The Victorian opposition has committed to proceeding with Labor’s signature infrastructure project, the Suburban Rail Loop, if elected to government next year and tunnelling has begun.
The Coalition’s public transport spokesperson, Matthew Guy, who previously went to two elections vowing to scrap the $34.5bn project, told an ABC Radio forum on Tuesday there would be no choice but to go ahead with it come November 2026.
“If the project has commenced and the tunnels are half constructed, well, we can’t fill them in. It will cost us more to stop a project than complete it,” Guy said.
“So the project will then proceed, there’s no doubt about that. We’ll have to make sure that it’s managed appropriately – and unlike every other major project – managed on time and on budget, which would be rare.”
Until now, the Coalition had committed to pausing the project and reassessing it if elected.
Speaking later on Tuesday, opposition leader Brad Battin said he had an “identical” view to Guy on the issue but denied the party had changed its position.
“The government have a responsibility right now. They could stop the project before December, before the holes have been dug. But should they not do that, and they dig two holes in the ground, the project will continue,” he said.
However, Battin expressed doubt the tunnelling work would begin by then. “Let’s wait and see what happens when it comes to the boring machines, and if the government can get anything [done] on time,” he said.
“But if there are two holes in the ground and the boring machines have started, we will go through the process and I guarantee you we will manage that project better.”
The Labor minister overseeing the project, Harriet Shing, told the forum that tunnel boring machines would arrive in December. “They will be in the ground and doing their work next year,” she said.
The Victorian government has committed about $9.3bn for the first stage of the loop, SRL East – a 26km stretch of tunnels between Cheltenham and Box Hill – while the Albanese government has pledged $2.2bn.
The loop is eventually meant to connect Box Hill to Melbourne airport and then on to Werribee, though there has been no timeline or budget for this final stage.
The project has been credited with helping Labor in the eastern electorates that are set to benefit first. But within the caucus, some Labor MPs have expressed concern about its cost and it beginning in the well-serviced east and not in the west, where there are several safe Labor seats but less transport infrastructure.
