Premier concedes soaring costs a risk to Suburban Rail Loop
Surging construction costs pose a risk to the first stage of the Suburban Rail Loop, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has acknowledged.
Speaking at Victorian budget estimates on Tuesday, the premier faced questions about a 2024 meeting of an SRL East committee made up of the heads of multiple departments that discussed managing the project's $34.5 billion cost envelope.
Minutes from the meeting, released to the state opposition through freedom of information rules, show the committee discussed 'the importance of keeping the program on track while resolving cost issues'.
When asked what these issues were, Allan said the discussion was focused on the fact that since 2021 Australia had recorded a 22 per cent increase in the cost of construction.
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The $34.5 billion cost for SRL East was announced in 2021 with the release of the project's business and investment case, prompting questions from Liberal MP Richard Welch about whether this figure was still accurate given soaring building prices.
Allan said no project was immune to these pressures, but the government had to deliver the rail loop within the range already announced.
'That is the task of the interdepartmental committee, the minister responsible for the project and the authority delivering that project,' she said.
About $2.37 billion will be spent on early works alone, which Allan said were included in the project's total price tag.
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