Fw: Tues.1.11.22 daily digest archive

[Roderick Smith]

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Subject: Tues.1.11.22 daily digest archive part 1, text


Roderick

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Tues.1.11.22 Metro Twitter
Flinders St: still with a lane closed for tunnel works.
Because of tunnel works, Degraves St subway at Flinders St is closed until 2024. No platform transfer via Degraves St subway. Passengers should use Elizabeth & Swanston St entry/exits.  Campbell Arcade remains closed to 2024. Platform  interchange via that subway was available until mid 2022.
Melbourne Cup public-holiday timetable with extra trains to the races at Flemington Racecourse.
6.45 Werribee line: Delays up to 30 min (a track-equipment fault in the Laverton area).
- 7.02 Buses ro replace trains between Laverton and Werribee, eta over 60 min.
- 8.16 Trains have resumed.
Trains will operate as a shuttle service Newport - Williamstown from 10.00 to 19.00.  
11.58 Buses replace trains between Frankston & Stony Point (a third-party communications fault), adding 25 min.
- 17.34 Trains resuming.  First will be the 17.18 ex Frankston, about 20 min late.
16.16 Flemington Racecourse line: Major delays (a train fault at Melbourne Southern Cross). If you are on a train between stations, please remain onboard.
- 16.18 clearing.
18.07 Pakenham/Cranbourne lines: Trains will use altered platforms at Westall (an ill passenger requiring medical assistance).
- 18.26 Trains are using the regular platforms again.
21.58 Metropolitan services: Minor delays (police attending to a trespasser near Melbourne Central).  Trains may be held at platforms.
- 22.11 clearing.
22.42 Buses to replace trains between Broadmeadows & Craigieburn (police). Buses ordered, ETA over 60 min.
- 22.52 Consider alternative transport. 
- 23.12 Countdown 45-35-20. 
- 23.34 All buses in operation.
- 0.22 Trains are resuming, with delays up to 10 min.  First train: 0.17 ex Flinders St.

Thurs.17.11.1892 Bendigo Advertiser. A NARROW ESCAPE. [steam trams]
Some excitement was occasioned in Ironbark yesterday morning by the appearance of a tramcar coming down the single track on the hill, while another was going in the opposite direction from Bendigo.
There is a sharp bend just near Iron bark Hotel, and neither driver could see the other until they had reached an uncomfortably close position.  Fortunately, by the prompt application of the brakes, the motors were pulled up in time to prevent any serious results.
The tram from Bendigo was then taken back to Garden Gully siding, but some little delay was caused there through the points not working properly.
Eventually, however, everything was made right, and traffic carried on as usual.

Sun.16.10.22 Melbourne 'Herald Sun'.  SRL.  JAMES CAMPBELL
VICTORIA will get $2.57bn in the federal budget spending on infrastructure later this month, spearheaded by $2.2bn for Daniel Andrews’ pet project, the Suburban Rail Loop.
The Albanese government’s commitment to the railway, which was a promise at May’s federal election, comes despite a threat from the opposition to cancel it if it wins next month’s state election.
The budget will also include $330m for roads, including $150m on the Camerons Lane interchange at Beveridge and $125m on an upgrade on Barwon Heads Rd.
Another $57m will go towards the Ison Rd overpass, which will ease congestion in Wyndham West and Werribee and provide safer access to Princes Fwy.
The government has also taken the decision to remove a $4bn “contingency” from the federal budget papers that is earmarked for the East West Link connecting Eastern Fwy with CityLink, which was cancelled by the Andrews government in 2014 at a cost of at least $1.1bn.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said sound and planned infrastructure investment in Victoria created jobs, built opportunity and unlocked economic growth and pro- ductivity.
“It’s about making joumeys quicker, but also making sure Victorians can get home to their families safely,” he said.
“Through our first budget, my team is getting on with the job of delivering projects in consultation with Infrastructure Australia and all levels of government to make a real difference to the lives of Australians.”
Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister Catherine King said that investing in SRL was “a once-in-a-generation opportunity” to reshape the way Victoria grows.
“Victoria is projected to grow to 11.2 million residents by 2056 and Greater Melbourne to reach around nine million people — a similar size to London today,” she said.
The decision to fund SRL while withdrawing the previous government’s commitment to East West Link will put the commonwealth on a collision course with Victoria if the Coalition takes office next month, as the opposition has promised to build the project.

Sun.16.10.22 Melbourne 'Herald Sun'.  Guy pledge on tram line.  MITCH CLARKE
A KEY tram route in Melbourne's east would be extended by almost 4 km under a Coalition government.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy on Saturday announced the route 48 tram line would be extended from Balwyn Rd in Balwyn North to Westfield Doncaster.
The "much needed" public transport connection is expected to cost $l02m and is part of the Coalition's plan to extend and make the network more affordable.
It follows the announcement that a ticket on the metro system would cost $2, while VLine fares would be halved.
Mr Guy said the tram route extension would benefit thousands of people.
"The need for this tram extension has been clear for some time, and a government I lead will finally deliver it," he said.

Sun.16.10.22 Melbourne 'Herald Sun'.  Election.  MITCH CLARKE & CARLY DOUGLAS
THE Andrews government is looking to pay up to $170,000 a year to employ a social-inclusion manager on one of its dlagship major projects.
A “social value and inclusion-manager” will be hired on the $35bn Suburban Rail Loop in a bid to ensure the project’s “social procurement and inclusion targets” are met.
“Working in a complex, multidisciplinary and public sector environment, (the manager) will be responsible for developing, implementing and reporting on strategies and initiatives that advance diversity and social outcomes as part of major construction procurement processes for SRLA,” the job advertisement reads.
The successful applicant will also provide analysis and insight on a range of policy and strategic issues to deliver “positive social value tied to the delivery of SRLA’s commercial contracts”.
The role is being advertised publicly, with an annual salary of $127,467 to $170,579.
Bella d’Abrera, director of Institute of Public Affair’s Foundations of Western Civilisation Program, said that the money should be put to better use.
“On all critical financial indicators, Victoria is the nation’s worst-performing state by a significant and growing margin, yet the Andrews government continues to waste taxpayers’ money pushing their woke agenda,” Dr d’Abrera said.
“Victoria’s Auditor-General has already cast serious doubt on the financial return of this project, now the Andrews government wants to spend even more money on it to pay for left-wing activism.”
The state opposition, which has vowed to scrap the project and instead funnel remaining money into healthcare if elected in November, also slammed the job title.
“It’s no wonder Daniel Andrews pet project costs $35 billion when he is prioritising positions like this,” Louise Staley, the opposition’s spokeswoman for government scrutiny, said.
“The jobs Victoria needs more of are nurses, midwives and healthcare professionals — not more government PR spinners.
Only a Matt Guy Liberals and Nationals government will shelve this wasteful project and put every single cent into fixing the health crisis.”
But the government has defended the importance of the role, saying many large employers use social inclusion and diversity specialists.
“Suburban Rail Loop will give hundreds of young and disadvantaged Victorians the career opportunity of a lifetime,” a spokeswoman said.
“Across our Big Build more than five million hours have been worked by apprentices, trainees and cadets and over three million hours by Aboriginal workers.
“We’ve supported more than 100 Aboriginal-owned businesses, we’ve set strong requirements to get more women working in the construction industry and we’re creating jobs for veterans, former auto workers and other priority job seekers.
“These outcomes don’t happen by accident, they happen because projects invest in skilled people that can make these outcomes happen.”

