High-level talks over where Melbourne’s Airport Rail Link will be located are set to resume, with a mediator finally appointed to resolve the long-running dispute.
The Herald Sun can reveal that Neil Scales, former director-general of the Queensland transport department, has been tasked with getting the $10bn project back on track.
The appointment comes five months after federal Transport Minister Catherine King announced she would call in an independent peacemaker to end the stalemate between Melbourne Airport and the Victorian government.
A render of the Melbourne airport station as part of the controversial Melbourne Airport Rail Link. Picture: supplied
Mr Scales is understood to have already begun work on the stoush over whether the airport railway station should be elevated or underground.
The state government is pushing for an above-ground station, which it says will save costs and reduce further delays.
But Melbourne Airport has doubled down on its calls for an underground station, arguing it will provide a “superior passenger experience” and future-proof the rail line and airport precinct.
Talks between the two stalled a year ago when the rail link came under the microscope of the contentious federal infrastructure review.
Early works on the project were also brought to a halt due to state government budget pressures, with its mothballing set to have already cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars.
The federal review recommended that the project continue and Ms King in November announced that the Commonwealth, which is co-funding the works, would appoint a mediator.
Neil Scales, former director-general of the Queensland transport department, has been tasked with getting the $10bn project back on track. Picture: NCA NewsWire
Mr Scales has more than 40 years of experience in the public, private and manufacturing sectors in Australia and the UK.
He served for a decade in his role as a high-ranking Palaszczuk government bureaucrat until in June 2023.
He spent his final year at the centre of a number of CFMEU protests, with members calling for him to resign after accusing him of not complying with government policy regarding tenders on major projects.
Mr Scales has also held several board positions including as chair of Austroads, commissioner of the National Transport Commission, and was a board member of the High Speed Rail Authority.
Both the state and federal governments have committed $5bn each for Melbourne Airport Rail Link, which is now estimated to cost $13bn.
Industry figures have previously said there was an expectation the project would remain off the rails until at least next year, pushing out the opening date from 2029 to at least 2031 and increasing the likelihood of cost overruns.
Source: Herald Sun
