Victoria’s financial watchdog has been asked to probe “secrecy and misleading reporting” in the state budget, amid concerns about hidden road and rail cost blowouts.
In a letter to Auditor-General Dr Andrew Greaves, Opposition Leader John Pesutto says budget papers include a $33.3bn pool of funding referred to as “decisions made but not yet allocated”.
Mr Pesutto says putting money into so-called “contingencies”, despite decisions already being made, was shielding major project funding from proper scrutiny.
He took aim at the $34.5bn Suburban Rail Loop East, a 26km underground line planned between Cheltenham and Box Hill that has funding estimates listed as “to be confirmed”.
An artist’s concept of a Suburban Rail Loop train Source: Suburban Rail Loop Authority
Mr Pesutto says a pattern of obscuring costs has recently emerged, pointing to an investigation by Dr Greaves into the Commonwealth Games fiasco, which exposed how the Government hid a $1bn funding blowout in “contingencies” before the event was axed.
“The Government engaged in this practice to suppress the truth about blowouts in the cost of the Commonwealth Games,” he writes.
“It now appears to be doing the same thing regarding the SRL.”
