{"id":47113,"date":"2024-05-18T09:58:45","date_gmt":"2024-05-17T23:58:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=47113"},"modified":"2024-05-18T09:59:08","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T23:59:08","slug":"blown-out-north-east-links-extra-3-25-billion-gets-albaneses-thumbs-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=47113","title":{"rendered":"Blown-out North East Link\u2019s extra $3.25 billion gets Albanese\u2019s thumbs up"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Pouring an extra $3.25 billion worth of federal funds into Melbourne\u2019s North East Link is a good use of taxpayer money, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has insisted, despite the project\u2019s cost doubling just a few months ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But the prime minister has remained tight-lipped about how the latest investment will affect the investment pipeline for Victoria\u2019s other major infrastructure projects, including the Allan government\u2019s controversial Suburban Rail Loop and the long-touted Airport Rail.<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"584\" height=\"389\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-122.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-47115\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-122.jpeg 584w, https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-122-300x200.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Jacinta Allan touring the North East Link site on Thursday.&nbsp;CREDIT:&nbsp;JOE ARMAO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Albanese visited the North East Link\u2019s two huge tunnel-boring machines for Thursday\u2019s announcement, which will bring the Commonwealth\u2019s total contribution to $5 billion. The project, which will link major arterial roads, is expected to take 15,000 trucks off suburban streets and slash some travel times by half an hour.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, the North East Link blew out by more than $10 billion in December, taking its total estimated cost to $26 billion. Asked why his government was tipping more money into the project, instead of putting it into settling the Airport Rail dispute, Albanese said it was because the North East Link was \u201chere, it\u2019s real and it\u2019s now\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cYou can\u2019t drive on a media release,\u201d the prime minister said. \u201cWhat you can do is drive on a road that\u2019s properly funded. We believe this $5 billion is an appropriate contribution by the Commonwealth to what is a vital nation-building project.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\">\n<figure class=\"aligncenter size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"584\" height=\"389\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-121.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-47114\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-121.jpeg 584w, https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/image-121-300x200.jpeg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 584px) 100vw, 584px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The North East Link will stretch from Bulleen to Greensborough.CREDIT:&nbsp;NORTH EAST LINK AUTHORITY<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p>Premier Jacinta Allan\u2019s first budget, handed down on Tuesday,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theage.com.au\/link\/follow-20170101-p5gixs\">confirmed that more than 100 transport, school and health projects were being pushed back<\/a>&nbsp;to help the state\u2019s bottom line. Airport Rail has now been delayed by at least four years amid a dispute between the state government and Melbourne Airport over whether the rail line should be above or below ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe airport should get serious about actually getting things done,\u201d Albanese said. \u201cI\u2019m familiar with airports. From time to time, they think they operate in a way that forgets their social licence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Albanese also batted away questions about whether his latest investment meant there was no money in next week\u2019s federal budget for the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL). He said Victorians would have to wait until the budget was handed down on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The state opposition\u2019s major transport infrastructure spokesman, David Southwick, said this stance all but confirmed a vote of no confidence in the SRL.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe Allan Labor government has lost control of the North East Link\u2019s price tag and had to go cap in hand to the federal government for a bailout,\u201d Southwick said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhen funding a project blowout is a more attractive prospect than contributing to the Suburban Rail Loop, it\u2019s clear the Albanese Labor government has no confidence in Jacinta Allan\u2019s $216 billion pet project.\u201d&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Victoria hopes to secure two-thirds of the money needed for the $34.5 billion first stage of the project \u2013 Suburban Rail Loop East \u2013 from the Commonwealth. The federal government has so far committed just $2.2 billion. Tunnel boring machines are due to start work in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The 90-kilometre orbital rail loop was announced on the eve of the 2018 election. Then premier Daniel Andrews sold the project as a city-changing initiative that would eventually link Cheltenham, in Melbourne\u2019s southeast, to Werribee in the west.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Age<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pouring an extra $3.25 billion worth of federal funds into Melbourne\u2019s North East Link is a good use of taxpayer money, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has insisted, despite the project\u2019s cost doubling just a few months ago.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":47097,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[273,999,163],"tags":[993],"class_list":["post-47113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia","category-australia-politics","category-rail-industry-news-australia-new-zealand","tag-melbourne"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=47113"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47113\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":47116,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47113\/revisions\/47116"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/47097"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=47113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=47113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=47113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}