‘Dodgy’ Victorian Labor rebrands Suburban Rail Loop as ‘housing’ amid budget blowout

Once pitched as a game-changing transport link, the Suburban Rail Loop is now being sold as Australia’s biggest housing project, as Victorian Labor scrambles to justify costs and mounting state debt.

Treasurer Jaclyn Symes speaks at the Melbourne Press Club Budget Lunch.

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Victorian Treasurer Jaclyn Symes has stood by rebadging the contentious Suburban Rail Loop as a “housing project”, arguing that the multibillion-dollar development will create 70,000 new homes in areas around future train stations.

Launched by then premier Daniel Andrews in 2018 as “one of the most important and significant public transport projects in our nation’s history”, the SRL was mentioned only briefly in Tuesday’s Victorian budget by Ms Symes, who described it as “Australia’s largest housing project”.

Addressing the Melbourne Press Club on Wednesday, she failed to reference the unfunded SRL despite the first section costing $34bn and the overall bill expected to top $125bn.

Ms Symes delivers her budget speech in Victorian parliament. Picture: Getty Images

When approached by The Australian after the press club event, Ms Symes declined to comment on the SRL, saying she would rather mingle with business leaders.

Ms Symes’ office later said the SRL had been framed as a housing initiative well before the budget was handed down.

“The Suburban Rail Loop will slash travel times, ease congestion in our outer suburbs, connect a train line to two of Australia’s ­biggest universities and deliver 70,000 new homes, so more people can find an affordable home closer to where they grew up,” a government spokesperson said.

“Major construction of Suburban Rail Loop East is now under way, with 4000 workers set to be working on the project when tunnel boring starts next year.

The Allan government started selling the SRL as a housing development over the past year while the project was engulfed in controversy, with the federal Labor government failing to provide more funding for the project. The Auditor-General has questioned the government's funding plans for the project.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui / NewsWire

In the immediate years after its launch, Mr Andrews and Premier Jacinta Allan focused on the public transport aspects of the SRL.

In November 2019, Mr Andrews told parliament: “This is a massive project, with opportunities for so much more to connect where people work and where they live, to provide links to all of those train lines.”

In October 2021, Ms Allan told parliament the government had to get its “skates on” and start building the SRL because we “need to provide those rail services for the way people move around the city … we need a mechanism to help shift cars off our roads”.

Shadow minister for major projects Evan Mulholland blasted the Allan government for misleading people, accusing them of “putting lipstick on a pig”.

“First it was Australia’s biggest public transport, then rebadged ‘SRL Airport’, now it’s a housing project. Labor are putting lipstick on a pig. It’s still an unaffordable, mismanaged mess no matter what you call it,” Mr Mulholland said.

“Calling the SRL a housing initiative is like calling a hospital build a job-creation scheme. It’s misleading, and Victorians deserve honesty, not rebranding.

“Labor’s paper-thin $600m operating ‘surplus’ is a dodgy accounting trick, given the SRL East is listed as “tbc” when it has earmarked $11.5bn towards the project. Labor cannot manage money, cannot manage major projects and Victorians are paying the price.”

The government spokesperson took aim at the Victorian Liberals, accusing them of opposing the project and lacking any plan to support housing or protect construction jobs.

“They’ve got no plans to help young people to achieve the same dream of home ownership, and true to form they’re happy to sack 4000 construction workers and block 70,000 new homes,” the spokesperson said.

On Wednesday, Ms Allan shrugged off concerns about the state’s surging debt, claiming “every single dollar” was going towards services and cost of living.

Pressed over the billions of dollars being swallowed up by interest repayments, Ms Allan claimed the money was all being invested into different tunnel infrastructures and the SRL.

“We are the only state in Australia to have a fiscal strategy, and the budget confirmed that we are meeting what we set in that fiscal strategy, including delivering an operating surplus,” she said.

The budget has revealed net debt is set to soar to almost $200bn over the forward estimates, with no reduction on the horizon.

Former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews. Picture: Andrew Henshaw / NewsWire

Opposition Leader Brad Battin said Ms Allan was more responsible for Victoria’s debt-laden state than her predecessor. “Jacinta Allan was working hand-in-hand with Daniel Andrews for the past decade of debt,” Mr Battin said.