Thurs.20.10.22 Melbourne 'Herald Sun'.  Vic.-NSW electricity connector 
An interconnector between Victoria and NSW is set to be completed almost 3 years earlier than required, in a move that would ease the fallout from any early coal-fired power station closures.
The Andrews and Albanese governments on Wednesday signed a landmark deal to fast-track Australia's transition to renewables, which includes a $750m concessional loan for VNI West to ensure that it is finished by 2028.
VNI West is a proposed 500 kV interconnector from a substation near Ballarat in Victoria to a new substation, Dinawan, in south-west NSW.
Australia's Energy Market Operator in June said that the project needed to come online by July 2031, under a scenario that already projected coal-fired power stations shutting down more rapidly than announced.
"Making the project actionable now increases insurance against the potential of earlier-than-anticipated coal closures (other than Yallourn) or delays in the delivery of transmission or dispatchable resources," the AEMO report states.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen said that the interconnector was “very important" for opening up Victoria's renewable energy capacity and ensuring energy could flow to NSW.

Thurs.20.10.22 Melbourne 'Herald Sun'.  Call for big city revamp.  JOHN MASANAUSKAS
CHEAPER off-peak public-transport fares and a car congestion charge should be considered by the next state government to enhance Melbourne’s liveability, says a key city lobby group.
Committee for Melbourne also wants the next government to reassess and reprioritise major infrastructure projects, including the >$100b Suburban Rail Loop.
Led by CEO Mark Melvin, the committee represents more than 150 groups spanning business, academic and community sectors to support Melbourne as “a leading global city”.
In its pitch for next month’s state election, the organisation said that, since the 2018 poll, Victoria had suffered major impacts such as devastating bushfires and the pandemic.
Mr Melvin said Victoria had the highest public debt of any state, and with the economy facing skills shortages, the government needed to ensure that its projects would not be “an inefficient drag on skills”.
“We need to also ensure there are sufficient skills available for crucial sectors of thtor economy, research, technology and innovation,” he said.
Mr Melvin said the committee wanted the government to reprioritise its infrastructure spending based on timeliness, productivity and effectiveness.
“The Suburban Rail Loop should be included in the reprioritisation of infrastructure spend, and put through the same lens as all other projects,” he said.
The committee is also calling for better use of existing assets to include cheaper public transport fares at certain times the bus system, and a charge based on vehicles’ use of roads.
“These relatively cost-effective reforms might increase connectivity across the whole of Greater Melbourne while having the added benefit of reducing congestion and carbon emissions,” Mr Melvin said.
“We understand that offpeak fares have been trialled with some success, and Infrastructure Victoria has proposed varied fares for different modes of transport,” Mr Melvin said.
The committee’s previously  released Benchmarking Melbourne 2022 report highlighted a “tale of two cities”, in which not all the city’s residents could take part in Melbourne’s “wonderful offerings”.
It wants the next government to hold a summit on CBD revitalisation and its integration with other parts of Greater Melbourne.
And it’s calling for the creation of a body reporting to the state treasurer that would develop effective engagement to promote the entire city’s tourism and experience economy.
Other priorities identified by the committee include a broad-based levy to fund cheaper housing, attracting venture capital to commercialise new research and technologies, and better support of the overseas student industry.
The committee also wants the government to provide clear timelines and plans for the transition away from natural gas, and policies to encourage the take up of zero-emission vehicles, including electric cars.
OPINION, PAGE 25

Federal Labor to axe $900m of key state road & rail projects in budget.  Jade Gailberger, Carly Douglas and Laura Placella October 24, 2022
At least $900m in Melbourne road and rail projects are being ripped up by the Albanese government. See if your suburb is impacted.
video: ‘Solid, sensible and suitable to the times’: Treasurer discusses budget priorities Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the upcoming federal budget will be “solid, sensible and suitable to the times”. “And a key part of that will...
At least $900m of infrastructure projects promised by the former Coalition government across Melbourne are being axed by Labor in the budget.
The Herald Sun can reveal $110m for the Wellington Rd duplication, which stretches across the Liberal-held seats of Aston, Casey and La Trobe, is being scrapped because it is now estimated to cost $640m.
The Albanese government move to cancel projects that it claims do not stack up, comes before $2.2bn for the Suburban Rail Loop – which does not have a business case and is estimated to have blown out to $150bn from $35bn – is included in the budget.
Opposition finance spokeswoman, Jane Hume, said she was concerned that a political lens “rather than an economic lens” had been put over cuts in the federal budget.
“The best example of that, of course, is the $2.2bn that’s being redirected to Dan Andrew’s Suburban Rail Loop that has no approval from Infrastructure Australia, that the Victorian Auditor General’s said wasn’t a good deal,” Senator Hume said.
“The cost benefit ratio of that project is expected to be just over 50c in the dollar.
“That does sound like very much a political decision, rather than an economic one.
“Certainly a convenient one five weeks out from the Victorian state election.”
Scrapped road and rail projects
Wellington Rd duplication ($110 million).
Rail line to link Monash University’s Caulfield and Clayton campuses. ($475m)
Upgrade of Napoleon Rd between Lysterfield Rd and Kelletts Rd in Rowville. ($50m)
The Glenferrie Rd level crossing removal. ($260m) 
A third of promised commuter car park upgrades at train stations. (no locations revealed)
But Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the cost-benefit ratio for the Suburban Rail Loop was “very positive”.
Senator Gallagher was asked on Monday morning how the federal government determined the rail loop was worth backing, considering it has not yet been approved by Infrastructure Australia.
“This is (a project) that we have been working with the Victorian government on,” she said.
“There is a very detailed business case that underpins this project and a very positive cost-benefit ratio for the project.
“The Victorian government I understand ... is talking to Infrastructure Australia about that project.”
Victoria is expected to receive additional infrastructure funding, beyond Labor’s election pledges, in the budget.
But a $475m commitment for a rail line to link Monash University’s Caulfield and Clayton campuses, made by the Coalition in 2018, is being cancelled. In Rowville, $50m was allocated to upgrade Napoleon Rd between Lysterfield Rd and Kelletts Rd. But this is also being scrapped because it is now $223m short of the cost.
Opposition Infrastructure spokeswoman, Bridget McKenzie, said the Labor Party was expecting mums and dads, who were looking forward to getting home from work quicker, to pay the price for making the budget bottom line temporarily appear better.
“These communities are seriously affected by congestion and any pushing out of timelines on these projects will increase costs and uncertainty for local residents and businesses,” she said.
Projects in the Coalition’s controversial Urban Congestion Fund will also take a hit.
The Albanese government will axe at least $900m of infrastructure projects promised by the former Coalition government. Picture: Sharon Smith
The $260m Glenferrie Rd level crossing removal was ditched due to underfunding.
The move is expected to spark furore – and could have implications for the state election.
A third of the controversial commuter car parks still in planning across Melbourne are also facing the chopping block, with five now priced at between two and four times what the Coalition pledged.
Infrastructure Minister Catherine King last week warned “there will be car parks that we’re not proceeding with”.
“They’ve actually been underfunded,” Ms King said.
“If I was to proceed with some of those, I would actually have to find an additional billion dollars to build them in the first place. There’s just not headroom in the budget.”
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said the federal government’s decision to scrap the projects could be put down to the faults of the Morrison government.
The level crossing removal on Glenferrie Rd in Kooyong has been scrapped.
“I don’t know how much work has actually gone into actually delivering. I think there might have been much more announcements than the real plans,” he said.
“That’s a matter for the government. And they put an election platform out there to the Australian people.”
Mr Andrews said some projects expected to be scrapped had never had the backing of Labor, calling them “last minute announcements from a government that was then defeated”.
“We won’t have a former federal Liberal government, that were rejected by the community on multiple occasions and finally by the Australian community earlier this year make those decisions.”
The Andrew’s government long complained Victoria was being dubbed on infrastructure funding by the former federal government.
“Every federal dollar that Victorians get from the miserable Morrison government, (it’s like) we ought to bow our head and treat it like it’s foreign aid,” Mr Andrews said in May in lead up to the federal election.
In the same month, Victorian treasurer Tim Pallas wrote to Auditor-General Grant Hehir asking for an audit of how infrastructure cash was handed out.
“I am concerned that Victoria may have been short-changed on funding for critical infrastructure by the Commonwealth,” the letter said.
Labor has already announced $2.6bn of election commitments for Victorian projects in the budget.
This includes $2.2bn for the rail loop and $330m to upgrade roads.
Herald Sun analysis shows this equates to $395 in infrastructure spending per person in the state, compared with $1227 per person in Tasmania.
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/federal-labor-to-axe-900m-of-key-state-road-rail-projects-in-budget/news-story/70ac5e4d9ebec02c150d3beebba6b1d0

