Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan to unveil new-look cabinet, backs Suburban Rail Loop

Premier Jacinta Allan will unveil her new-look cabinet before parliament sits next week as she confirmed she would keep Daniel Andrews’ election promises, including the Suburban Rail Loop.

Premier Jacinta Allan has committed to unveiling her new-look cabinet before parliament sits next week.

On her first official day in the top job, Ms Allan donned her trademark hard hat and hi-vis jacket to drop into a level crossing removal site at Pakenham.

Ms Allan confirmed she would keep every election commitment that Daniel Andrews took to the poll at the state election last November, including the controversial Suburban Rail Loop project, which is facing fresh calls for it to be scrapped.

The Grattan Institute has called for the mega project to be dumped.

But Ms Allan said it was a project that would absolutely be built.

“We intend to deliver the commitments that the Labor team has made to Victoria, but of course, in coming weeks and months, as we swear in a new cabinet and continue to work and consult with colleagues and the Victorian community, there will be the opportunity to further build on that program,” she said.

“The approach that I will take will be built on that consultation with colleagues and the community.”

Jacinta Allan will unveil her new-look cabinet before parliament sits next week. Picture: Brendan Beckett

As part of her cabinet reshuffle, Ms Allan will pass on the Transport Infrastructure portfolio overseeing the state’s major projects.

“I will continue the approach that premiers have traditionally taken and I will only hold the position of premier, noting of course, that all business of government is the responsibility of the premier and the buck does stop at the premier’s door and that’s a responsibility I intend to carry,” she said.

Tim Pallas, who put his hand up to be Ms Allan’s deputy, will remain Treasurer under her government.

Ms Allan, who has spent half her life in politics, maintains she still has a “tremendous amount of energy” to do the job.

Parliament resumes on Tuesday, meaning Ms Allan will likely have her new cabinet sworn in at Government House on Monday.

Allan says work on the SRL is ‘going really well’. Picture: Wayne Taylor

Earlier, in a wide-ranging interview Ms Allan defended her role overseeing massive cost and time blowouts on major projects, saying she was committed to forging ahead with a bold infrastructure agenda.

“It’s about making sure that the investment is needed to get the job done, and these projects have been delivered in a way that we need to focus on the outcome,” she said.

“The tens of thousands of people that are out there working on these projects right now need a government, and this is the approach I’ve taken and I’ll continue to take, that will work through the challenges when they arise with a focus on making sure that their work is supported, but also that this pipeline of projects is supported, because they need it.”

Ms Allan said work on the first stage of the Suburban Rail Loop — which industry experts and economists have recommended scrapping — was on track.

“It is going really well, we expect to have tunnel boring machines moving in 2026, we’re going through all the procurement processes and it is supporting thousands and thousands of people in work,” she told ABC Radio Melbourne on Thursday.

Despite the commitment to forging ahead with the Big Build, Ms Allan wouldn’t be drawn on the contentious Airport Rail, which was effectively killed off ahead of May’s budget.

Ms Allan said the project was reliant on federal funding, and she would await the findings of a federal review into Victoria’s infrastructure pipeline.

An artist's impression of a train on the Suburban Rail Loop, which will encircle Melbourne. Picture: STATE GOVERNMENT

With a Cabinet reshuffle expected in coming days, Ms Allan said she would continue to take departmental briefings through the day.

She said she was “taken aback” when Daniel Andrews phoned her to tell her he was quitting politics.

She said he told him: “It’s time, it’s today, I’m going.

“It was a really personal conversation. Daniel and I have known each other, not just for the time we’ve served in Parliament together, we go back quite away.

“He is a tremendous friend, has been a tremendous colleague and I think, you know, we all should just wish him and Cath and the family, all the very best.

“They deserve this time to go and have a great transition into their next life.”

Acknowledging Victoria’s record debt levels, Ms Allan said the government was committed to its plan of getting finances back under control.

And she suggested the government would not budge on its longstanding refusal to broaden the powers of the state’s corruption watchdogs.

She also said she believed female politicians continued to be judged by a different standard to male colleagues.

“I hope the standard that I will be held to is the one that I’m judged on my actions, my deeds, and my words,” she said.

“I intend to bring to this role the values that have driven me, I’ve been in parliament for 24 years, and the values that have guided me over that period of time, the work ethic that has driven me over that period of time.”