Brisbane’s ABC Radio has again asked a federal minister whether there will be Commonwealth funding for Cross River Rail, and the minister has again said no.
Just over a month after cities minister Alan Tudge was asked in Brisbane whether the Morrison Government would be pouring in any money for the rail tunnel project, infrastructure minister Michael McCormack was asked the same question, on the same station.
“The Queensland Government has said that they’re going to fund it and so if they’re going to fund it, we’ll look at other projects,” McCormack told hosts Craig Zonca and Loretta Ryan on Tuesday.
“I’m in close contact with [Queensland transport] Minister Mark Bailey,” McCormack, who is also the leader of the Nationals, continued.
“We’re always in touch about what we can do and how we can do it better and I was delighted to have him at the Transport Infrastructure Council meeting in Sydney last week where we talked about Queensland’s infrastructure needs and particularly the Inland Rail.”
McCormack’s comments are in lock-step with those made by Tudge in October.
“Listen, I don’t have a problem with the Cross River Rail,” Tudge said on October 2. “It [inaudible] like it’s a necessary project but the state government has fully funded it, so they don’t need a federal contribution.
“When a project is fully funded then, it’s fully funded. They don’t need a federal contribution. We’ve got massive federal contributions towards other big infrastructure projects here in Brisbane. That’s where our focus is.”
Queensland’s Labor Government campaigned heavily for a federal contribution to Cross River Rail, a 10.2-kilometre rail line between Dutton Park and Bowen Hills with four new high-capacity underground stations in Brisbane’s city centre.
But when Infrastructure Australia said the latest iteration of the project didn’t pass its cost-benefit standards, the Turnbull Government confirmed its intentions not to supply that funding.
The Queensland Government nonetheless decided to go ahead with the project, and has said it will fully fund it without federal assistance.
Despite the state no doubt remaining open to the idea of federal funding, McCormack’s comments have reiterated the Commonwealth’s position that the matter is now closed for discussion.