Jacinta Allan says Vic ‘wants fair share’ on transport project funding

Victoria’s Transport Infrastructure Minister has lashed the federal government after analysis revealed the state is not getting its “fair share” of funding for transport projects.

Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan has lashed the federal government for failing to give Victoria its fair share in transport project funding.

It comes after a new report from the Grattan Institute revealed that despite 26 per cent of Australia’s population living in Victoria, the state only receives 18 per cent of federal transport funds.

“This has been an issue for a little while now here in Victoria,” Ms Allan said.

“Of course we’d love to see a federal government invest in Victoria that’s proportionate to our population share.

“We’d love to see those funds come into our state like they do for other states. We just want some of that fair share of funding here in Victoria”

Ms Allan said the state had put approximately $46bn towards three major Victorian infrastructure projects — the Metro Tunnel, Level Crossing Removal Project and the North East Link.

Of that, just $1.75bn in federal contribution — for the NE Link — has been provided to the three projects, Ms Allan said.

“That’s far less than our fair share and frankly if we were other states, and we were getting 50/50, that figure would be in and around $23bn,” she said.

“That’s not a fair and equitable outcome for the state of Victoria and we have always pushed strongly and assert to any federal government that we should get our fair share.

“There is heaps of work going on here in Victoria and yes the federal government are a partner in some of these projects but there is so much more than that we are doing that they could support us on.”

Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan has lashed the federal government over the funding shortfall. Picture: Luis Ascui

Analysis shows hotly contested federal electorates were showered with millions of dollars more than safe seats received from a controversial urban congestion fund.

And Victoria has been consistently short-changed when it comes to federal transport initiatives, which favoured Queensland and NSW “where federal elections tend to be won and lost”.

The analysis of “pork-barrelling” – promising public funds to particular seats for political gain – by think tank the Grattan Institute shows the average marginal urban seat has received $83m from a $4.9bn Urban Congestion Fund.

The average safe Coalition seat received $64m, while safe Labor seats got $34m.

The analysis takes broader aim at transport promises at elections, with only one of 71 coalition major projects worth more than $100m promised at the most recent federal poll having a business case ­approved by advisory body ­Infrastructure Australia.

Labor was little better, with just two business cases out of 61 mega projects promised – and its transport spending promises were worth more.

Victoria has received less transport cash compared with other eastern states. Picture: Mark Stewart.

Transport and cities program director at the Grattan Institute Marion Terrill said pork barrelling “wastes money, is unfair, and could be dramatically curtailed if the federal government stuck to its job of providing funding only for ­nationally significant transport projects”.

“Politicians who insist on pork barrelling are wasting taxpayers’ money, and the biggest losers are people who live in safe seats or states with few marginal electorates,” she said.

“Whichever party wins government at the 2022 federal election should stick to its job: no more roundabouts, overpasses, or carparks, just nationally significant roads and rail on the National Land Transport Network.”

The report shows the dramatic increase in transport funding pledges at the 2019 election compared with the 2016 poll.

The coalition increased the value of its promises from $5.4bn to $42bn between those elections, while Labor ratcheted up its spendathon from $6.7bn to $49bn.

Labor’s commitments in 2019 included $10bn for the Andrews government’s Suburban Rail Loop, which at the time had no business case or detailed alignment.

Since 2009 federal governments have funded almost 800 roundabouts, carparks, and overpasses that are unconnected with the national network, the report says.

Ms Terrill said Victoria had received less transport cash compared with other eastern states, with the discrepancy unable to be explained “by population, population growth, size of the road network, share of passenger or freight travel, or what it actually costs the state government to run the transport system”.

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Originally published as Jacinta Allan says Vic ‘wants fair share’ on transport project funding