Opposition to call on Allan govt to halt Suburban Rail Loop

A motion calling on the Allan government to immediately halt works on the controversial Suburban Rail Loop will be put to parliament citing “serious concern” about Victoria’s financial position.

A motion calling on the Allan government to immediately halt works on the controversial Suburban Rail Loop is set to be put to parliament.

Leader of the Opposition in the upper house Georgie Crozier will move the motion on Wednesday citing concerns about Victoria’s financial position.

The motion will express “serious concern over the Allan Labor government’s decision to prioritise the Suburban Rail Loop over the essential services and projects Victorians need, despite a serious warning from Standard & Poor’s, including: the threat of a credit rating downgrade”.

That warning was revealed by the Herald Sun last week amid a deepening split with the government over the future of the project which is set to cost taxpayers up to $35bn for just the first stage.

Leader of the Opposition in the upper house Georgie Crozier will move the motion on Wednesday citing concerns about Victoria’s financial position. Picture: Valeriu Campan

However S&P analyst Anthony Walker has expressed concerns about that estimate, saying any increase in cost would risk an almost certain credit downgrade.

That would see the state reduced to a record low AA- rating — three notches down from AAA in 2020 — and would mean increased borrowing costs of between 0.1 per cent and 0.5 per cent at a time when the state’s debt is ballooning.

Ms Crozier’s motion will also note “that Premier Jacinta Allan has neglected the real priorities of Victorians — such as better healthcare, safer roads, and cost of living relief — in favour of a large-scale project with no credible business case.”

And it will call on the government to “immediately halt the Suburban Rail Loop to protect Victorian’s credit rating and shield Victorians from further debt.”

In order to pass a bill or motion, 21 votes are needed in the 40-member house.

Labor has 15 MPs and the Coalition has 13, meaning it will need to secure seven crossbench votes for the motion to be passed.

The motion is non-binding and won’t require the government to do anything.

Current projection forecast Victoria’s net debt to hit $188bn by 2027-28. Picture: Penny Stephens

Current projection forecasts Victoria’s net debt to hit $188bn by 2027-28 — or $67,000 for every household — with a $26m-a-day interest bill — however government sources said May’s budget had already blown out by up to $9bn.

A new $1bn wages deal for nurses, giving them a 28 per cent pay rise, and a committment for an extra $1.5bn in health funding have been blamed for part of the blowout.

The government is also negotiating new pay deals with each of Victoria’s emergency services, which could ultimately add an extra $1.3bn to its wages bill over the next four years, based on the current demands of the unions.

The state’s broken Workcover scheme — which has seen benefits paid to injured workers exceeding the premiums paid by business to fund the scheme by $1.1bn every year — is also understood to be contributing to the budget blowout.

The entire 90km SRL has not been costed but the state’s Parliamentary Budget Office says that to build the first two stages, between Cheltenham and Tullamarine, would likely cost $216.7bn to build and operate over five decades.

Originally published as Opposition to call on Allan govt to halt Suburban Rail Loop