SRL to proceed regardless of who wins next state election – but there’s a catch
By Daniella White and Rachel Eddie
The Suburban Rail Loop East will be built regardless of the outcome of next year’s election, with the Victorian Liberals committing for the first time to continuing the project should they win government, and if tunnelling is already underway.
The commitment appears to walk back the party’s previous pledge to “pause and review” the controversial project.
Opposition Leader Brad Battin denies the opposition has shifted it policy on the SRL.Credit: Wayne Taylor
The Liberals in March urged the government to cancel the controversial project to stop the state going broke, following the release of an Infrastructure Australia report that had low confidence in the project’s cost and funding methods.
At the time, Opposition Leader Brad Battin said the opposition would halt the project if elected next year, but stopped short of saying the loop would be scrapped.
“Our position is clear: if elected in November 2026, we will pause and reassess the project,” he said in March.
“If the boring machines are underway, then we have to analyse where it is at that stage. You can’t leave two holes in the middle of the ground with no more work to be done.”
It was one of multiple times under three different leaders the party had committed to pausing the project – with John Pesutto making the pledge in January 2024 and then-leader Matthew Guy making the commitment at the 2022 election.
A map of the Suburban Rail Loop.Credit: Victoria’s Big Build
But on Tuesday during an ABC Radio forum on the SRL, Guy who is the current opposition public transport spokesman, confirmed there would be no other option but to proceed with the project by November next year.
“If we’ve got tunnel boring machines which have gone six kilometres underground then we can hardly fill it back in,” he said.
“The project will then proceed, there’s no doubt about it – we’ll have to make sure it’s managed appropriately, and unlike every other major project, it’s managed on time and under budget.
“No government would have any choice. If you’ve got tunnels that are half-built, you can’t fill them in, we don’t intend to do that.”
Asked if the party would consider slowing down the project, Guy said: “If a project is commencing then a project goes ahead, it’s as simple as that. We’re asking this government ... this is not the project for Melbourne, please pause it when you’ve got the chance.”
In a statement, Suburban Rail Loop Minister Harriet Shing said the opposition had repeatedly changed its policy on the SRL.
“What a mess. The Liberals have announced yet another position on the Suburban Rail Loop,” she said.
“The Allan Labor government has only ever had one position on the Suburban Rail Loop. And we’re building it.”
Speaking later on Tuesday morning, Battin said he agreed with Guy’s position but denied there had been a shift in policy, saying he was restating previous comments.
Battin confirmed that should the government not pull out of the project by December, when tunnel boring machines are due to arrive in the country, then the project will continue under the Liberals.
“We will review it and every step of the contract, we’ll have a look at to see if we can save Victorians money,” he said
The $34.5 billion SRL East would connect Cheltenham and Box Hill through a rail link slated to open by 2035. It would be the first stage of an orbital rail line that is planned to eventually connect all the way through to Werribee, via Melbourne Airport – but later stages are not proposed to start for decades.
Tunnel boring machines are due to arrive in Australia late this year, with tunnelling set to begin in 2026.
Opposition transport spokesman Matthew Guy.Credit: Eddie Jim
Shing said she welcomed the “opposition’s confirmation” it would continue with the SRL in the event it wins next year’s election.
“I think that is something people should take a measure of comfort on, in consistency and on a project that the city needs and that people have actually endorsed four times in a row when they’ve headed to the polls,” she said at the ABC forum.
The Liberal Party’s softening of its stance on the SRL sets the scene for the first election campaign since 2014 to not be dominated by discussion of whether the project will go ahead.
But Battin sought to cast doubt on whether the tunnelling would actually start before the election.
“Let’s wait and see what happens when it comes to boring machines and if the government can get anything 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.”
An Infrastructure Australia report released in March said no federal money – beyond the $2 billion already contributed – should be committed to the loop’s first phase until it was clear the project stacked up financially.
The report urged Victoria to develop exit strategies to provide a clear pathway out of the project in case it couldn’t be delivered, raising concerns the state will have to fund $34.5 billion by itself.
Victoria is planning for the federal government to cover a third of the SRL East, a third by itself and the final third through “value capture” – a mechanism to seek contributions from businesses and landowners who benefit from rising property values, though the feasibility of raising more than $11 billion this way remains a subject of debate.
Public Transport Users Association spokesperson Daniel Bowen said the opposition’s commitment gave some certainty to the project, assuming that tunnelling begins.
“Whoever wins that election, they are going to need to take care to keep the costs under control, look for opportunities to improve the design and get on and deliver it,” he said.
“It has gone through two elections and it’s not unreasonable for Labor to push ahead with it, but they do need to make sure the budget is kept under control.
“And we won’t get the full benefits unless you get the full project, so they do need to start thinking about how SRL North will be developed.”
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