{"id":58903,"date":"2024-06-03T17:50:56","date_gmt":"2024-06-03T07:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=58903"},"modified":"2024-06-03T17:51:04","modified_gmt":"2024-06-03T07:51:04","slug":"victorians-may-still-be-slugged-with-suburban-rail-loop-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=58903","title":{"rendered":"Victorians may still be slugged with Suburban Rail Loop tax"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A Suburban Rail Loop tax <\/a>could be on the cards for Victorians as the Allan government scrambles to find a way to plug the mega project\u2019s multi-billion budget black hole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The state government has refused to rule out introducing a SRL tax to recoup billions of dollars spent on building the controversial rail line, which has begun to attract criticism from within the Labor Party caucus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Transport Infrastructure Minister Danny Pearson on Monday dodged a series of questions about the mammoth project, including whether Victorians could be slapped with another tax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to get into ruling this in, ruling that out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA third of the funding source will come through value capture and that work remains ongoing and when that work is finalised we will advise the community accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Construction on Suburban Rail Loop East has began despite a $20bn funding black hole.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a Public Accounts and Estimates Committee last month, Mr Pearson refused to rule out forcing new taxes and levies on Monash and Deakin Universities, which are located along the SRL route.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move could risk universities passing down the extra costs to university students, leading to hiked up fees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any new taxes are expected to form part of the government\u2019s efforts to raise $11.5 billion \u2013 a third of stage one of the project \u2013 through \u201cvalue capture\u201d efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the value capture initiatives that have been floated by the Suburban Rail Loop Authority include requesting billions of dollars from developers and businesses in the area, introducing a land tax surcharge or establishing a carparking surcharge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Suburban Rail Loop Authority has floated value capture initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Just $14 billion of the projected $30 \u2013 $34.5 billion cost for stage one of the project, SRL East \u2013 which will run from Cheltenham to Box Hill \u2013 has been put on the table, including $11.8 billion from the state government and $2.2 billion from the Commonwealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another $20 billion is yet to be funded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shadow Treasurer Brad Rowswell called on Labor to \u201ccome clean on their secret $20 billion SRL Tax\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWill it be a land tax premium? Will it be a stamp duty surcharge? Will it be a fee on every business and ratepayer in Kingston, Monash and Whitehorse?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Victorian shadow treasurer Brad Rowswell wants the Allan government to \u2018come clean\u2019 on the secret tax.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cVictorians deserve to know exactly who will be hit and how much they will pay.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Pearson on Monday also sidestepped several questions about the level of support among his colleagues for the Suburban Rail Loop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As revealed by the Herald Sun on Sunday, north and western suburbs Ministers and MPs, including deputy premier Ben Carroll, have raised concerns about the $34 billion project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Pearson was asked multiple times whether \u201cevery single\u201d Labor MP was still backing the project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he refused to confirm every MP remained on board with the controversial project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

HeraldSun<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Victorians may still be slapped with another tax to plug the Suburban Rail Loop\u2019s multi-billion budget black hole \u2014 with the Allan government refusing to be drawn on the issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":58905,"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":[273,163,8160],"tags":[993,8],"class_list":["post-58903","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-australia","category-rail-industry-news-australia-new-zealand","category-suburban-rail-loop","tag-melbourne","tag-victoria"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\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\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t