Fri.28.10.22 Melbourne 'Herald Sun'.  Letters
* WHAT a fascinating read, "Platform for love" (HS, 26/10).  Congratulations to Caspar Schoonbrood, 14, for completing a brilliant project photographing every Metro railway station.

28.10.22 VICTORIA POLICE PLANNED OPERATION IN RINGWOOD
DECLARATION OF DESIGNATED AREA UNDER SECTION 10D (1) OF THE CONTROL OF WEAPONS ACT 1990
The Assistant Commissioner, Transit and Public Safety Command, acting as a delegate of the Chief Commissioner of Police, under section 10D(1) of the Control of Weapons Act 1990, declares as a designated area, incorporating Ringwood Railway Station, CBD and surrounds bounded by Ringwood Street, Ringwood Bypass, Maroondah Highway, Warrandyte Road, Bedford Road and Station Street (including Eastland Shopping Centre / Town Square), including but not restricted to all roadways, footpaths associated with stated road related areas.
Refer to Map: www.gazette.vic.gov.au (Gazette S606-22)
This declaration will operate on Friday the 28th of October 2022 between 4pm and 11.59pm, during which time members of the police force are authorised to exercise the following powers:
a) in a public place in the designated area, without warrant, stop and search for weapons:
i) any person;
ii) any thing in the possession or control of the person;
iii) any vehicle with a person in or on the vehicle; and
iv) anything in or on such vehicle;
b) detain a person or vehicle for so long as is reasonably necessary to conduct a search;
c) seize and detain any item the member reasonably suspects is a weapon;
d) request a person who is the subject of a full search to disclose his or her identity;
e) direct a person to leave the designated area if the police officer reasonably believes the person is wearing the face covering primarily to
(i) conceal their identity; or
(ii) to protect them from the effects of a crowd control substance; and the person refuses to remove the face covering when requested to do so;
f) direct the person to leave the designated area if the police officer reasonably believes the person intends to engage in conduct that would constitute an affray (section 195H Crimes Act 1958) or violent disorder (section 195I Crimes Act 1958).

221029Sa-Melbourne'HeraldSun'.  $1.5bn road map to power.  KIERAN ROONEY
ROADS across Melbourne’s western suburbs will receive a $1.5bn funding blitz if the Liberals and Nationals are elected in November...
The Liberals are targeting Melton, Werribee and surrounding areas ahead of the November election.

221029Sa-Melbourne'HeraldSun'.  SRL.
THE biggest and most-expensive infrastructure project in Victoria's history has become a central election issue.
The $50bn price tag that was attached to the project when it was first announced by Daniel Andrews in 2018 has now blown out to $125bn, according to the Parliamentary Budget Office.
The true cost to Victoria by time the entire 90km line is built is anyone's guess.
Matthew Guy has promised to shelve the project and divert all available state funds to repairing the health system.
The Andrews government plans to fund the project through a three-way partnership with the federal government and private enterprise.
It has so far allocated $11.8bn in capital funding towards the first stage of the project, which is expected to cost about $34bn.
Mr Andrews says the government can build the project and fix the health system.
The fact that the first stage of the project is more than 10 years away from being completed is likely to influence voter sentiment, as will the prospect of employment opportunity it provides, and the debt it will contribute to.
If 2014 was a referendum on East West Link, 2022 is set to be a referendum on Suburban Rail Loop.

221030Su-Melbourne'HeraldSun'.  Airport station will be sky high.  MATT JOHNSTON
PASSENGERS arriving at Melbourne Airport by train later this decade are likely to emerge at a station six storeys tall.
Early works have begun on the long-awaited rail link, which a recent business case estimated would cost $7.5-$10.8b, and be operating by 2029.
Electricity transmission towers will be moved near Western Ring Road to allow for the elevated rail that will soar above the freeway.
Laing O'Rourke will work on the first stage, which will involve moving water, power, telecommunications and sewerage structures.
Discussions on the design of the station are continuing; airport owners had wanted it underground, but it may now be elevated.
Images of station plans show a covered walkway into terminals, which transport sources said was not part of base designs but were added to protect from the weather.
Concept drawings also show the height of the station will be at least six storeys - or about 35m - above the ground.
This is to enable trains to cross a new ramp being built into the airport's car parks at level three, which has been approved.
Concerns have been raised about the effect of wild weather on people emerging on elevated platforms, and Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen said an underground station would be ideal to shield from the elements.
"If they can't (go underground), they need to ensure there is effective shelter. It's got to be quick and convenient to reach terminals, and it has also got to be out of the weather," he said.
"You don't want to have people walking through wind and rain.
"Some stations have been created with a roof so high the rain comes in sideways and people are hit with rain on the platforms."

