By Kieran Rooney and Rachel Eddie
Local charities, schools and sporting clubs signed agreements barring them from criticising the Suburban Rail Loop or doing anything to damage the Victorian government’s name – in exchange for grant money.
The Age has seen non-disclosure agreements signed by recipients of money from the rail loop’s Community Projects Fund in Melbourne’s east. The contracts ensure that those receiving cash from the state government co-operate with the SRL Authority in all publicity surrounding the grants and the activities they finance.
Premier Jacinta Allan was transport infrastructure minister at the time the grants were handed out in the lead-up to the 2022 election.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui
This includes clauses that force them to invite representatives from the authority to all “activity events” and allow officials to speak, and that successful groups do not disparage the underground rail line.
“The organisation will ensure that the conduct in relation to the performance of the activity is professional, and recipients do not do anything that may damage, bring into disrepute or ridicule the SRL project, or the authority’s or the Victorian government’s name, messages or reputation,” says the agreement with not-for-profits.
There is no equivalent clause in a template designed to guide all state government departments to use when providing funding to not-for-profit community organisations.
However, similar language does appear in Department of Education agreements with vocational education and training providers, and between the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action and neighbourhood battery grant recipients.
The SRL grant money comes from a fund created specifically for suburbs along the path of the first leg of the $35 billion rail project, which will connect Cheltenham to Box Hill by 2035.
The authority awarded grants of between $10,000 and $80,000 to 71 community groups in 2022 – just months out from the state election and four years before tunnelling is due to begin next year.
SRL Authority meeting minutes – obtained by the state opposition under freedom of information and provided to The Age – also show three grant applicants were flagged for bringing possible reputation risks.
During the one-hour meeting in July 2022 – in which the authority’s community projects assessment panel shortlisted applications – they cited “previous media commentary surrounding applicants” and a “potential for perceived religious involvement”.
Opposition major projects spokesman Evan Mulholland said the community grants were worthwhile, but “what is not acceptable is forcing [groups] to be propaganda arms of the government and forcing them to sign non-disclosure agreements”.
He accused Premier Jacinta Allan – who was transport infrastructure minister at the time – of rushing taxpayer money out the door to “buy silence” in the lead-up to the 2022 election.
A Victorian government spokesman said all grant applications were “evaluated on their merit and rigorously assessed ... to deliver great outcomes in local communities”.
“The Victorian Liberals have a long history of blocking projects – projects that reduce time spent in traffic, help families to find a home closer to where they grew up, and improve access to healthcare, education and jobs.
“And now they want to scrap the SRL, sack thousands of construction workers and leave tunnel-boring machines to sink into the ground.”
A spokeswoman for the SRL Authority said the funding round was awarded after many weeks of careful consideration under strict probity protocols to deliver worthy projects and that it would be misleading to say they were decided at one meeting.
“Our community projects fund has helped deliver fantastic events, community gardens and sports club upgrades for growing communities along the SRL corridor,” she said.
“Claims that grant recipients can’t raise issues are also wrong and misleading – the agreements are a standard part of any grant process.”
Grant winners included the exclusive Presbyterian Ladies’ College, which received $65,000 for new signs to “beautify the area, increase line-of-site navigation and improve congestion” at its junior school entry. Other grants went towards upgrades to local sporting club facilities, historical societies, neighbourhood houses and community gardens.
One recipient, speaking anonymously because they were not authorised to discuss the details publicly, said their experience was positive and that the SRL Authority’s publicity team had been “quite engaged” in organising photo opportunities. They also said they were not across the specifics of the agreement, including the non-disparagement clause.
The grants totalled almost $3 million in 2022, with further rounds expected. A $250 million fund has been established to support the community around the future stations at Cheltenham, Clayton, Monash, Glen Waverley, Burwood and Box Hill.
Senate estimates heard on Monday that almost all the $2.2 billion in Commonwealth funding for the rail loop would be restricted to land acquisition costs, with just $200 million going towards early works.
Transport, Regional Development, Communications and the Arts secretary Jim Betts said his department’s advice to federal Transport Minister Catherine King had been focused on whether providing this funding met the requirements of legislation and was therefore “efficient, effective, economical and ethical use of public investment”.
He said one way to ensure this was tying the money to land acquisition that could unlock housing supply and for early works already well advanced that had little risk of cost blowouts.
Upgrading utilities, a key part of early works, also had an enduring benefit “regardless of how a project plays out from here”, Betts said.
The department’s advice was focused solely on the $2.2 billion in funding, promised by Labor during the 2022 federal election campaign, with Infrastructure Australia assessing the full scope of the SRL East.
The Victorian government has recently sought to re-brand the SRL as a housing project. The spokesman said it was proud to deliver up to 70,000 homes in partnership with communities.
Richard Welch, a Liberal MP for the North-Eastern Metropolitan Region, said organisations in his community “should not be exploited by a government desperate to avoid criticism”.
In January, The Age revealed the North East Link had entered into more than 7000 non-disclosure agreements, including forcing people with house or tyre damage from the toll road’s construction to sign secrecy deals in exchange for compensation.
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