LABOR’S LIGHT RAIL CHARADE
THE Australian Labor Party’s hypocrisy at funding crucial infrastructure reached a new level at the weekend when it agreed to cough up $10 billion – that’s right, $10 billion – for a suburban rail loop in Victoria.
In committing to part-fund the 90km project that led to Labor cohort Daniel Andrews’ win at last year’s Victorian election, Opposition leader Bill Shorten scoffed:
“Dan Andrews and all Victorians need a partner in Canberra and that’s what I’ll be. The suburban rail loop will be a game changer for Australia’s fastest-growing city. It means faster travel times and more jobs for Victorians.”
For weeks, Labor insiders have tried to stymie the Bulletin’s quest for answers as to why Mr Shorten, the short favourite to win this weekend’s election, is refusing to tip in the extra funding needed to get light rail Stage 3A over the line here.
Labor and the Coalition have both pledged $112 million, or about 16 per cent, for the $709 million project, well below the Federal Government contributions of 38 and 22 per cent respectively for stages one and two.
Before yesterday, Mr Shorten’s team had declined to comment each time the Bulletin sent questions on the issue. Mayor Tom Tate is still waiting for a reply to a letter he sent both federal leaders last month.
Labor insiders have told this newspaper that the light rail is a State Government project and the party has no formal obligation to provide funding.
As the Bulletin has reported, neither side of federal politics displayed the same ethics when they offered to pay only 50 per cent of the money needed to upgrade the M1, despite nationwide precedents showing it should have been 80 per cent.
That hypocrisy raised its ugly head on two fronts at the weekend with Labor’s support of the Victorian rail project. Yes, Melbourne is Australia’s fastest-growing city at 2.74 per cent year on year. However, the Gold Coast is in its shadow in second, with annual growth of 2.63 per cent.
Second, the Victorian project is a state issue, so why the double standard?
Perhaps it lies with the fact that up to six Liberal Party seats in Melbourne are at risk of falling to Labor this weekend. The Gold Coast, to its own detriment, remains largely LNP heartland. It is only in the city’s north, in Forde, where Labor has offered transport solutions.
Stage 3A is pivotal to other major projects going ahead and, most importantly, easing gridlock. Infrastructure Australia last week said the Gold Coast extension was one of the most important congestion-busting projects in the country and badly needed approval.
This city is getting little help from its own politicians. Mr Shorten’s right-hand man, Senator Murray Watt, won’t fight for the extra funding. Even State LNP MP Sam O’Connor does not believe the Federal Government should spend a penny on the project. Residents trying to beat gridlock in Melbourne must be glad they are not representing them.
Bill Shorten is happy to gouge 77,000 Gold Coast seniors with his retiree tax. At the very least he and his cronies should look Gold Coasters in the eye and tell them why different standards are employed in electorates where they have more to gain.