31.10.22 State deficit forecast blows out by $1.8b as spending arms race ramps up.  Josh Gordon and Rachel Eddie October 31, 2022.  67 comments
The Metro Tunnel project is likely to be $240 million more expensive than planned this year because of financial impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic, the budget update said, having already exceeded its cost forecast by more than $2.5 billion.
Victoria’s budget position has deteriorated by a further $1.8 billion this financial year despite higher than expected payroll and land taxes, but the Andrews government is adamant its strategy to pay back the state’s debt is on track.
State Treasury’s mid-financial-year budget update – containing the latest economic and financial predictions for the next four years – will on Monday reveal Victoria is on course to record a $9.7 billion deficit in 2022-23.
Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas handed down the budget in May.Joe Armao
After billions of dollars of recent spending announcements, it represents a significant deterioration from the prediction of a $7.9 billion deficit made just six months ago in the May budget. Spending this financial year now includes $500 million to deal with recent floods through road repairs, clean-ups, community recovery and support packages for individuals and businesses.
The deterioration effectively leaves both sides of politics with less room for big spending promises as the official starter’s gun for the election campaign is about to fire.
The updated predictions come as Victoria’s Parliamentary Budget Office urges parties to hand over their costings for independent analysis, to give voters time to see the results before the November 26 election.
The budget office has counted 59 announcements from the Liberals and Nationals that have no estimated cost, based on media statements released by the parties, and another 222 that were announced with funding, at a total cost of $25.7 billion. Labor had two commitments without funding, and 81 with funding worth a total $8.3 billion.
The announcements come amid growing skittishness about the outlook for the world economy, and the impact rising interest rates and cost of living pressures will have on the domestic economy.
The federal budget last week predicted electricity prices will soar by 56 per cent over the next 18 months, while retail gas prices are tipped to lift by a total of 44 per cent this year and next.
The state’s budget position is also expected to deteriorate next financial year. Treasury is predicting a deficit of $3.6 billion compared with a May budget prediction of $3.3 billion.
The following year, 2024-25, the financial outlook for the state is finally expected to improve. Treasury is predicting a deficit of $700 million for 2025-26, compared with a May budget prediction of $1.1 billion. And finally, by 2025-26, Treasury expects a surplus of $894 million, up from about $700 million in the May budget.
Treasurer Tim Pallas said the budget update confirmed the government’s staged plan to get the budget on track was working, after massive spending to insulate Victoria from the COVID-19 pandemic. He accused the opposition of planning for deep spending cuts.
“Labor governments invest in the people and the projects we need to grow the economy – without the savage cuts we’ve seen time and time again from Matthew Guy’s Liberals,” Pallas said.
“Make no mistake – Victorian jobs are on the ballot. The Liberals’ plans to audit every major project would mean cuts and closures that would hurt Victorian families and put our whole economic recovery at risk.”
Parliamentary budget officer Anthony Close said he would like to see funding announced when commitments were made, but they should also be accompanied by independent budget assessments. He called on all parties to request a pre-election report from the budget office and release the results to voters with sufficient time before November 26.
“If one party uses a different source to cost its policies, then it will likely use different assumptions, approaches and inputs, which greatly diminishes its usefulness for comparison and its credibility,” Close said.
Opposition Leader Matthew Guy has committed to auditing all projects valued at more than $100 million to minimise waste if elected – a policy recommended by both the Grattan Institute and the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office to stop worsening cost overruns.
“If adverse cost outcomes continue, further additional unplanned debt will occur or the announced capital program may need to be curtailed,” the auditor-general said in a report on Friday.
Labor has not committed to the audits or curtailing its capital works program. Instead, it has labelled Guy “the cuts guy”, and said voters should assume the Coalition would slash projects and thousands of jobs.
“We know what Matthew Guy’s Liberals mean when they say ‘audit’ – they mean cuts,” a government spokesman said.
The Age has been surveying readers to help inform our coverage of next month’s state election, as part of the Victoria’s Agenda approach. Readers expressed concern about project mismanagement leading to cost overruns and adding to net debt projections.
The budget update will show a slight improvement in the outlook for net debt, which represents the cumulative impact of budget deficits.
By the middle of 2026, net debt is expected to be $165.4 billion, or 24.8 per cent of the state economy, down from a budget forecast of $167.5 billion, or 26.5 per cent of the economy.
The budget update will also show spending of $91.1 billion in 2022-23, up slightly from a May budget prediction of $89.8 billion. Infrastructure investment averages $21.6 billion over the next four years.
The government is expecting to rake in $31.2 billion of tax revenue, up $678 million from the May budget. Stamp duty collections are now expected to be slightly lower due to the slowing property market, but land tax collections are expected to jump by $322 million, while payroll tax collections have been upgraded by $330 million.
The update will predict growth of 3 per cent this financial year, down slightly from a budget prediction of 3.25 per cent.
Election funding pledges by policy area
ALP LNP
Economic affairs $1.0B $3.7B
Education $2.7B $1.5B
Environmental protection $0.0 $37.3M
General public services $25.0K $314.4M
Health $3.8B $6.4B
Housing and community amenities $0.0 $30.0M
Public order and safety $0.0 $8.0M
Recreation, culture and religion $68.8M $442.6M
Social protection $50.0K $4.8M
Taxation $0.0 $63.0M
Transport $710.0M $13.2B
Source: pbo.vic.gov.au
Read more on the issue of repairing the budget here. See all stories.  Continue this series
Daniel Andrews is on track to win a third successive term and defeat Matthew Guy’s Coalition in the state election.
Andrews promises hospital upgrade as Guy targets western roads
Where would you cut spending or increase revenue to reduce the debt?
Treasurer Tim Pallas says the new developments will help first home buyers get into the market.
Pallas insists no debt blowout from rising interest rates
The Andrews government insists rapidly rising interest rates won’t lead to an unmanageable blowout in Victoria’s annual interest bill as public debt heads towards historically high levels.
Where would you cut spending or increase revenue to reduce Victoria’s debt?
Our readers want us to examine how to get the state budget under control, so we will quiz both sides of politics about what levers they intend to pull to shore up the state’s battered finances.
Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas has said the levy is a fair way for EV drivers to pay their share of tax.
Public servants can ‘retire’ one year, return the next
www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/state-deficit-forecast-blows-out-by-1-8b-as-spending-arms-race-ramps-up-20221030-p5bu59.html

221031M-Melbourne'HeraldSun'.  airport.line.  IAN ROYALL
WORK has begun on Melbourne's Airport Rail link at East Keilor, including moving six electricity transmission towers, Premier Andrews says.
He also announced $143m for the Sunshine Precinct Masterplan.
The station would be a key interchange on the line between the city and the airport, and would be as significant as Southern Cross station, he said.
The announcements comejust before the government goes into caretaker mode on Tuesday.
And the Premier was keen to stress that the airport link was a part of the controversial Suburban Rail Loop.
"As I've always said, we're building two stages of suburban rail loop right now," he said.
Airport trains will operate from the Metro Tunnel, due to be completed in 2025, to Sunshine, East Keilor and the airport. Work has started in Airport West and Tullamarine to move the six transmission towers 25m from their current positions, near the ring road.
The move will enable the power lines to be raised to clear the new rail lines.
Mr Andrews said Sunshine station would be a "super hub" for the loop and airport link and be used by hundreds of thousands of people. "This isjust 11 minutes from the airport and brand new facilities. It's going to be such an exciting time and it's going to bejust as significant as Southern Cross station. arguably even more so," he said.

The power cable linking Tasmania with the mainland is vital for energy security.  Benjamin Seeder October 31 2022
Hydro Tasmania CEO Ian Brooksbank (L) and Minister for Energy and Renewables, Guy Barnet. Picture by Ben Seeder
Energy infrastructure company APA Group on Monday took official control of Basslink   the cable connection linking Tasmania to the mainland   in a deal that will see the state government repaid $50 million owed by the power cable company under a 2020 arbitration decision.
APA took ownership of Basslink this year by buying $648 million of the power cable company's debt, paying approximately 90 cents on the dollar for the secured notes.
Speaking at the launch of the event near George Town on Monday, Minister for Energy, Guy Barnett, said Basslink was a vital part of the state's energy infrastructure.
"APA's purchase of [Basslink] ... secures the outcomes from the 2020 arbitration, which found in favour of the state and Hydro Tasmania," he said.
He said he made "no apologies" for driving a hard bargain on the arbitration negotiations with Basslink under its previous owner, Keppel Infrastructure Trust.
The arbitration dispute related to the causes of the 2015 failure of the cable, which coincided with low dam levels and resulted in an energy crisis on the island that forced the government to ship in diesel generators.
Keppel put Basslink into voluntary administration in November last year, after a proposed sale to APA group collapsed.
The APA Group will pay approximately $773 million for Basslink and will also recieve payment for Basslink's debt.
Speaking at the same event near George Town, Hydro Tasmania chief executive officer, Ian Brookshank, said Basslink was a critical piece of energy infrastructure for Tasmania.
"Importing electricity when it's cheap, and therefore it helps us manage our storages and efficiently use the hydro system we have, and exporting energy when the prices are right and when we've got excess supply," he said.
"We can earn an income and that income of course supplies hydro Tasmania with revenue. That revenue becomes dividends paid to the state of Tasmania and used for infrastructure all around the state."
He said Basslink's voluntary administration last year and the subsequent termination of the Basslink Services Agreement that governed prices paid for electricity transmission had impacted Hydro's trading operations this year.
"Once the Basslink Services Agreement was terminated the link no longer had the trading mechanism that existed with Hydro for a period of time. That did change slightly the way Hydro Tasmania operated across the link," he said.
www.examiner.com.au/story/7963436/new basslink owner apa takes control

