A Victorian Auditor General (VAGO) report last week revealed East Gippsland train and bus travellers have been paying a secret tax to fund the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) black hole.
The report revealed Labor hiked every public transport ticket price from January 2025 and buried it inside the annual fare increase in a bid to fund the problematic SRL.
VAGO found 60 per cent of the revenue raised, an estimated $4.8 billion, is earmarked to fund the Suburban Rail Loop East.
The Nationals’ candidate for Gippsland East, Gemma Rendell, said the new tax was signed off when current Premier Ben Carroll was Minister for Public Transport, but when questioned on what he knew about it he says he is “not going to litigate the past”. This is not good enough, it’s not transparent and shows he is no different to Daniel Andrews and Jacinta Allan.
“People in East Gippsland should not have been paying for a project most will never use, and what’s more concerning is that the Auditor General’s report was quite clear in finding the increase was not declared or publicised,” Ms Rendell said.
“If they are going to hike our fees, at least be up front about where our money is going, but of course they did not want anyone to know.”
Leader of The Nationals, Danny O’Brien, interrogated the government in Parliament, asking why regional Victorian travellers were being slugged with a new tax to cover the cost of the SRL.
“They had no answers and announced the scrapping of the tax when it was discovered by the Auditor General. Ben Carroll knew about this but only scrapped it when he was caught.
“A Nationals and Liberals’ government will stop the waste and end the secrecy,” he said.
Ms Rendell said, “a Nationals and Liberals’ government will end the corruption and ensure a fair share for regional Victorians, directing 25 per cent of infrastructure to the regional areas that house 25 per cent of the state’s population.”
Caption: The Nationals’ candidate for Gippsland East, Gemma Rendell, pictured with Tim Bull, says regional public transport users should never have been hit with a hidden tax on ticket prices to help fund the Suburban Rail Loop.
