The article examines the clash between Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese over funding for Melbourne's Suburban Rail Loop and Airport Rail projects. It highlights the history of infrastructure decisions in Victoria, often driven by electoral politics, and criticizes the federal government's prioritization of the Airport Rail despite Infrastructure Australia's assessment that it's not economically viable at present.
In June 2015, when Jacinta Allan rose in parliament to spruik the need for a new statutory authority called Infrastructure Victoria, the Labor administration was seven months old. Just a bub, really.
“These are decisions that spend taxpayers money, and which hold the potential to shape our state for decades to come. Planning the future of our state without an enduring, strategic and evidence-based plan is to the detriment of us all.” The same thing could be said of nearly every state and federal government since Edmund Barton zipped up his first high-viz vest. But this Labor government, with its “Big Build” branding and hard-hatted persona, has raised to an art-form the excavation of infrastructure votes.
If Albanese firmly believed what he told parliament about Infrastructure Australia in 2008 – that it would “drive investment where it is needed most” – he wouldn’t be offering more Commonwealth money for either Melbourne Airport Rail or the SRL. Given the state and Commonwealth governments have already committed a combined $10 billion towards an $11.6 billion rail line, there is more work to be done before the project needs a promise of more money.Albanese has a different set of concerns. He is not fussed about whether the Tullamarine is chockers by 2036. He is worried about getting run over by Victorian voters at this year’s federal election.
INFRASTRUCTURE POLITICS VICTORIA FEDERAL GOVERNMENT SUBURBAN RAIL LOOP AIRPORT RAIL
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