Murray Basin Rail Project scope could be cut, MP fears

THE Victorian Government has been asked to respond to growing concerns that it is contemplating delivering only a significantly abbreviated version of the vital Murray Basin Rail Project.

Member for Northern Victoria Tania Maxwell Ms Maxwell said the project risked “slipping into oblivion” unless the government committed to finding funds in the budget to complete the project according to its original scope.

Ms Maxwell said thousands of people across northern Victoria and industry stakeholders were anxiously awaiting a resumption of works on the project.

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Her comments follow reports that Rail Projects Victoria is undertaking a review of the currently stalled project to determine the most cost-effective outcomes of any future spending on it.

“The Murray Basin Rail Project is at significant risk of becoming another regional project that is not adequately delivered,” Ms Maxwell said.

“This infrastructure is vital, particularly to our agriculture industry, and any underdevelopment of the project will place continued pressure on a roads system that is already under strain,” she said.

“The government needs to recommit to this project, find the funds and get it moving again.”

Ms Maxwell told State Parliament in October last year that the project was due to be completed 12 months earlier.

She said the project was meant to have standardised the Murray Basin rail network, provided a more efficient method of transporting produce, significantly boosted jobs and the regional economy and removed about 20,000 truck trips from Victorian roads.

“Many Victorians are now completely in the dark about the project’s future,” she said.

“This includes thousands of individuals whose livelihoods are closely tied to its fate, as well as private sector companies that made multi-million-dollar investments on the basis of clear commitments from our government.

“They all need answers urgently.”

Ms Maxwell said her Derryn Hinch Justice Party strongly hoped for a full resumption of the project as soon as possible.

“Whatever the future of it might be, though, the very worst thing right now for anyone with a stake in the project is to continue to be met by more silence,” she said.