Federal Budget 2019 analysis: Will cash splash get Liberal Sarah Henderson over the line in marginal Corangamite?

Analysis: With almost $3 billion earmarked for vital rail improvements and major funding in health and roads, this was a Budget beyond Liberal MP Sarah Henderson’s wildest dreams.

Corangamite MP Sarah Henderson greets Prime Minister Scott Morrison in Geelong. Picture: AAP Image/James Ross

With almost $3 billion earmarked for vital rail improvements and major funding in health and roads, this was a Budget beyond Liberal MP Sarah Henderson’s wildest dreams.

Will it be enough for Ms Henderson to hold onto her marginal seat of Corangamite in just over a month’s time?

Only time will tell.

Held by a fingernail-thin margin of just 0.03 per cent, the Coalition will be hoping the massive cash splash will be enough to persuade undecided voters to vote Liberal in a few weeks’ time.

The $2 billion announcement for a 32-minute bullet train between Geelong and Melbourne was widely ridiculed by Labor as a dud, with critics claiming it will cost at least seven times that amount.

While there is scepticism over the fast train, long suffering commuters sick of unreliable, slow and overcrowded trains will welcome the $700 million earmarked to complete the Waurn Ponds rail upgrade.

Viewed by many commentators as a $700 million gift to ‘save Sarah’, Ms Henderson insists she is simply trying to save the people of Corangamite from second-rate rail services.

This funding builds on the $147 million already promised by state Labor and will be a big win for rail users when this project is complete by 2023.

Completion of the duplication project is expected to allow for trains to run between Waurn Ponds and Melbourne every 10 minutes at peak times, delivering up to 255 extra services from Waurn Ponds, 235 services from Marshall, and 45 services from South Geelong each week.

MP Sarah Henderson and Prime Minister Scott Morrison. Picture: Alan Barber

And in a win for motorists, the project will remove level crossings at Fyans St and on the Surf Coast Highway to ease road congestion.

One late surprise was the Morrison Government’s investment of $50 million towards a new $160 million women’s and children’s hospital to be built on the site of the former Geelong Private Hospital.

And there was an additional $30 million allocated towards the Geelong City Deal to support the implementation of the Shipwreck Coast Master Plan.

Hopefully by upgrading tourism infrastructure at the Twelve Apostles site, it will encourage visitors to explore more of the Great Ocean Road before returning to Melbourne.

Josh Frydenberg’s first ­Budget delivered a surplus of $7.1 billion – the first Budget in the black since another Victorian Treasurer, Peter Costello, rose to his feet 12 years ago.

For once Victoria — and Geelong — can’t complain that it has been short-changed, but has it come too late to save the day?

Originally published as Federal Budget 2019 analysis: Will cash splash get Liberal Sarah Henderson over the line in marginal Corangamite?