Rail loop price tag ‘is on track’, says Jacinta Allan
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has maintained that the first stage of the Suburban Rail Loop megaproject can still be delivered within her government’s estimated cost range of $30bn to $34.5bn.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has maintained that the first stage of the Suburban Rail Loop megaproject can still be delivered within her government’s estimated cost range of $30bn to $34.5bn, despite saying there has been a 22 per cent increase in construction costs since those figures were announced.
Responding to questions from Nationals MP Danny O’Brien during a Parliamentary Accounts and Estimates hearing on Thursday, Ms Allan rejected his suggestion that a 22 per cent increase in construction costs alone would see the price tag for Suburban Rail Loop East increase to between $36.6bn and $42.1bn.
“I certainly am not going to accept any numbers that have been drawn up on the back of a Liberal National Party envelope from people who don’t support the project,” she said.
Ms Allan also refused to concede there was uncertainty over funding for much of the project, given state government has always maintained it would provide a third of the cash, with equal parts coming from “value capture” and the federal government, despite Canberra only agreeing to contribute $2.2bn.
Asked when she would accept that no further federal funding would be forthcoming, Ms Allan dismissed the question as “hypothetical”.
“You are assuming that there is no federal funding,” she said.
“There already is federal funding for this project. $2.2 billion.
“We will keep on advocating, fighting, pushing the case for Victoria to receive its fair share.”
Former Covid commander and Commonwealth Games tsar Jeroen Weimar also faced questions over his new role as deputy secretary of the Department of Premier and Cabinet with responsibility for delivering the government’s housing policy.
Mr Weimar found himself at odds with the department’s secretary, Jeremi Moule, after Mr Weimar stated that the government’s housing target was to “work towards 80,000 homes being built every year”.
Mr Moule later interjected: “If I could provide some clarification, the government’s policy is to build 800,000 homes over 10 years … It’s not a commitment to build 80,000 a year, and I think you would appreciate that a reform program that the housing statement puts in place takes some time to implement reform, and then lead to an acceleration in building.” Mr O’Brien pointed out that the department’s website says of the statement that it “aims to deliver 80,000 new homes each year across the state”.
Mr Moule confirmed that in 2022-23, the Premier’s office had 79 full-time equivalent staff at a cost of $15.3m, with 194 staff across ministerial offices at a cost of $32.5m.
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