Internal documents show department was unsure if commuter car park projects had merit

The Infrastructure Department was unable to tell the federal government whether its plans to spend almost $400 million on car parks at suburban railway stations had merit or could even be built just days before Prime Minister Scott Morrison signed off on the promises.

Documents released under Freedom of Information laws to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age confirm the department itself did not have “detailed information on train station car parks” ahead of Mr Morrison and then infrastructure minister Alan Tudge approving funding for 27 separate car park sites.

Ahead of the 2019 election, the Coalition used a $660 million commuter car park fund to promise 47 car parks near train stations. A scathing Auditor-General’s report found more than three-quarters of the projects were in Coalition-held electorates, and two thirds were in Melbourne.

The Auditor-General found the sites were nominated by ministers or Coalition MPs and although some asked for information from councils, it was unclear whether those councils knew funding had been sought or approved. The Auditor-General’s office revealed a government-compiled list of the 20 most marginal seats ahead of the 2019 election formed the basis for the program.

In the more than two years since the election, three have been built, construction has begun on several more and six were cancelled. The federal government says that by the end of 2022, 33 of the projects will either be completed or under construction.

The heavily redacted documents, released after The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age sought an internal review of the department’s initial decision not to release any documents, show there was still little official information about the proposed car parks in March and April 2019.

On March 26, the day before Mr Morrison announced $35 million for car parks at Gosford and Woy Woy in the marginal NSW seat of Robertson, the department noted it could not recommend funding at that stage.

“The department is not in a position to recommend allocating … funding … or provide detailed advice on the relative merits, scope or funding profiles, given the limited time and information available,” it said.

Both projects are listed as “in planning”, with particular issues around sourcing a site at Woy Woy.

On April 5, just days before Mr Morrison called the election, the department again noted it could not recommend projects, admitting it did not have important information about the proposed car parks.

“The department is not in a position to recommend funding the proposed projects or provide detailed advice on the relative merits, scope or costings of the potential projects, given the limited time and information available,” it said.

“Commentary and analysis on the proposed projects for the CCF (commuter car park fund) are particularly general as the information provided was based on stations alone, with no further details as to current car parking or capacity upgrades envisaged. The department does not currently have access to the detailed information on train station car parks.”

Five days later, Mr Tudge and Mr Morrison formally approved funding for 27 projects worth a combined $389 million. Each car park would be announced publicly during the election campaign.

While the department said it could not find any spreadsheets with the title “top 20 marginals”, the redacted documents do show there were spreadsheets created to identify possible projects.

A departmental search of emails identified more than 3000 relating to the commuter car park fund.

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