Victorian government robs the west to give to the east

Thursday 24 April 2025

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan chose to sign the contracts to build the first leg of the $200-plus billion Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) project against the explicit advice of infrastructure experts.

SRL East, which will link Box Hill and Cheltenham, is budgeted to cost $34.5 billion. To date, the state has only secured $11.8 billion of funding, with another $2.2 billion secured from the federal government.

Source: Victorian Budget 2023-24

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.