The Victorian premier responded to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s announcement that he would pull federal funding from the SRL East and Sunshine hub if elected.
The Victorian premier responded to Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s announcement that he would pull federal funding from the SRL East and Sunshine hub if elected.
By Rachel Eddie, Chip Le Grand and Kieran Rooney
April 1, 2025 — 10.36am
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton’s pledge to pull funding from the Sunshine station project would make the Melbourne Airport Rail link redundant and hurt people in the west and regions the most, Premier Jacinta Allan says.
Dutton announced late Monday that if elected on May 3, he would redirect $2.2 billion of federal funding for the SRL East and another $2 billion for the Sunshine hub towards the $13 billion Airport Rail link.
The Albanese government in February pledged an extra $2 billion to get the airport link started at the Sunshine hub, with another $2 billion already committed by the state, which said untangling tracks and expanding the station was key to the project.
In Dutton’s announcement on Monday, he said Sunshine station would still be upgraded to connect the regions and the suburbs to the airport as part of the broader project.
But Allan responded on Tuesday that pulling federal funding for Sunshine would neutralise the value of the Airport Rail.
“What that means [is] it will leave train travellers stranded at the platform. It won’t deliver the connections that are needed to get trains through to the airport,” she said.
“It’ll leave regional passengers stranded because building Sunshine is all about making sure regional communities can connect into Airport Rail, and it sends a very loud message to the Melton community that you can forget about electrification under a Peter Dutton government because of his cuts to the Sunshine station project.”
State Transport Infrastructure Minister Gabrielle Williams said Dutton did not understand the significance of the Sunshine hub.
Advertisement
“It is stage one of Airport Rail, and what he is proposing puts all of its benefits at risk,” she said.
Williams said the Melbourne Airport Rail and Suburban Rail Loop were “not an either/or proposition”.
Loading
Allan would not say how much it would cost to cancel contracts on SRL East if it could not be progressed, while SRL Minister Harriet Shing refused to rule out signing any more contracts before the May 3 federal election, adding that negotiations on further packages continued.
The Victorian government is still relying on the federal government to hand over another $9 billion towards the $35 billion SRL East connecting Cheltenham to Box Hill by 2035, the first stage of the orbital rail link.
Infrastructure Australia last month warned the Albanese government against putting more Commonwealth cash towards SRL East until it was re-costed and more information was provided about how the state proposed to fund it. The Victorian government says one-third would be funded through unspecified value-capture.
Federal Labor’s $2.2 billion commitment to SRL has been restricted to funding “tangible elements” that could provide benefits even if the project does not go ahead.
Dutton and infrastructure spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie said SRL East was a “cruel hoax” and that a Coalition government would prioritise Airport Rail instead.
“The Airport Rail is a long-overdue piece of transport infrastructure vital to the future growth of Melbourne, and a Coalition government at both levels of representation will make it a reality,” Dutton and McKenzie said in a statement.
The statement said the funding pulled from SRL East could also go towards extending the Frankston line, duplicating Donnybrook Road or plans for extending the Upfield line in Melbourne’s north.
Federal Transport Minister Catherine King warned Victorian voters to not let “Peter Dutton short change Victoria again”.
Federal and state Labor have committed a combined $12 billion to Airport Rail, $7 billion from the Commonwealth and $5 billion from Victoria, following the extra $2 billion pledged in February to the Sunshine hub.
The governments and private owners of the airport signed a peace deal last month, committing to progress the link, which was delayed four years from 2029 because of a since-settled dispute over whether the airport station should be above or below ground.
Loading
The project was estimated at $10 billion to $13 billion in 2021. Since then, the government estimates that construction costs have risen by about 22 per cent.
But Williams on Tuesday said the cost estimates stand.
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter.
Rachel Eddie is a Victorian state political reporter for The Age. Previously, she was a city reporter and has covered breaking news.Connect via Twitter or email.
Chip Le Grand leads our state politics reporting team. He previously served as the paper’s chief reporter and is a journalist of 30 years’ experience.Connect via email.
Kieran Rooney is a Victorian state political reporter at The Age.Connect via email.
Loading