Minister releases $2.2b for Suburban Rail Loop but flags ‘hurdles’ for more cash
The federal government has released $2.2 billion for Victoria’s controversial Suburban Rail Loop but flagged the state has more work to do establishing the project’s financial underpinning if it wants more money from the Commonwealth.
Suburban Rail Loop Minister Harriet Shing welcomed the move after federal infrastructure minister Catherine King announced the release of the funds in a media interview on Wednesday afternoon.
A Suburban Rail Lop construction site in Clayton.Credit: Joe Armao
“Australia’s largest housing project, our Suburban Rail Loop, has just received $2.2 billion in good news from the Albanese government. This means more homes and more opportunities, closer to where people want to live,” Shing said.
“As the federal government again made clear today, this is a good project. This is an important project. We agree.”
The federal and Victorian governments have been at loggerheads over funding for the project, which has a $35 billion price tag for its first stage.
The state government is hoping to convince the federal government to contribute a further $9 billion and that it can raise another $12 billion from unspecified “value capture” property charges.
The proposed Suburban Rail Loop.Credit: Supplied
King told the ABC that the state would still have to overcome further “hurdles” before it would get wider support particularly around value capture.
“My department have now assessed that and recommended that the money be released to the Victorian government on the basis of very specific things that it will be going towards,” she said.
