in 2018 and was delighted to announce our election commitment. New plans in the City of Casey show provision for three new stations, one at the allied health service, which Labor deceptively calls Cranbourne Community Hospital. In fact they spent millions of dollars to relocate our allied health service, and locals say that the new fake hospital is not fit for purpose.

We know Cranbourne East, Clyde and Clyde North have experienced some of the most rapid population growth rates in this state in recent years. Statistics gathered from the City of Casey are indicative of how important this action is. Ninety-seven per cent of Casey residents support the rail link. Clyde and Clyde North alone already have more than 40,000 residents, growing to over 130,000 by 2030, and the broader Clyde corridor, including Cranbourne East, Clyde and Clyde North, is forecast to exceed 220,000 residents by 2041. That is well over a third of Tasmania’s population in a handful of Casey suburbs.

Many residents currently have no realistic alternative to driving, often having to travel more than 20 to 30 minutes to Cranbourne or Berwick station. Residents also continue to rely on inadequate bus services on heavily congested arterial roads. The gap between population growth and transport infrastructure delivery has widened to the point where it has had a significant impact on livability, access to employment and travel times across the entire south-east corridor, despite some recent long-overdue road widenings. With forecast further growth in the future, the current situation is not sustainable. The community deserves an election promise from Labor with a date on the future for this rail extension and the planned stations, because our congestion is not a future problem, it is a problem that is here and it is now.

Minister, it is an election year. Labor has wasted billions on CFMEU payouts, Big Build strippers, overtime wages and transport projects of little to no benefit to my constituents. Minister, will you commit to delivering the rail extension from Cranbourne East to Clyde?