Article: Abbott comment throws doubt on rail, road funding

[ozbob]

From the Melbourne Age click here!

Abbott comment throws doubt on rail, road funding

Abbott comment throws doubt on rail, road funding
April 6, 2013 Josh Gordon

Premier Denis Napthine has vowed to pursue Commonwealth cash for Victoria's $9 billion Metro rail tunnel despite confirmation by Tony Abbott that there will be no federal money for urban rail projects if the Coalition wins the next election.

Mr Abbott has signalled a return to the Howard government model of only funding major roads and rail freight projects. ''It doesn't mean urban rail, commuter rail,'' he said on Friday.

The Metro rail project, requiring a nine-kilometre tunnel between South Kensington and South Yarra with five stations, is at the top of Infrastructure Australia's national priority list, having been assessed as ''ready to proceed''.

The comments have also raised concerns about the fate of the multibillion-dollar regional rail project, a 47.5-kilometre line running from Southern Cross Station through the western suburbs of Melbourne to link up with the Geelong Line at West Werribee.

Despite the name, the project is mostly urban, partly to free up capacity on the Melbourne network.

A spokesman for Mr Abbott said the Metro rail project, which is being funded with a $3.2 billion contribution from the Commonwealth, would still go ahead under a Coalition federal government.

''The regional rail link is under way and the federal Coalition will fully honour the funding and contracts for this project,'' the spokesman said.

Details of the east-west road project - including the cost, design and funding method - remain vague in the absence of a State government business case, which is likely to be released as part of the May 7 state budget.

The Metro rail tunnel is at the centre of the Napthine government's transport plans. It is believed the state government has requested about three-quarters of the estimated $9 billion cost from the Commonwealth to help pay for it.

Dr Napthine on Friday said he would be ''very parochial'' about pursuing Victoria's best interests.''We will actively and strongly pursue Infrastructure Australia and federal government funding for all three of these important projects whether it's Julia Gillard as prime minister or Tony Abbott as prime minister.''

Mr Abbott has promised to chip in $1.5 billion for the east-west road, which is likely to cost at least $10 billion in total. He has claimed the project will start within 18 months of a Coalition government taking office, despite the lack of a business case or private sector backers.

Greens MP Adam Bandt said Mr Abbott's plan to fund road projects and not urban rail projects shows 19th-century thinking that will turn inner Melbourne into a rat's nest.

He said the Opposition Leader had the wrong priorities.

''If Tony Abbott is elected, it will be a disaster for inner-city Melbourne,'' he said. ''The suburbs that we love and that make Melbourne consistently one of the world's most liveable cities will be turned into a rat's nest of on and off ramps.''

''To suggest the federal government doesn't have a role in building public transport in major cities like Melbourne is 19th century thinking.''

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/abbott-comment-throws-doubt-on-rail-road-funding-20130405-2hcen.html#ixzz2Pc2NuktU

[colinw]

Fairfax -> Without the tunnel, Napthine is in a hole

A few years ago Tony Abbott made the mistake of admitting only his ''carefully prepared scripted remarks'' should be taken as the gospel truth. Labor latched onto the comments as a drowning person might to a life raft, claiming nothing Abbott said could henceforth be taken seriously.

The Opposition Leader would not be making the same error twice.

Perhaps hoping to mop away lingering credibility issues, he told the National Press Club in February he wanted to restore truth to politics, brandishing a list of policy promises ''you can trust me to keep''.

Among them was a pledge to make a ''swift start'' on Melbourne's proposed east-west road link, with a $1.5 billion contribution from the Commonwealth.
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Then came the revelation last week that a government led by him would not fund commuter rail projects because ''it's important we stick to our knitting and the Commonwealth's knitting is roads''.

Why projects should be ruled out simply because they involve laying track rather than road was never properly explained. But it was more than just a throwaway line. Asked to clarify the next day, Abbott remained adamant that historically the Commonwealth has been in the business of funding ''national infrastructure''.

''That means roads of national significance, it means freight rail but it doesn't mean urban rail, commuter rail,'' he explained. ''That's what I said yesterday and that's what I say today.''

In case you haven't yet got the message, there will be no Commonwealth money for future commuter rail projects if the Coalition wins as expected - at least not any time soon.

Public cynicism about politicians may be near an all-time high right now but the things our leaders tell us must mean at least something.

So, taken at face value, Abbott's infrastructure funding model will have profound implications for Denis Napthine, who has been at pains to appear as the decisive leader his predecessor, Ted Baillieu, was not.

Abbott's promise to chip in $1.5 billion for the east-west road link was no doubt welcome news. But will it be enough to get the project off the ground within 18 months? Privately, the thinking within the state government is that a far bigger contribution from the Commonwealth will be needed if the road has any hope.

No business case has yet been released for the project (Abbott this week appeared to incorrectly claim one existed), so details about the cost, design and funding options remain sketchy. But given the road - which would link the Eastern Freeway to the Western Ring Road - would probably cost something like $14 billion, there are real doubts about how it will be paid for, all the more so because the state government insists it will not take on significant debt for major projects.

At the same time, private sector cash for such projects is scarce after Sydney's Cross City and Lane Cove tunnel debacles and Brisbane's new Airport Link, which is carrying just one-third of the traffic predicted.

If Abbott's promise to start the road within 18 months (he originally said 12 months but let's not quibble) is to be believed, work should start in about March 2015. This means Napthine could well have some explaining to do in the lead-up to the November 29, 2014, state election if it becomes apparent the road project is unlikely to get off the ground. Abbott may have promised a relatively meagre $1.5 billion but he also appears to have locked the state into an unrealistic time frame.

More important, perhaps, Abbott's infrastructure funding model would seem to push the Metro rail tunnel - a nine-kilometre tunnel from South Kensington to South Yarra that would cater for an extra 20,000 commuters an hour - into the never never.

Unlike the east-west link, the rail tunnel, which would cost about $9 billion, has been assessed by Infrastructure Australia as ''ready to proceed'', taking its place at the top of the independent umpire's priority list.

The problem for Napthine is his government has argued the vast bulk of its public transport plans are contingent on the Metro rail tunnel being built. That includes a proposed rail extension to the airport and new lines to Doncaster and Rowville.

Given the central importance of the rail tunnel to his transport vision, you have to wonder why Napthine was so sanguine about Abbott's comments.

Victoria is believed to have asked the Commonwealth to chip in about three-quarters of the cost. Yet Napthine appeared to shrug off concerns about the road-only approach. ''We will actively and strongly pursue Infrastructure Australia and federal government funding . . . whether it's Julia Gillard as prime minister or Tony Abbott as prime minister,'' he said.

Ultimately, commuters will bear the biggest cost. Congestion, which is costing Melbourne something like $6 billion a year, is only going to keep getting worse. Abbott might do well to bear that in mind.