Infrastructure Australia says Andrews government’s business case on Airport rail link ‘needs more work’.  Matt Johnston and Jade Gailberger November 1, 2022.  280 Comments (nearly all political sniping)
Infrastructure Australia says an Andrews government business case on the Melbourne Airport rail link needs more work to show it was a worthy investment.
video: Properties could be acquired for Melbourne Airport rail link It has been revealed up to 83 properties in north-west Melbourne could be acquired for construction of the state’s airport rail link project....
New congestion charges on busy Tullamarine freeways should be considered to encourage people to use a new $8bn-$10bn Airport Rail Link, the country’s independent infrastructure advisory body says.
In a new report released on Monday, Infrastructure Australia says a business case provided by the Andrews government needs more work to “improve certainty of the cost estimates”, and urges a review of the timing of construction to ensure it’s done at the best possible time.
“Further investigation is warranted on the timing of the proposal and to provide greater certainty of costs and maximise societal benefits,” the report says.
The Andrews government, which is partnering with the Commonwealth to build the long-awaited link, has rejected the IA recommendations.
The Albanese government declined to comment.
The IA report lists numerous benefits from the project, but questions whether there was sufficient rigour on the costs to show it was a worthy investment.
An artist’s impression of Melbourne Airport rail link.
Where the airport rail is expect to be built.
Early works have already begun on the airport link, which would run from Tullamarine to Sunshine where it would link to the metro train system and new Metro Tunnel.
Trips to the CBD would take about half an hour.
Infrastructure Australia says that it can’t yet progress the project to its next stage of assessment, and said there were things governments could do to ensure it had sufficient information.
“Taking the proposal forward, the proponent should consider measures that could prompt the behavioural change required to shift road users to Melbourne Airport Rail earlier, thereby capturing upside potential to maximise benefits and improve the economic case,” it says.
“This could include competitive rail fares, road user/ congestion charges and media campaigns. Upgrades to on-road priority for airport bus services would maximise the capacity, efficiency and reliability of the existing public transport connection until Melbourne Airport Rail is delivered.”
An Andrews Government spokesperson said “others have talked about a rail line to Melbourne Airport for decades” and it would get on and deliver it.
State and federal governments have pledged $5bn each for the rail link, but are hoping the budget will come in under $10bn.
Infrastructure Australia says a business case provided by the Andrews government needs more work. Picture: David Crosling
Federal opposition infrastructure spokeswoman, Bridget McKenzie, said Melbourne Airport Rail was an important strategic project for all Victorians that “needs to happen”.
“At least this priority project has gone through an Infrastructure Australia assessment process, unlike the politicised Suburban Rail Loop project which received $2.2bn in the federal Labor budget just last week - a project with a scathing Victorian Auditor General’s report,” Senator McKenzie said.
Former Liberal PM Malcolm Turnbull committed to the project in 2018 with the state, and it has been supported by subsequent prime ministers and governments.
The state government says it disagrees the project is not a priority for Victoria, with 37 million passengers passing through the airport each year before the pandemic.
It also rejects the recommendation “that extra tolls and charges should be applied to roads leading to the airport in an attempt to force passengers on to the rail line”.
The evaluation of four other Victorian infrastructure project business cases were also released on Monday.
But the Dorset Rd extension, Napoleon Rd upgrade, Monash Roads upgrade were all scrapped by federal Labor in last week’s budget.
IA said evidence in the Pakenham Roads upgrade, which is still proceeding, did “not provide certainty” that the forecast benefits would be realised.
It also noted that several assumptions and costing approaches were not well substantiated.
https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/infrastructure-australia-says-andrews-governments-business-case-on-airport-rail-link-needs-more-work/news-story/c4d4a529da099c4903bbe7912b3553ae

221101Tu-Melbourne'HeraldSun'.  SRL, Taking the facts out for a spin.  MATT JOHNSTON
POLITICS and spin over substance reached a new peak in Victoria this week.
Premier Daniel Andrews stood with a straight face and rebranded the bipartisan Melbourne Airport Rail Link as part of Labor’s Suburban Rail Loop.
This was “SRL Airport”, Andrews and his chosen successor as premier, Jacinta Allan, said.
A nationally significant project was reconceptualised as a gateway to the ’burbs, as part of Dan’s special project.
Why did Andrews and Allan do this?
For a start, the government is desperate to remind everyone it is building SRL - which it sold in 2018 as a 90km loop between Cheltenham and Werribee.
It wants to convince the world that the airport rail link was part of that plan, and that the “loop” is intact.
Opposition transport infrastructure spokesman Matt Bach calls that gaslighting.
Public Transport Users Association spokesman Daniel Bowen, the human antithesis of spin, called it an attempt to piggyback on to a popular project.
More subtly, Dan is trying to convince voters that Matthew Guy — who wants to shelve the first stage of the SRL from Cheltenham to Box Hill — is somehow against airport rail.
No doubt a shonky social media campaign is already announcing that “only Labor will build SRL Airport”.
The manipulation of facts has always been a forte of this Premier. Now it’s meme-worthy. The job of selling the SRL as a “loop” will start to get a bit trickier down the track.
Take a Broadmeadows passenger heading to Werribee. According to the government, that passenger would be able to get to Tullamarine from Broadmeadows via “SRL North” in a couple of decades.
At that stage, “SRL Airport” would also be built, with an elevated station on the south side of the airport.
That elevated structure prohibits other lines such as SRL North — connecting into the same station.
This means our Broadmeadows friend would need to traipse between stations to board a train towards Sunshine.
At Sunshine they would need to change train again, to get to Werribee on a planned new line.
The alternative, of course, would have been to promise a stand-alone rail tunnel from Tullamarine to Werribee, which would have been unaffordable and unachievable.
Good policy looks to have dictated why that idea was junked.


221101Tu-Melbourne'HeraldSun'.  Letters.
NO election word on the Geelong fast train yet, I'm starting to think that it won't happen.
* Loopy travel time.  I CAN’T see how the Suburban Rall Loop will make money. If I wanted to go to Cheltenham, it would be a 37- minute drive. However, to get there by public transport, presently it would take me over 2 h.
We are told once the SRL from Box Hill to Cheltenham is finished it will be a 22 min trip. Where are we going to park at the already packed Box Hill?
They say park at your local station, which for me is Boronia. If you can get a park at Boronia, it will be a 24-minute train trip to Box Hill.
$150b to travel 46 min, if you can get a car park.
* WITH the decimation this government unleashed on Victorian racing over the last 2 years, you'd think we could at least get free public transport for this Cup carnival.

