A $70 BILLION infrastructure spend dubbed “Victoria’s Big Build” does not contain a single project within 300km of Mildura.
The State Government lists 41 projects on its Big Build website, including level crossing removals in Melbourne, city freeway upgrades, the Metro Tunnel and Melbourne Airport rail link.
But the closest initiatives to Sunraysia were Western Highway upgrades between Ballarat and Stawell and a second Murray River bridge for Echuca-Moama.
Victoria’s Big Build, which was first promoted in 2018 and has since expanded, consists of projects overseen by the Major Transport Infrastructure Authority.
It does not include VicRoads, Regional Roads Victoria and works undertaken by V/Line and VicTrack.
Sunraysia Daily put questions to Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan about why there were no Big Build projects in the Mildura region and whether the government had plans to add any.
A response from a government spokesperson pointed to existing rail and roads funding outside the Big Build.
“Mildura is a vital regional city – that’s why we’ve undertaken works on the rail networks as part of the Murray Basin Rail Project and are also delivering upgrades to improve the safety and durability of our road network,” the government spokesperson said.
“We’ve undertaken a massive safety upgrade on the Calder Highway between Mildura and Bendigo and works are currently under way to improve the strength and durability of Robinvale-Sea Lake Road as part of our regional roads maintenance blitz.”
The Murray Basin Rail Project included $220 million of Victorian Government funding, however its $440 million budget ran out before completion, leaving its future up in the air.
The government spokesperson said it was working on a business case.
“The Murray Basin Rail Project is delivering better, more efficient freight services and has seen freight trains return to the Mildura and Murrayville to Ouyen lines as well as the Maryborough to Ararat line, which was reopened after 15 years,” the spokesperson said.
“We’re working closely with the Federal Government and freight industry to review the business case and to jointly progress the next steps.”
As Sunraysia seeks to rebuild its economy from the impact of the coronavirus crisis, local leaders said spending on major infrastructure in the region was needed.
Member for Mildura Ali Cupper said she was “surprised and disappointed” by the lack of Big Build funding.
“We are extremely isolated in this state,” Ms Cupper said.
“We punch above our weight in terms of economic productivity and our contribution to the economy of the state, yet we are always under-represented when it comes to significant infrastructure spending.”
Ms Cupper said completion of the Murray Basin Rail Project, the return of passenger rail and roads were infrastructure projects she was pushing for.
Mildura Mayor Simon Clemence said the council had long been lobbying for upgraded rail infrastructure through the Mallee.
He said there were also discussions about the creation of intermodal freight hubs, while duplication of Benetook Avenue on both sides was a major project that would create a genuine town bypass.
The Big Build website describes the initiative as “approximately $70 billion of transport projects being delivered”.
Regional centres are represented among the projects.
Two major Gippsland roads feature on the list, as well as the $1.75 billion Regional Rail Revival to upgrade every regional passenger line, a project benefiting services to Ballarat, Gippsland, Warrnambool, Geelong, Bendigo, Wodonga and Shepparton.
Mildura is the largest city in mainland Australia not to have a passenger train to its capital city, or have access to such a service nearby.
Cr Clemence lamented the government’s lack of interest in the issue, citing the 30-year plan published by Infrastructure Victoria, which did not recommend returning passenger services in the north-west.
“The government have made it perfectly clear that they have no intention of putting passenger rail up here for some time,” he said.
“We find that very disappointing.
“We realise it would be a very costly exercise but Mildura is the only major rural city that doesn’t have passenger rail.”
The Victorian Government’s $2.7 billion Building Works package announced this week included $10.6 million for projects in the Mildura electorate.
This represented a 0.39 per cent share of overall funds.
At the 2016 Census, the electorate had 1.07 per cent of Victoria’s population.
Ms Cupper said she would also push for a share of social housing funding from the package, however as it stood Mildura was well short of the $28.9 million it would have received had the spend been carved up equally among electorates.
“We’re acutely aware of the metrics,” Ms Cupper said.
“We looked at the amount of money that we got compared to other seats and we were disappointed.”
Mildura received none of the $1 billion set aside for schools in the Building Works program, Ms Cupper said.
Where the money goes
Victoria’s Big Build (about $70 billion)
No projects in the Mildura electorate
Building Works coronavirus response package ($2.7 billion)
Mildura riverfront – $5 million
Birchip, Wycheproof and Sea Lake streetscapes (plus other towns outside the electorate) – $4 million
Mildura worker accommodation – $800,000
Robinvale worker accommodation – $500,000
Sea Lake visitor centre – $300,000
Ouyen Community Gym – $43,000
Total – $10.6 million (0.39 per cent of overall funds)
