MEMBER for Mildura Ali Cupper says the Manangatang and Sea Lake communities have been abandoned in the Victorian Government’s revised business case for the Murray Basin Rail Project (MBRP).
Ms Cupper said it was extremely disappointing the Manangatang and Sea Lake lines would not be standardised in the cut-down version of the MBRP lodged with the Federal Government.
“I have said all along the Murray Basin Rail Project needs to be completed in full, so the Sea Lake and Manangatang lines being dumped from the revised business case is not good enough,” Ms Cupper said.
“This is another example of the big parties failing us,” she said.
“This will be a bitter pill for those small, hard-working, farming communities to swallow.”
The Victorian Government is seeking an extra $195.2 million in Federal Government funding as part of the cut-down proposal, while investing $48.8 million itself.
“The Federal Government still has the opportunity to step up and fully fund the MBRP if it chooses and, of course, I would be hopeful they look closely at that,” Ms Cupper said.
“This project is too important to only be completed in such as scaled-down version. It needs to be fully funded and completed.”
The Nationals leader Peter Walsh said the hopes of a new era for producers and transport stakeholders in north-west Victoria had been shattered with the release of the revised business case.
Ms Walsh said the revised business case confirmed the Andrews Labor Government never intended to complete the transformation of Victoria’s freight rail network.
The review proposes a package of works which requires an additional $244 million toward the project, taking the overall investment in the MBRP to $814 million.
Mr Walsh said that instead of completing the once-in-a-generation project, Transport Infrastructure Minister Jacinta Allan opted to leave the project barely half finished.
“Despite being squarely responsible for destroying this project, Jacinta Allan has the arrogance to say it’s the Federal Government’s responsibility to fix it,” Mr Walsh said.
“It was the Victorian Government that decided to use antique track and failed to properly manage the delivery,” he said.
“The only one playing politics with the future of north-west Victoria is the Andrews Labor Government.”
The government, however, claimed that work on the project is “ready to go”, but will not be able to begin before the 2021 grain season if the Commonwealth Government continued to stall.
It said the project would also deliver new passing loops to allow for more freight paths, as well as new or upgraded sidings at Maryborough, Donald and Merbein to improve flexibility in the network.
Re-sleepering work on sections of the Sea Lake and Manangatang lines, the Mildura-Yelta line and on the Ouyen-Murrayville line had been proposed to help boost speeds, as well as structural assessments to investigate what works were required to introduce 134-tonne locomotives.
“Our rail freight and passenger network has transformed since the project was first developed, and this revised set of works will make sure this project delivers for Victorian farmers and freight operators well into the future,” Ms Allan said.