221101Tu-Melbourne'HeraldSun'.  Airport line.  MATT JOHNSTON & JADE GAILBERGER
NEW congestion charges on busy Tullamarine freeways should be considered to encourage people to use a new $8-$1Ob Airport Rail Link, the country’s independent infrastructure advisory body says.
In a report out on Monday, Infrastructure Australia says that a business case provided by the state government needs more work to “improve certainty of the cost estimates”, and urges a review of the timing of construction to ensure it’s done at the best possible time.
“Further investigation is warranted on the timing of the proposal and to provide greater certainty of costs and maximise societal benefits,” the report states.
The Andrews government, which is partnering with the Commonwealth to build the long-awaited link, has rejected the IA recommendations.
The federal government declined to comment.
The IA report lists many benefits from the project, but questions whether there was enough rigour on costs to show it was a worthy investment.
Early works have already begun on the link, which will run from the airport to Sunshine, where it would join the Metro rail system and new tunnel.
Trips to the city would take about half an hour. Infrastructure Australia said that it could not take the project to its next stage of assessment, and said there were things governments could do to ensure it had sufficient information.
“Taking the proposal forward, the proponent should consider measures that could prompt the behavioural change required to shift road users to Melbourne Airport Rail earlier, thereby capturing upside potential to maximise benefits and improve the economic case,” it says.
“This could include competitive rail fares, road-user congestion charges and media campaigns.
Upgrades to on-road priority for airport bus services would maximise the capacity, efficiency and reliability of the existing public-transport connection until Melbourne Airport Rail is delivered.”
A state government spokesman said “others have talked about a rail line to Melbourne Airport for decades”, but it would deliver it.
Federal and state governments have each pledged $5bn for the rail link.  Federal opposition Infrastructure spokeswoman Bridget McKenzie said Melbourne Airport Rail was an important strategic project for all Victorians that “needs to happen”.
“At least this priority project has gone through an Infrastructure Australia assessment process, unlike the politicised Suburban Rail Loop project which received $2.2bn in the federal Labor budget just last week a project with a scathing Victorian Auditor—General’s report,” she said.

Major train disruptions in store for Sydney.  1.11.22.  Clinton Maynard
The Rail Union is finalising its plans for industrial action throughout November.
The union is warning it’s likely to stage a major stop work towards the end of the month, after another breakdown in negotiations with the Government.
Senior 2GB journalist Clinton Maynard joins Jim Wilson to explain what will happen next.
Press PLAY below to hear the full 6 min interviewhttps://www.2gb.com/major-train-disruptions-in-store-for-sydney

Dog parks, tram stops and new bridge among pre-poll promises in race for Richmond.  Bianca Hall November 1, 2022
It’s almost a month until polling day, but the promises are already flying thick and fast in the key seat of Richmond. Labor’s offering school upgrades and better dog parks, the Greens are pledging better tram and train stops, and the Liberals are touting a bridge to Kew.
There’s a blitz in policy announcements because it’s now less than a fortnight until pre-polling stations open their doors for people to cast their vote in the state election, which is officially held on November 26. More than 50 per cent of people voted early, including by post, for the first time at the 2018 state election and Victorian Electoral Commissioner Warwick Gately has said he expects that trend to continue.
This year the commission expects more than 1.7 million people to vote at a pre-poll centre and another 600,000 to cast postal votes. With that in mind, what have the main parties promised the voters of Richmond?
Above, you can see the key announcements parties have made for the seat. We’ll update the table as more promises are made.
The Greens
The Greens kicked off this week with a major public transport policy announcement. The minor party has promised to upgrade seven priority tram routes across inner Melbourne, with level access stops to eventually be in place across the network (it is worth bearing in mind that – given the Greens openly acknowledge they won’t form government anytime soon – such promises must be seen as aspirational).
Gabrielle de Vietri, the Greens’ candidate for Richmond.Eddie Jim
The party’s seven priority routes are: 6, 19, 57, 58, 59, 78 and 86. It is interesting to note that all run through Greens-held, or Greens-target, seats including Brunswick, Prahran, Northcote and Richmond.
The Greens also want to upgrade six train stations – South Yarra, Windsor, Richmond, South Kensington, Caulfield and Jacana – to improve access and amenity.
“Public transport should be accessible for everyone,” said Greens candidate Gabrielle de Vietri. “Yet so many of our train stations and tram stops are difficult to access – including in the seat of Richmond. I know as a parent that getting kids onto tram 78 can be a real struggle, stepping out onto a main road and lifting a pram up onto the tram. For disabled and elderly people, the barriers can be prohibitive.”
The Greens have largely focused on big-picture election promises so far.
Among the major pledges are building 100,000 new public homes over 10 years to house everybody on the public housing waiting list, capping rents and giving renters stronger protections, allocating 30 per cent of all large new developments to first home buyers at 80 per cent of market rate, and establishing a public and affordable housing levy on developers.
The party wants to spend $500 million to employ more GPs and nurses in the public system; an extra $1.3 billion to free up beds in hospitals by providing more aged care, disability and rehab beds outside hospitals; make public dental care available to more people; offer higher wages to public health workers; and make ambulance visits free for people with no private health insurance.
Labor Party
Labor candidate Lauren O’Dwyer released a slick campaign ad last week highlighting the achievements of the Andrews Labor government, and filled with images of young and diverse renters (remember, 53 per cent of Richmond residents rent, and the average age is 33).
Lauren O’Dwyer, the Labor candidate for Richmond.Darrian Traynor
“I’m Lauren O’Dwyer, Labor for Richmond,” the ad opened. “I’m a lesbian single mum, a renter, director in the arts, footy coach, and a proud Yorta Yorta woman.
“Labor is leading the nation on climate action. We’ve strengthened renters’ rights, made wage theft a crime, and gotten sick pay for casuals. We’re building first-class public transport and making it easier to own your own home. But we’ll do more.”
Chief among these, according to the advertisement, is replacing privatised coal with government-owned renewables, and delivering a Treaty with First Nations people.
These promises aside, Labor has focused on a series of highly targeted and local spending announcements for Richmond.
They include upgrading local schools ($6.6 million for the second stage of the Fitzroy Primary School redevelopment, and $6.89 million to fund a new drama and music building at Collingwood College), and local facilities.
Among Labor’s big local transport announcements is a $15 million upgrade to the Gipps Street steps at the Yarra Main Trail bicycle and walking path. Users of this section will know how frustrating it can be trying to carry a heavy bike or awkward pram up 42 steps to rejoin the trail. Wheelchair users are completely cut off. As the Yarra Bicycle Users Group has amusingly outlined, this promise has been a long time coming, with a campaign to replace the steps with a ramp dating back 17 years.
Labor has also promised $750,000 for a new neighbourhood battery at Burnley Backyard, a council community centre in Richmond. Announcing the funding with O’Dwyer, Environment Minister Lily D’Ambrosio said the scheme would provide about 200 homes with cheap and clean power.
Local community facilities have been a focus for Labor, which has promised a $1 million upgrade to the Deep Rock Sporting Precinct pavilion, and to make the change rooms female friendly; $500,000 to upgrade dog parks in the Yarra City Council area; and $60,000 for Cultivating Community, which provides education, workshops and nutritional food to people in public housing.
O’Dwyer also announced Labor would offer a $50,000 grant to community radio station 3CR.
Liberal Party
Like the Greens, the Liberals have mainly focused on bigger picture items, rather than hyper-local announcements. Candidate Lucas Moon has been campaigning hard on the $2 flat rate public transport fare policy which, pollster Kosmos Samaras has argued, would benefit professionals the most. Some 65 per cent of Richmond voters are white-collar professionals or managers.
Lucas Moon, the Liberals’ candidate for Richmond.Darrian Traynor
Moon has also spruiked the Liberals’ commitment to offer free lunches for children at public schools, which he says would provide income to small and medium-sized cafés and restaurants, as well as tackling cost of living pressures for young families.
Moon has vowed that if Matthew Guy’s Liberals win office, the medically supervised injecting room at North Richmond Community Health would be moved to a new location, away from Richmond West Primary School.
In perhaps the first sign of policy agreement this campaign, the Liberals won swift support from the Greens and Victorian Socialists for their vow to build a new pedestrian and cyclist bridge at Walmer Street, Kew, which would link the cities of Boroondara and Yarra. Under the Liberals’ plan, the existing heritage-listed bridge would be retained, and a secondary one delivered at a cost of $20 million.
The Walmer Street Bridge Coalition (part of the active Yarra Bicycle Users’ Group that has campaigned on the Gipps Street steps) welcomed the Liberals’ announcement and invited other candidates to similarly back it in.
De Vietri said she would “absolutely” back the investment and, indeed, would push the government to embrace the policy if elected. The Victorian Socialists’ Roz Ward added: “Count me in!”
This story is part of our in-depth local coverage of the key seats of Melton, Hawthorn and Richmond at the November state election.
CORRECTION An earlier version of the table attached to this story incorrectly stated the Greens’ policy was to move the medically supervised injecting room from its current location. This is the Liberals’ policy.
Key election promises for the Richmond electorate
Lauren O'Dwyer (ALP)
Gabrielle de Vietri (Greens)
Lucas Moon (Liberals)
* Roads, rail and trams:
- $15m to replace the Gipps Street steps on the Main Yarra Trail
- Upgrade six metropolitan train stations, including Richmond station. Supporting the Liberals’ policy to build a new Walmer St bridge linking the council areas of Boroondara and Yarra. Accelerate the upgrade of level-access tram stops with route 78, which runs through Richmond, one of seven priority tram stops.
- New pedestrian and cyclist bridge at Walmer Street, Kew, linking the cities of Boroondara and Yarra. The existing heritage-listed one would be retained, and a secondary one would be delivered at a cost of $20 million.
* Schools:
- $6.6 million for the second stage of the Fitzroy Primary School redevelopment. $6.89m to fund a new drama and music building at Collingwood College.        
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-
* Health:
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- Move the medically supervised injecting room from its current location. More treatment and rehab for drug users
* Climate:
- $750,000 to the Yarra Energy Foundation for a new neighbourhood battery at the Burnley Backyard, a council community centre in Richmond, to provide about 200 homes with cheap and clean power, plus an off-street charging station for electric vehicles        
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* Community facilities:
- $1 million upgrade to Deep Rock Sporting Precinct pavilion and to make the changerooms female friendly. $500,000 to upgrade dog parks in the Yarra City Council area. $60,000 for Cultivating Community, which provides education, workshops and nutritional food to communities in public housing.        
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* Cultural facilities:
- $50,000 grant to community radio station 3CR        
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* Housing:
- A pilot program of Local Maintenance Repair Crew project across five public housing sites including Richmond, to assist with repairs to and maintainance of, buildings.        
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Related Articles:
Inside Richmond: Labor and Greens in battle for heart of progressive Melbourne
Candidate Lucas Moon on the hustings in Gertrude Street, Collingwood. Liberal candidate threatened with enforcement action for campaigning
www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/dog-parks-tram-stops-and-new-bridge-among-pre-poll-promises-in-race-for-richmond-20221101-p5bukg.html

