Pity us poor Victorians.  With an election due in November, both major parties are on the money throwing path and it is only gunna get worse.    Labor are promising subsidies for solar power and hot water whilst the LNP  are promising mandatory inter school sport.   It's only mid August but it already looks like the tempo will rapidly increase.    I'm glad I have Foxtel and Netflix!

whiteknight wrote on Sep 1^st, 2018 at 2:59pm:

I certainly hope not!

Captain Nemo wrote on Oct 9^th, 2018 at 12:48pm:




I guess you missed this bit..

he Victorian government has had its second major project cost blowout in a week, with the state’s financial watchdog condemning Labor’s level crossing removal program and revealing the budget has ballooned by at least $2.3 billion, or 38 per cent, to $8.3bn.

In a damning assessment of Labor’s infrastructure project, Victoria’s Auditor-General highlighted weaknesses in the business case behind the program, which contrary to its publicly stated objective had not targeted the “50 most dangerous and congested crossings” across Melbourne.

Of the 50 crossings included in the initial plan, 29 were rated by VicRoads in 2013 as “lower” or “no” priority, the report said. And just 62 per cent were on the Australian Level Crossing Assessment Model’s publicly available list of the 50 highest-risk crossings. One of the most dangerous crossings in the city, Union Road at Surrey Hills, was not to be upgraded.

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Premier Daniel Andrews revealed this week the cost of building the West Gate Tunnel had blown out by $1.2bn to $6.7bn because of the need for a longer outbound tunnel on the West Gate Freeway to avoid nearby houses.

The level crossing removal program, which promised to remove 50 crossings by 2022 at a forecast cost of $5bn-$6bn, is part of the broader plan to improve Melbourne’s road and rail network.

In his report released yesterday, Auditor-General Andrew Greaves took aim at the Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources for an inadequate and delayed business case, which was finalised two years after the removal program began. “As the sites identified for removal were part of an election commitment, (the department) decided not to assess the merits of their selection,” he said.


“As a result there is no analysis or rationale ... about why the 50 level crossings selected were given priority. The role of the public service to provide full and frank ­advice was not realised in this case.

“Given only 10 crossings have been to date ... there is a real risk of further cost increases.”

The Public Transport Minister, Jacin­ta Allen, defended the list, created from data available to the party when it was in opposition, including from the RACV.

Opposition public transport spokesman David Davis accused the government of selecting sites based on politics rather than need.

“Despite promising to take the politics out of infrastructure, Daniel Andrews has spent millions of taxpayer dollars on misleading advertising about removing the 50 most dangerous and congested level crossings,” Mr Davis said.

Surrey Hills restaurant owners Richard and Robyn Jackson have witnessed many near collisions between trains and cars at the Union Road crossing, which is ranked 13th on the Australian Level Crossing Assessment Model’s high-priority list. Their son witnessed a double fatality on the tracks last year from the footpath outside the restaurant and they struggle to understand why it never made the government’s list.

“He saw them on the railway line and knew what was coming,” Ms Jackson said, adding that she would support the removal of the crossing.
https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/state-politics/23bn-budget-blo...


hum  this btw was 2017.. god knows what the blowout is now.. but we know its only money!