‘Cancel it’: Brad Battin ups the ante on Suburban Rail Loop

Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop should be cancelled to stop the state going broke on the government’s “pet project”, Opposition Leader Brad Battin says.

In a strengthening of the Coalition’s stance on the project, Battin called on Monday for Premier Jacinta Allan to immediately cancel contracts, following the release of an Infrastructure Australia report that had low confidence in the project’s cost and funding methods.

Opposition Leader Brad Battin.Credit: Paul Jeffers

The Coalition has previously suggested that the project, the first phase of which is slated to cost $34.5 billion, should be paused, with three major contracts already signed and more under negotiation.

Battin stopped short of saying the rail loop would be scrapped if he were elected premier in 2026, but said he was now calling on Allan to immediately cancel its contracts on the first leg of the project, which he said was not needed.

“Cancel the contracts as soon as possible and save Victorians from going broke from your pet project,” Battin said. “Why don’t they take responsibility for what they’ve put out there, for the mistakes they’ve made and how much it’s going to cost Victorians? And the only way to do that is to ensure that this project is cancelled.”

The Infrastructure Australia report, released on Friday, said no further federal funding should be committed to the loop’s first phase, SRL East, beyond $2.2 billion already pledged, until it was re-costed, more details were provided about the charges that would be used to fund a third of its price tag, and it was clear whether the project stacked up financially on its own.

Infrastructure Australia also recommended Victoria further develop “exit strategies” flagged in its business and investment case to provide a clear pathway out of the SRL East project if it cannot be delivered.

The report has raised concerns the state will have to fund the rest of the $34.5 billion project by itself. Victoria expects a third of the price tag to come from the Commonwealth and another third from taxes and charges collected on some of its economic benefits, known as value capture.

Battin said the remaining funding for the project did not seem to be forthcoming following the infrastructure body’s findings. But he said he could not commit to scrapping the SRL if elected in November 2026 because the Coalition does not have access to the contracts and it may be too progressed by then if the Allan government continues with work.

“[It] is the responsibility of the current government today.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declined on Monday to say whether federal Labor would put any more funding towards the project.

“We have funding in the budget. We have a budget tomorrow night, which will have infrastructure investment,” Albanese said.“We’ll continue to make assessments as they come through.”

State Transport Infrastructure Minister Gabrielle Williams said Battin needed to tell Victorians if he would cancel the project if elected.

“If Brad Battin’s policy that he’s taking to our next election is that he’s going to sack 4000 workers, cancel the construction of 70,000 homes and deny a rail link to two of the largest universities in Victoria then he needs to come clean and just say that that’s his policy,” she said.

Allan said on Sunday that the rail loop was a “must-have” and she was confident the project could be delivered on budget.

She said rising construction costs that had hit the industry since 2020 had been accounted for in estimates for SRL East, which will be an underground railway line from Cheltenham to Box Hill.

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