Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

Thanks very much to the member for that question. The Suburban Rail Loop is a once-in-a-generation infrastructure project that will transform the way in which people move about the state of Victoria and will also reshape the way in which Victoria grows, including where people live and the opportunities for people to live around public transport—something that this government is very supportive of.

We have made a capped contribution of $2.2 billion towards the early works of Suburban Rail Loop East and release of that funding is contingent on the program meeting the conditions under the National Land Transport Act, as is any project that the Commonwealth invests funding in, which includes project proposal reports, which we have not received from the Victorian government yet.

As I have made very clear on a number of occasions, no decisions have been made about further funding, and before any further requests for funding are agreed to, Victoria will need to work with Infrastructure Australia so that it can provide advice on this project.

In relation to planning issues, this is primarily a matter for the Victorian government. But we know that, in order to address housing affordability, we need a steady supply of new houses in the right places, supported by the right infrastructure. That does mean, as I say, building housing around really important public transport links.

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