Victorians may still be slugged with Suburban Rail Loop tax

Victorians may still be slapped with another tax to plug the Suburban Rail Loop’s multi-billion budget black hole — with the Allan government refusing to be drawn on the issue.

A Suburban Rail Loop tax could be on the cards for Victorians as the Allan government scrambles to find a way to plug the mega project’s multi-billion budget black hole.

The state government has refused to rule out introducing a SRL tax to recoup billions of dollars spent on building the controversial rail line, which has begun to attract criticism from within the Labor Party caucus.

Transport Infrastructure Minister Danny Pearson on Monday dodged a series of questions about the mammoth project, including whether Victorians could be slapped with another tax.

“I’m not going to get into ruling this in, ruling that out,” he said.

“A third of the funding source will come through value capture and that work remains ongoing and when that work is finalised we will advise the community accordingly.”

Construction on Suburban Rail Loop East has began despite a $20bn funding black hole.

At a Public Accounts and Estimates Committee last month, Mr Pearson refused to rule out forcing new taxes and levies on Monash and Deakin Universities, which are located along the SRL route.

The move could risk universities passing down the extra costs to university students, leading to hiked up fees.

Any new taxes are expected to form part of the government’s efforts to raise $11.5 billion – a third of stage one of the project – through “value capture” efforts.

Some of the value capture initiatives that have been floated by the Suburban Rail Loop Authority include requesting billions of dollars from developers and businesses in the area, introducing a land tax surcharge or establishing a carparking surcharge.

The Suburban Rail Loop Authority has floated value capture initiatives.

Just $14 billion of the projected $30 – $34.5 billion cost for stage one of the project, SRL East – which will run from Cheltenham to Box Hill – has been put on the table, including $11.8 billion from the state government and $2.2 billion from the Commonwealth.

Another $20 billion is yet to be funded.

Shadow Treasurer Brad Rowswell called on Labor to “come clean on their secret $20 billion SRL Tax”.

“Will it be a land tax premium? Will it be a stamp duty surcharge? Will it be a fee on every business and ratepayer in Kingston, Monash and Whitehorse?” he said.

Victorian shadow treasurer Brad Rowswell wants the Allan government to ‘come clean’ on the secret tax.

“Victorians deserve to know exactly who will be hit and how much they will pay.”

Mr Pearson on Monday also sidestepped several questions about the level of support among his colleagues for the Suburban Rail Loop.

As revealed by the Herald Sun on Sunday, north and western suburbs Ministers and MPs, including deputy premier Ben Carroll, have raised concerns about the $34 billion project.

Mr Pearson was asked multiple times whether “every single” Labor MP was still backing the project.

But he refused to confirm every MP remained on board with the controversial project.

“I would say people are overwhelmingly supportive of this project,” he said.

“I think people understand the importance of the project.”

Mr Pearson said every MP “wants to see more infrastructure built in their patch” but claimed none of his colleagues had voiced any concerns with him.