THE Victorian Labor Government says it is “a little bewildered” that the Federal Government did not earmark more funding in this year’s budget to continue work on the Murray Basin Rail Project (MBRP).
State Parliament was this week told the stalling of all MBRP activity had also severely compromised progress on the Ouyen intermodal freight terminal, which had the capacity to deliver significant benefits for farmers and the agricultural industry.
In a report released in March this year, the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office said the stalled project meant freight from north-west Victoria was taking up to five hours longer to get to port than it had on the previous broad-gauge route.
It said the MBRP and Freight-Passenger Rail Separation Project had not met scope, time, cost or quality expectations.
It said about half the approved MBRP scope had been delivered using almost 87 per cent of the originally approved budget and would require a “considerable” injection of new funds if intended benefits were to be realised.
However, Agriculture Minister Minister Jaclyn Symes laid the blame squarely on the Federal Government, which she said had let Victoria down by refusing to allocate funds.
Ms Symes said that was “particularly concerning”, given The Nationals Member for Mallee Anne Webster and Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack had previously advocated the project.
The Federal Government contributed $240 million to the $440 million project before funding ran out with it incomplete.
Ms Symes said the State Government had committed a further $48 million towards the upgrade, while the Federal Government refused to “start to make up the ratio that we would expect for projects of national significance”.
“We are not a government that have walked away from our commitment to the Murray Basin Rail Project,” she said.
“The initial proposal, as has been well socialised, was not fit for purpose and does not reflect the current freight and passenger rail networks.
“The revised scope will see freight from Ouyen and a number of other regional towns delivered sooner and more efficiently thanks to the ongoing commitment from our government, and indeed our Transport Infrastructure Minister’s commitment, to this project.
“Unfortunately, as we know, we are very disappointed that the Federal Government once again let Victoria down by refusing to fund anything for this project.”
Member for Northern Victoria Tania Maxwell said the “vital” Ouyen intermodal freight terminal project had the capacity to deliver significant benefits to northern Victoria.
“This is particularly through substantially reducing the paddock-to-port costs of transporting export-destined products like almonds, citrus, wine grapes, hay, wheat and barley to Melbourne,” Ms Maxwell said.
“However, the stalling of all activity on the Murray Basin Rail Project has also now severely compromised progress on the intermodal.
“Stakeholders and producers want their questions answered in relation to the Ouyen intermodal freight terminal.
“This infrastructure is of paramount importance to many people in northern Victoria, especially to our agriculture industry.”
