Federal Labor to axe $900m of key state road & rail projects in budget

At least $900m in Melbourne road and rail projects are being ripped up by the Albanese government. See if your suburb is impacted.

At least $900m of infrastructure projects promised by the former Coalition government across Melbourne are being axed by Labor in the budget.

The Herald Sun can reveal $110m for the Wellington Rd duplication, which stretches across the Liberal-held seats of Aston, Casey and La Trobe, is being scrapped because it is now estimated to cost $640m.

The Albanese government move to cancel projects that it claims do not stack up, comes before $2.2bn for the Suburban Rail Loop – which does not have a business case and is estimated to have blown out to $150bn from $35bn – is included in the budget.

Opposition finance spokeswoman, Jane Hume, said she was concerned that a political lens “rather than an economic lens” had been put over cuts in the federal budget.

“The best example of that, of course, is the $2.2bn that’s being redirected to Dan Andrew’s Suburban Rail Loop that has no approval from Infrastructure Australia, that the Victorian Auditor General’s said wasn’t a good deal,” Senator Hume said.

“The cost benefit ratio of that project is expected to be just over 50c in the dollar.

“That does sound like very much a political decision, rather than an economic one.

“Certainly a convenient one five weeks out from the Victorian state election.”

But Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the cost-benefit ratio for the Suburban Rail Loop was “very positive”.

Senator Gallagher was asked on Monday morning how the federal government determined the rail loop was worth backing, considering it has not yet been approved by Infrastructure Australia.

“This is (a project) that we have been working with the Victorian government on,” she said.

“There is a very detailed business case that underpins this project and a very positive cost-benefit ratio for the project.

“The Victorian government I understand ... is talking to Infrastructure Australia about that project.”

Victoria is expected to receive additional infrastructure funding, beyond Labor’s election pledges, in the budget.

But a $475m commitment for a rail line to link Monash University’s Caulfield and Clayton campuses, made by the Coalition in 2018, is being cancelled. In Rowville, $50m was allocated to upgrade Napoleon Rd between Lysterfield Rd and Kelletts Rd. But this is also being scrapped because it is now $223m short of the cost.

Opposition Infrastructure spokeswoman, Bridget McKenzie, said the Labor Party was expecting mums and dads, who were looking forward to getting home from work quicker, to pay the price for making the budget bottom line temporarily appear better.

“These communities are seriously affected by congestion and any pushing out of timelines on these projects will increase costs and uncertainty for local residents and businesses,” she said.

Projects in the Coalition’s controversial Urban Congestion Fund will also take a hit.

The Albanese government will axe at least $900m of infrastructure projects promised by the former Coalition government. Picture: Sharon Smith

The $260m Glenferrie Rd level crossing removal was ditched due to underfunding.

The move is expected to spark furore – and could have implications for the state election.

A third of the controversial commuter car parks still in planning across Melbourne are also facing the chopping block, with five now priced at between two and four times what the Coalition pledged.

Infrastructure Minister Catherine King last week warned “there will be car parks that we’re not proceeding with”.

“They’ve actually been underfunded,” Ms King said.

“If I was to proceed with some of those, I would actually have to find an additional billion dollars to build them in the first place. There’s just not headroom in the budget.”

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the federal government’s decision to scrap the projects could be put down to the faults of the Morrison government.

The level crossing removal on Glenferrie Rd in Kooyong has been scrapped.

“I don’t know how much work has actually gone into actually delivering. I think there might have been much more announcements than the real plans,” he said.

“That’s a matter for the government. And they put an election platform out there to the Australian people.”

Mr Andrews said some projects expected to be scrapped had never had the backing of Labor, calling them “last minute announcements from a government that was then defeated”.

“We won’t have a former federal Liberal government, that were rejected by the community on multiple occasions and finally by the Australian community earlier this year make those decisions.”

The Andrew’s government long complained Victoria was being dubbed on infrastructure funding by the former federal government.

“Every federal dollar that Victorians get from the miserable Morrison government, (it’s like) we ought to bow our head and treat it like it’s foreign aid,” Mr Andrews said in May in lead up to the federal election.

In the same month, Victorian treasurer Tim Pallas wrote to Auditor-General Grant Hehir asking for an audit of how infrastructure cash was handed out.

“I am concerned that Victoria may have been short-changed on funding for critical infrastructure by the Commonwealth,” the letter said.

Labor has already announced $2.6bn of election commitments for Victorian projects in the budget.

This includes $2.2bn for the rail loop and $330m to upgrade roads.

Herald Sun analysis shows this equates to $395 in infrastructure spending per person in the state, compared with $1227 per person in Tasmania.