Op-ed: Victoria is dragging its feet on major projects

The Andrews Labor government never stops complaining that it wants more infrastructure funding from Canberra.

The Turnbull government, too, wants to fund more projects in Victoria - and there are three things the Andrews government can do to make that happen.

Firstly, it needs to get on with spending the money it has already been allocated.

The Turnbull government has allocated billions of dollars for infrastructure in Victoria - but the Andrews government is dragging its feet on putting much of that money to work. Since April 2016, the Turnbull government has committed $3 billion to support 48 transport infrastructure projects across Melbourne and regional Victoria. But the great majority of those projects need to be delivered by agencies of the Victorian government - such as VicRoads, V/Line and Transport for Victoria.

Of the projects agreed to by the Commonwealth and Victorian governments, only three have been "completed" and only 10 are "under construction".

The only completed projects cost less than $200,000 and were all fully funded by the Turnbull government.

There is $2.6 billion of Commonwealth funding waiting to be spent - and Victorians have a right to ask why Daniel Andrews is refusing to spend it.

The second thing the Andrews government should do is stop making factually incorrect claims about the share of Commonwealth infrastructure spending allocated to Victoria. The Andrews government misleadingly quotes a figure of 9.4 per cent. In fact, of total investment in transport infrastructure by the Commonwealth government between 2017-18 and 2020-21, around 20 per cent is allocated to Victoria.

This includes the $3 billion of Commonwealth funding available for the first Victorian government which commits to deliver the vital East West Link project.

And it includes a further $8.4 billion of Commonwealth funding committed across a whole range of projects in Victoria.

It is hard to avoid the conclusion that the Andrews Labor government is holding up crucial projects to score political points.

For example, in April 2016, the Turnbull government committed $500 million for the Monash Freeway, as part of a $1.5 billion infrastructure commitment to Victoria.

This money would deliver desperately needed extra lanes on the Monash Freeway both west towards the city from the EastLink interchange and east from Clyde Road. Nearly two years later the Andrews government still has not publicly committed to proceed with the works, despite Victorian and Commonwealth officials holding many months of discussions.

Similarly the Commonwealth committed an extra $350 million for the M80 Ring Road in April, 2016 - and nearly two years later the Andrews government has not yet commenced the work. Last year we committed $1.4 billion for regional rail in Victoria, and again nothing has started.

Daniel Andrews has been politicising infrastructure since he was elected. His first act as Premier was to spend more than $1 billion cancelling the East West Link project after contracts had been signed and work was under way.

The third thing Daniel Andrews should do, if he wants more infrastructure funding from Canberra, is respect and work with the Commonwealth's processes by which we allocate funding in a fair and evidence-based process across all of the states and territories of Australia.

But Mr Andrews has been more interested in political stunts than in serious and constructive engagement on infrastructure.

And when all else fails he resorts to that tired old political distraction - his claim that the Turnbull government is favouring Sydney over Melbourne on infrastructure. Is it very likely that a national government would deliberately try to favour one of its two biggest cities over the other?

Or is a more likely explanation that a Victorian government which has done a poor job of planning and delivering infrastructure is looking for an excuse to cover up that poor performance?

Article originally published in The Age, Melbourne, on 28 Feb 2018