Infrastructure Partnerships Australia has expressed its extreme concern with the Victorian opposition’s proposed cancellation of the Suburban Rail Loop project.
Infrastructure Partnerships Australia chief executive Adrian Dwyer said Victoria had to work hard to shed the baggage of ripping up the East West Link contract, but the speculation on the SRL risked the re-emergence of the “big dollars, no diggers” approach to infrastructure.
“Opposition leader Matthew Guy was on the right side of history when he railed against the cancellation of the East West Link contract, this time he’s picked up the wrong play book,” he said.
“This is infrastructure policy in Dire Straits, it’s Money for Nothing.
“Certainty is crucial in infrastructure, with major projects spanning a decade, and programs often multiple decades; we can’t afford to signal to global markets that every election will see the map re-drawn.
“International bidders are lining up for major infrastructure bids in Australia at this very moment, it could be incredibly damaging to send a signal to board rooms in Madrid and Rome and Kuala Lumpur that the Victorian infrastructure pipeline is a moving feast.
“Cancelling the existing SRL contracts now will be double the cost of cancelling the East West Link and deliver exactly the same amount of infrastructure – zero.
“Matthew Guy is right to talk about the need to keep investing in our health system – but with good policy settings, social infrastructure and transport infrastructure investment don’t need to be mutually exclusive.”
Infrastructure Partnerships Australia is the nation’s infrastructure think tank, providing independent policy research focused on excellence in social and economic infrastructure.