Pain for Melbourne commuters as Morrison government’s station pledge in disarray

Years after the Morrison government promised to expand car parks at 30 train stations, only two have been built and one has been entirely scrapped.

Thousands of commuter car parks promised by the Morrison government at the last election will not even be under construction before voters go to the polls again.

The $405m package, which Liberal insiders say was drawn up to protect the party’s at-risk seats, has been bogged down by planning issues and delays.

The Herald Sun can reveal high-rise car parks at railway stations loom as the only likely option to deliver some of the projects — including in Melbourne’s leafy eastern suburbs — without taking people’s homes.

Some of the most difficult engineering feats are in Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s seat of Kooyong, where land is at a premium and local roads are already congested in Glenferrie, Camberwell and Canterbury.

The Herald Sun can also reveal a new car park planned for South Morang station has been quietly dumped by the government.

A new car park planned for South Morang station has been quietly dumped by the government. Picture: Ellen Smith

Almost two years after the commitment to expand car parks at 30 railway stations, only Beaconsfield and Hurstbridge have been finished.

And despite a push to fast-track “shovel-ready’ infrastructure to recover from the coronavirus recession, construction is only underway at Croydon and Craigieburn, with major works slated to start at just another seven stations this year.

The Auditor-General is now investigating the 2019 election pledge, and whether the car park upgrades were chosen on merit and were being effectively delivered.

While up to five stations in Melbourne’s north were initially promised expanded parking, government documents show funding was only allocated for Hurstbridge and Craigieburn.

At other stations, planning hurdles to emerge include the need for private land to be bought, meaning budget blowouts are looming before work even begins.

Multi-deck or underground car parks may be the only option to provide 2000 car spaces across Kooyong, as well as stations such as Balaclava in the inner southeast, with a source familiar with the projects suggesting the other option is “compulsory acquisition of homes, businesses or parkland”.

Federal opposition infrastructure and transport spokeswoman Catherine King slammed the bungled rollout, and the lack of investment in Melbourne’s rapidly growing western suburbs.

“As Australians once more return to the office and struggle to find a car park outside their local station, they will know that the only person to blame is Scott Morrison,” she said.

“You can’t park a car on a press release.”

Of $650m promised in the federal commuter car park fund, $405m was dedicated to Victoria, with 25 of the 30 sites located in what were ­Liberal-held seats before the last election.

Some of the most difficult engineering feats are in Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s seat of Kooyong, along already congested in Glenferrie, Camberwell and Canterbury. Picture: Josie Hayden

A Liberal insider said the spending was designed to sandbag MPs — including Mr Frydenberg and ministerial colleagues Alan Tudge and Michael Sukkar — who the party feared were at risk of defeat in 2019.

In a statement, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications said the pandemic and last summer’s bushfires caused “considerable disruption to multiple projects”.

It promised to get the car parks “underway as quickly as possible” and said the planning process was “well advanced”. Early preparatory works are expected to start this year at another four railway stations.

“The Australian government is working to ensure the Victorian state government and local councils stick to the agreed time frames for rolling out these key projects,” a spokeswoman said.

“The majority of Victorian commuter car park projects are expected to be completed or under construction by the end of 2022.”

Federal opposition urban infrastructure spokesman Andrew Giles said South Morang commuters, in his seat of Scullin, were being “dudded” by the government. He said a car park was “never going to be built” at the station because there was no room.

“It’s a slap in the face for commuters on the Mernda line,” he said.

Mr Giles referred the car park spending to the Auditor-General a year ago, specifically questioning whether the projects had undergone due diligence and represented value for money, especially as the railway stations were “coincidentally in marginal electorates”.

The Auditor-General’s report is due in June.