Suburban Rail Loop ‘time and cost’ reports needed; Labor committee

Labor-led parliamentary watchdog calls for more information on Labor’s Suburban Rail Loop.

Jacinta Allan inspects early works of the Suburban Rail Loop in Clayton. Picture: Wayne Taylor

A Labor-led parliamentary committee has called for new performance measures to deliver “transparent insights” to monitor if the Suburban Rail Loop and other major road and rail projects are being delivered on time and within budget.

Victoria’s Public Accounts and Estimates Committee has recommended the Allan government tightens monitoring of Big Build developments such as the North East Link and level crossing removals to keep track of progress and cost.

In a major report on the state’s debt and deficit-laden budget, the committee – chaired by Labor MP Sarah Connolly – also revealed the government failed to deliver on public service cuts and the wages bill in one department spiralled 40 per cent over budget.

The 11-member committee, dominated by five Labor MPs, recommended the Department of Transport and Planning “create new performance measures ... that provide transparent insights on their progress against their original completion dates and budgets published in the budget papers”.

Opposition treasury spokesperson James Newbury said the Labor-chaired committee had confirmed the Allan government was “concealing the true timelines and costs of the Suburban Rail Loop and level crossing projects”.

“Every Victorian knows that Jacinta Allan is deliberately withholding details on these projects, even though they should be transparently reported in the budget,” Mr Newbury said.

“When a Labor-run committee calls out its own government’s economic impropriety, it tells you just how bad it is.

“Alarmingly, the report also highlights the ongoing waste of taxpayers’ money, including the government conducting 300 reviews and studies last year – over 261 working days.”

The Suburban Rail Loop map.

The Allan government has claimed the $35bn first stage of the SRL linking Cheltenham to Box Hill was on time and within budget, but other Big Build projects such as the West Gate and Metro tunnels are years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget.

The unfunded SRL, which could cost $200bn to complete, has emerged as a key federal election issue in Victoria, with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton pledging to axe about $4bn in federal funding promised by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and redirect it to other projects including the airport rail link.

The PAEC report, tabled in parliament on Thursday, confirms the Allan government is budgeting for the federal government to contribute $11bn to building the SRL’s $35bn first stage, about a third of the cost.

“The committee was informed that discussions are taking place between the state and Commonwealth governments for the remaining $10-11 billion allocated via Commonwealth grants,” the report states.

Works are under way on the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) site at Burwood. Picture: Mark Stewart

But the Albanese government has refused to promise more federal funding and Infrastructure Australia, the nation’s major projects watchdog, has questioned the SRL’s business case and recommended the government develop an “exit” strategy if it cannot deliver the SRL.

The PAEC report revealed that the Department of Transport and Planning’s employee expenses blew out by $256m to $893m, a 40.2 per cent increase over budget.

“DTP again explained the difference between the budgeted and actual figures as reflecting ‘the release of funding from DTF central contingency relating to the capital program for various projects including the Suburban Rail Loop and the level crossing removal project, within existing total estimated investment (TEI) budgets’,” the report stated.

The PAEC report said the Allan government had missed its “Covid debt repayment” plan to cut public service numbers by between 3000 and 4000.

Instead, the report confirmed the full‑time equivalent positions increased by 79 in 2023-24.