Andrews government won’t budge on keeping level crossing removal selection process a secret

The Andrews government’s push to keep documents detailing the ranking and selection process of level crossing removals out of the public eye is set to drag on.

The battle to keep documents which detail the ranking and selection process of level crossing removals out of the public eye is set to drag on throughout the year.

The Level Crossing Removal Authority took its fight to keep the data hidden to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal on Thursday.

Save Buckley St convener Brian Duggan requested the documents from the LXRA and VicRoads under Freedom of Information Laws (FOI) last year, following outrage in the local community over the way level crossing removals were handled on the Craigieburn line in Melbourne’s north.

The Herald Sun understands the LXRA agreed to hand over “partial data” at the hearing but refused to share projected traffic data for 2026 and 2034.

The matter will return to VCAT in April with another hearing expected in September.

Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan maintained the government has always been transparent when it came to level crossing removals.

“We have already published, for some years now, a prioritisation framework,” Ms Allan said on Thursday.

“There are individual sites and then there’s the network as a whole – how it impacts the local road network.

“We’ve been transparent in how we have selected and identified the level crossings we’re removing and most importantly, as the Victorian community rightly expects, we’re getting on and removing the level crossings.”

Ms Allan refused to comment on whether the documents before VCAT should be made public.

“It’s not appropriate for me to engage in independent FOI (freedom of information) processes that are run at arm’s length through the department and through agencies,” Ms Allan said.

The state opposition has demanded the government explain how it ranked level crossings for removal. Picture: James Ross

“There’s a hearing today and that’s a matter for those agencies to work through.”

Dr Duggan had previously appealed LXRA’s rejection to Victorian Information Commissioner Sven Bluemmel, who ruled that access to the documents should be granted in full.

Ms Allan’s comments comes after the state opposition demanded the government explain how it ranked level crossings for removal after it was revealed it was using taxpayer funds to keep the process secret.

Earlier this month, a northern suburbs community group leader accused the government of “pork barrelling” after he was denied documents from the Level Crossing Removal Authority (LXRA) which detailed the ranking and selection process of level crossing removals.

Save Buckley St community group leader Brian Duggan requested the documents from the LXRA and VicRoads under Freedom of Information Laws (FOI) last year, following local outrage over the rail-over-road method implemented at Buckley St in Essendon.

Dr Duggan said he was also frustrated by dangerous level crossings on the Craigieburn line, in Melbourne’s north, being neglected, while the government has pledged to remove all level crossings on the Frankston and Pakenham lines in the southeastern suburbs.

“I was curious as to how the state government selected the level crossings to be removed – that’s why I wanted access to their data,” Dr Duggan said.

“They have done a lot of level crossings which are of low priority … which seems to be based more on marginality of seats than it is on danger and congestion.

“If I can prove that, I can prove that this government has been pork barrelling when it comes to level crossing removal.”

Dr Duggan said he feared the safe Labor seat of Essendon could be “left behind” while other marginal seats were gifted infrastructure upgrades.

Deputy opposition leader David Southwick on Monday slammed the government for ‘putting politics over people’. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Deputy opposition leader David Southwick on Monday slammed the government for “putting politics over people”.

“We need to ensure that these level crossings, that the government have been talking about for so long, have been removed because of need, and not because they’re there just to help a few votes in Labor marginal seats,” Mr Southwick said.

“We want to understand why, and on what basis, has the government prioritised level crossing removals?”

Dr Duggan’s FOI request was rejected, but he appealed to Victorian Information Commissioner Sven Bluemmel, who ruled that access to the documents should be granted in full.

Mr Bluemmel said the “disclosure of information in the documents would not be contrary to the public interest”.

The LXRA has appealed the decision to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal.

A government spokeswoman said it was removing level crossings across Melbourne “in the north, south, east and west and in Labor, Liberal and Greens seats”.

“At elections in 2014, 2018 and 2022 we clearly outlined which level crossings we would remove and we will keep delivering what Victorians have voted for.”