Labor to review Melbourne Airport rail concerns.  Jenny Wiggins Nov 1, 2022
The federal government is sticking by its $5 billion pledge to help pay for a new rail line between Melbourne's airport and its city centre but will review concerns raised by its infrastructure agency, including how soon the link should be built.
Infrastructure Australia has refused to put the proposed rail line, which will cost more than $11 billion, on a list of nationally significant projects that should be prioritised, claiming the forecast benefits do not currently exceed the costs.
The federal government is keeping its promise to help pay for a new airport rail line in Melbourne but will review questions raised by its infrastructure agency, including when exactly the link should be built.",
The federal government is sticking by its $5 billion pledge to help pay for a new rail line between Melbourne's airport and its city centre but will review concerns raised by its infrastructure agency, including how soon the link should be built.
Infrastructure Australia has refused to put the proposed rail line, which will cost more than $11 billion, on a list of nationally significant projects that should be prioritised, claiming...
But a spokeswoman for Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said the Albanese government was still committed to working with the Andrews government, which will also pump in $5 billion, to build the rail line.
"We will study the recommendations of the Infrastructure Australia evaluation of the business case and discuss them with the Victorian government", the spokeswoman said.
"The Commonwealth looks forward to receiving a funding proposal from Victoria that will include advice on the most appropriate timing to bring this project to market."
Victoria wants the rail line to open by 2029, arguing that traffic congestion on the Tullamarine Freeway connecting Melbourne=s CBD with the airport makes it difficult for flyers to reliably calculate how long it will take them to get to and from flights.
But IA has questioned the immediate need for the rail connection, which involves building 12 km of new track from the airport to Sunshine Station in north west Melbourne, arguing that the freeway will not get choked up until 2036 and that some people may still be wary of using public transport following the COVID 19 pandemic.
Committee for Melbourne chief executive Mark Melvin said the group supported the rail link and had advocated for it for some time.
AThe advantages it brings to Melbourne, airport destination customers and travellers proves its importance", Mr Melvin said. AIt helps to further open up the west and with a redevelopment of the Sunshine precinct will help bring jobs and prosperity to greater Melbourne.@
Melbourne University Professor Emeritus Kevin O'Connor, who specialises in urban planning, said demand for rail services to and from the airport would partially depend on how many international travellers used it.
"I guess the overarching question is what's going to happen to global air travel?" Professor O'Connor said, pointing out that Australian business travellers often used cabs or rideshare services because they didn't have to pay for them personally, and that locals who didn=t fly regularly were often prepared to pay for the convenience of car services.
The Victorian government has not disclosed how much travellers would have to pay to use the new rail link. Privately managed airport rail services in Brisbane and Sydney charge fares of around $20 one way to the cities' CBDs for tickets bought at stations, making taxis a competitive option for two or more people. But Perth=s new government operated airport link only charges $5 per person.
While flights between countries have rebounded strongly since the outbreak of the pandemic, they are still only about two thirds of pre COVID 19 levels, according to the International Air Transport Association. Flights within Australia are now about 86 per cent of pre COVID levels.
Professor O'Connor said his gut feeling was that while there would continue to be plenty of flights to big hubs like London or Singapore, there would be fewer aircraft flying to smaller cities, like some of the Chinese routes available before the pandemic.
"Melbourne will probably do reasonably well out of that although Sydney will still probably have the lion's share", he said.
 The business case for the Melbourne airport rail link says that while the COVID 19 pandemic has reduced the numbers of people flying through the airport, Ahistorical trends suggest air travel demand will likely progressively recover to long term trends within the next five years@.
relatedStory
"the forecast benefits do not currently exceed the costs.
"https://www.afr.com/companies/infrastructure/melbourne airport rail link benefits overstated says ia 20221031 p5bucr
"International travel through Melbourne Airport has rebounded after the pandemic but is not as strong as it was before COVID 19.
https://www.afr.com/companies/infrastructure/labor to review melbourne airport rail concerns 20221101 p5buo5

