The Victorian opposition has launched a scathing attack on the state government, accusing Labor of “bullying and intimidation” following explosive allegations regarding the planning of the Melbourne Airport Rail Link.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The controversy stems from an anonymous submission made by a former government planning expert to Victoria’s construction industry royal commission.<\/sup> According to details first published by The Age<\/em>, the submission alleges that the government deliberately undermined alternative proposals for the rail link to force through its preferred route via Sunshine.<\/sup><\/p>\n\n\n\n The whistleblower claims that between $3.8 billion and $4.6 billion in unnecessary tunnelling was intentionally added to an alternate Maribyrnong route.<\/sup> The alleged goal was to artificially inflate the price tag, making the Maribyrnong option unviable and steering the project toward Sunshine\u2014a route that includes a planned new station at Keilor East within Premier Ben Carroll\u2019s electorate of Niddrie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Shadow Minister for Transport Infrastructure Evan Mulholland blasted the government over the revelations, demanding full accountability from the state\u2019s leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “We’ve seen revelations that Jacinta Allan and her office allegedly bullied, threatened and intimidated senior public servants to get a preferred political outcome on the Melbourne Airport Rail,” Mr Mulholland said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With Premier Ben Carroll part of the cabinet when the decisions were made, the opposition is pressing him to clarify his personal involvement and knowledge of the alleged pressure tactics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “He needs to explain what he knew, and when he knew it,” Mr Mulholland stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The state government has thus far declined to comment on the specific substance of the claims, pointing to the ongoing findings of the royal commission.<\/sup> As the fallout from the inquiry continues to unfold, the pressure is mounting on senior ministers to address the serious allegations of political interference in major infrastructure planning.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The controversy stems from an anonymous submission made by a former government planning expert to Victoria’s construction industry royal commission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":180344,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17733,47],"tags":[21492,8],"class_list":["post-588981","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-marl","category-rail-news","tag-evan-mulholland","tag-victoria"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tClaims of Artificial Cost Blowouts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Pressure Mounts on Premier Ben Carroll<\/h3>\n\n\n\n