Delay sees Jacinta Allan throw mud at toll road giant Transurban

Victorian Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan has ­accused Transurban of having ‘failed on their commitment to the Victorian community’.

Victorian Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan. Picture: AAP

Victorian Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan has ­accused Transurban of having “failed on their commitment to the Victorian community”, after the toll road giant confirmed on Thursday its $6.7bn West Gate Tunnel project would not be completed until at least 2024 — two years behind schedule.

Transurban took the market-led proposal to the then Andrews opposition in the lead-up to the 2014 state election, just as Labor was pledging to rip up the Napthine government’s East West Link contract and looking for an alternative road project.

The tunnel, which was due to be completed ahead of the Nov­ember 2022 election, has been plagued by delays due to an ­impasse between Transurban, its builder CPB and John Holland and the government over where to dump contaminated soil and who will foot the bill.

News of the latest delay comes after Ms Allan confirmed late last year that Victorian taxpayers would pay for half of a $2.74bn cost blowout on the Metro rail tunnel.

In a letter to Transurban shareholders on Thursday, chief executive Scott Charlton revealed the project would not be able to be completed by a revised 2023 date, with tunnelling that was due to begin in mid-2019 still not under way. “We are progressing towards tunnelling commencement, however at this stage disposal sites ­participating in the D&C subcontractor-led process would not be ready to accept tunnelling spoil soon enough to enable a 2023 completion,” he wrote.

“We remain committed to working with project parties to deliver this much-needed project for the Victorian community as soon as possible.”

The West Gate Tunnel’s ostensible $6.7bn price tag includes $2.7bn from the Andrews government and $4bn from Transurban, in exchange for which the government legislated a “CityLink concession deed” in 2019 to allow the company to increase tolls on existing Melbourne roads by 4.25 per cent every year for a decade, netting it an extra $37.3bn by 2045, according to Parliamentary Budget Office calculations.

Asked whether she could rule out halting the concession deed in response to Transurban’s confirmation that the project was likely to be two years overdue, Ms Allan said: “In indicating today that we will leave no stone unturned, that means all options are on the table.

“What Transurban have effectively told their shareholders today is that they are prepared to lose millions and millions of dollars in revenue because of their failure to resolve their dispute with their builder.

“Transurban brought a project to government five years ago — it was a project they’d planned out, they’d worked on, has gone through a whole range of approval processes, and they’ve had a long time to resolve the soil site issues, and they’ve failed to do that.

“My message to Transurban and their builders is to get on and resolve this issue, get those tunnel boring machines working, so we can get on and see this vital project continue to be delivered.”

Opposition transport infrastructure spokesman David Davis said: “Minister Allan’s faux attack on Transurban, the group Labor gave the contract to, is theatre to shift responsibility from her.”