Source: Prime Minister of Australia
CARINA GARLAND, MEMBER FOR CHISHOLM: Good morning, everybody. I’m Carina Garland, I’m the Federal Member for Chisholm. And I’m so pleased to see so many people here today, including, of course, the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, the Premier of Victoria, Jacinta Allan, Ministers and State and Federal colleagues. I’ve lived in the southeastern and eastern suburbs of Victoria almost my entire life, and I know how important infrastructure and connectivity is for this community. I’m a really, really proud Victorian, and I’m so proud to be part of an Australian Government that cares about Victoria. We’ve got some exciting news for Victorians today, and I will hand over to the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, to tell us all more about that.
< ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER:
For so many years, when I became the Infrastructure Minister, way back in 2007, the problem in the three eastern capitals were all very similar. There was a problem of getting through the inner networks and expanding the rail network. Now here in Melbourne, that was about the Melbourne Metro Project that I was very proud to fund. The Abbott Government got elected, they ripped the money out, the $3 billion we had allocated for that, and that meant that it opened later than it would have otherwise. But today, it is transforming Melbourne; new stations, new capacity, more people being able to take public transport. There’s another element of public transport, of course, as well, which is safety. People get around a city in a safer way than they do getting around their cars, as well as saving emissions and making an enormous difference to the functioning of an effective and growing city.
This project is exciting. It will create jobs in construction, but importantly, will make an enormous difference for this growing community. I’ve been coming to Melbourne for a long time now, and what I’ve seen with suburbs that will be impacted around here, around Burwood, a place like Box Hill, has been transformed over recent decades as well. This will also enable increased housing density around public transport as an important element of this as well. Good for people as well, like me, who are visitors to Melbourne to get around when you have more effective and better public transport.
So, this is an exciting project. It’s consistent with our commitment to make sure that we continue to invest in infrastructure. And importantly, under the former Government, at one stage, Victoria was getting about 8 per cent of the national share of infrastructure investment. It was simply ripped off. Previous Prime Ministers have lived in Sydney, saw Kirribilli House as the place where the Prime Minister should live, rather than The Lodge, and they’ve invested not in Victoria. Well, that has changed. We invest in every single state of the country, and this – in just the last week, we’ve had announcements as well, early on the week that I made in Perth about infrastructure investment there. But here in Melbourne, our priority has been – not just here as well, but the North East Road Upgrade that will make an enormous difference as well. So, I’m very proud.
Next Tuesday’s Budget will be a good Budget based upon Labor principles. We have substantial savings in the Budget of some $64 billion of savings and reprioritisations, as has been announced today by the Treasurer and the Finance Minister. We’ll continue to make sure that we build Australia’s future, and part of that is building better public transport networks in our cities.
< JACINTA ALLAN, PREMIER OF VICTORIA:
But also too, at the heart of the Suburban Rail Loop, it’s a fairness project, because it’s about giving every Victorian the opportunity, whether you’re a young person and you want to study here at Deakin University, or you want to study at Monash University, two big and important tertiary institutes that are currently not connected by a train line, with the Suburban Rail Loop they will be. And that means opening up so many more opportunities for young people to pursue a tertiary education. It means a nurse can get to their job more easily and more quickly at places like Box Hill Hospital or Monash Medical Centre.
And on that theme of jobs, it is about connecting more people to jobs and services in our suburbs. That’s what the Suburban Rail Loop represents, and that’s why it’s so important that we continue to deliver and push on and deliver this project, because that point of jobs is also an important one. There’s thousands of people already working on this project, and there’ll be many, many more as it really does ramp up in the in the months ahead. And this is, this is about supporting jobs in the construction industry and in the supply chain right now. This means pay packets going home at the end of every week to working people and families who rely on those pay packets going home every single week. And in these uncertain times, the certainty of that is more important than ever before.
So, I really, again, want to finish by thanking the Prime Minister. And the Prime Minister touched on the other projects that are being supported by the Albanese Labor Government. If you look at the works on Airport Rail and Sunshine in the West, the works here on the Suburban Rail Loop, and then in the middle is the North East Link Project – three big road and rail projects that are ringing our city, that are being delivered in partnership by our government, with the Federal Government, and about delivering for the future needs of our city and state, and also supporting those thousands and thousands of jobs right now. We’re pleased to report that the Suburban Rail Loop continues to be delivered on time, on budget, and it’s again great to have that partner in Canberra who understands what Victoria needs and backs it. Thanks, PM.
< CATHERINE KING, MINISTER FOR INFRASTRUCTURE:
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