Time travelling with artist Rone in a fabled Melbourne ballroom.  Paul Best Nov 1, 2022
Like the era he's conjured in his vast installation above Flinders Street Station, the transient nature of his work is never lost on the former street muralist.
Melbourne artist Rone burst from the lift onto the down at heel third floor of Flinders Street Station.
"The lights are on", he exclaimed, genuinely surprised. "I never know what I'm going to get each time I come up here, things are changing that fast".
It was just days to go before last Friday's launch of his latest work, Time, a mega-scale installation stretching across several rooms of the heritage listed 1910 city building, and he was somewhat aptly racing the clock to finish in time.
Among the locations of the installation is the station's fabled ballroom, a formerly locked up and forgotten space that had long fascinated the former street artist, born Tyrone Wright.
"It was like an urban legend", says Rone, who was galvanised by a chance meeting with then Victorian planning minister Richard Wynne.
"If anyone knew how to access the ballroom, he did. I started hassling people at Visit Victoria, who introduced me to... [formerly Melbourne International Arts Festival]".
With  Time, which runs until April 23, Rone has created what he describes as his "love letter to mid century Melbourne".
In each room, he has concocted vignettes and imagined stories from the city's working-class past, using some original vintage pieces, but mostly reproductions created specially for the exhibition.
In one room, once a billiards hall, industrial sewing machines from the 1950s are lined up in ranks, a tribute to his late grandmother, who worked as a seamstress in Flinders Lane.
Next comes an abandoned mail sorting room, switchboard, typing pool and manager's office.
"It's a response to the [building's] architecture", Rone explains. "What fits within the space, what seems like the right story for it".
Those familiar with Rone's body of work will recognise similarities with his previous large, cinematic styled installations in the Omega Project (2017); a condemned Melbourne cottage waiting only for developers to flatten it; and 2019s, a crumbling art deco mansion in Dandenong Ranges.
His most ambitious project so far, Time, bears the same scars of decay and loss. AIt goes back to my personal art history coming from street art and graffiti,@ says Rone. AMy artwork always gets destroyed or changed.@
From the ruins, Rone also perceives a fragile beauty. "The more fragile, the more beautiful", he says. "The tension interests me".
There's beauty in a literal sense, too. Huge, ghost like portraits of a woman haunt the spaces. This time, his signature muse is model Teresa Oman, who he has worked with over the past decade.
"It's not important to recognise it is the same person in each of the portraits", he says. "They are intended as an emotional conduit. a way [for visitors] to connect with the space".
Although Rone spent three years planning the new installation, he had access to the building for only 3 months before the show, and had to rely on 3D scans to compose each room remotely.
It's a different circumstance to Empire, where he was on site for a year.
Time was initially intended to launch in 2020 as part of the Rising festival, before the pandemic brought down the curtain.
Rone then had to wait until contemporary artist Patricia Piccinini B lined up for the venue for last year's festival.  B wound up her year-long, lockdown-interrupted, exhibition in mid June.
There were other hurdles to jump as well. Rone needed to find new backing, given Rising didn't have funding in place for this year at that point.
He did: $1.86 million from the federal government's RISE Fund (unrelated to Rising), which he says covers the cost of the 120 people employed on the project.
In hindsight, though, the delay proved a blessing. "I'm glad we're doing it this year", he says. "It took 2 years to negotiate the lease. It would've been a lesser show; it would've been rushed. Even now, I can see only things that aren't done yet".
Rone has benefited from working with the same collaborators as before: interior decorator Carly Spooner, responsible for rustling up the many dozens of articles and artefacts (including 14 matching vintage typewriters); sound composer Nick Batterham, whose melancholic soundtracks heighten the mood; and set builder Callum Preston.
Continuing the walk down memory lane, Rone ushered me in and out of more rooms frozen in time: a trade school classroom, a pharmacy, a life drawing class with a beatific Madonna like portrait of Oman looming over the deserted easels.
"Art is my religion", he laughed as, on cue, organ music washed over the room.
Lighting plays an integral part, too. In a cavernous room, once a gym for railway employees, it casts eerie shadows across spiral staircases and the spines of hundreds of (hollow) volumes arrayed in floor to ceiling bookshelves.
In another room, the backlit face of a recreated clock tower brightens and dims to represent time passing across the day. And a light and rumbling sound effect running the length of the corridor mimics a train passing through a tunnel.
"Time is so important to this building", Rone explains. 'Meet me under the clock' is such a Melbourne phrase. Train drivers would set their watches to the Flinders Street clock.
At the end of the corridor is the almost mythical ballroom, once a lecture hall that's been also used for language classes and by sporting clubs (I learnt to fence here as a 10 year old).
Inside, Rone has built an imperial arched glasshouse, modelled on Flinders Street's main entrance but inspired by London=s lost Crystal Palace. Like the ballroom, it stands like a once glorious, now overlooked relic.
For a moment, you forget this is only a temporary structure: that Rising will take over the space again in June next year with a First Nations project featuring contemporary artists curated by festival artistic associate and Yorta Yorta woman Kimberley Moulton.
Rone, though, never loses sight of the transient nature of his work and admits he=s already entertaining thoughts of what comes next.
"This project has helped me understand how to design something in a modular way to take on the road", he says. "That can be presented on the other side of the planet. International, that's my focus". 
Personal memorabilia are interspersed among the objects in Rone's A love letter to mid century Melbourne.
 https://www.afr.com/life and luxury/arts and culture/time travelling with artist rone in a fabled melbourne ballroom 20221025 p5bstm

More disruption ahead for NSW commuters.  Farid Farid November 1 2022
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union has flagged more industrial action by NSW rail workers. (Dean Lewins/AAP PHOTOS)
NSW rail commuters can expect more disruption to services after talks between the union and government failed to resolve their long running dispute.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union has flagged it will "return to the well trodden path of disruptive industrial action" after talks failed to secure a new industrial enterprise agreement or resolve issues regarding the safety of the mothballed Korean made train fleet.
Union Secretary Alex Claassens vowed to fight for commuter safety, saying the $2.8 billion warehoused Intercity Fleet needed urgent modifications   which the state government has been unwilling to pay for.
"Despite our efforts, we're going to have to resort to traditional types of industrial action ... due to the fact that the government is still refusing to come to the bargaining table," he told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.
"We are left with no option but to resort to actions ... which will start slowly and ramp up to serious actions that will ultimately affect our commuters in approximately two weeks."
The union and government have been at loggerheads all year, frustrating commuters with repeated action, which culminated in a month of targeted strikes and bans in August.
The latest protected action will include overtime bans on working with contractors, which will escalate to staff refusing to operate foreign made trains, compounded by workers walking off the job for a few hours towards the end of the month.
Employee Relations Minister Damien Tudehope responded by escalating the war of words, threatening to rip up previous agreements on safety modifications if industrial action resumes.
"In the event that there's industrial action which causes any inconvenience to commuters ... we will have no hesitation   and it's the premier's firm commitment   that that agreement to carry out alterations to the New InterCity Fleet will be torn up," he told reporters.
"The transport system of this state is not owned and run by the RTBU. It is owned by the people and the commuters of this state.
"We're duty bound to protect (them) and we need to run a proper rail system for their benefit."
The latest union decision comes after the government refused the union's "modest pay offer".
Mr Tudehope said the government was standing firm on its "consistent" wage cap policy because it did not want to give "preferential treatment" to the RTBU.
Mr Claassens said the government was "trying to sue (the union) out of existence", with a Fair Work Commission case pending and another case in the Federal Court.
Last week, a federal judge refused an application by the RTBU to expedite a hearing on whether its proposal to turn off Opal card readers for commuters was legal and protected.
Asked whether the union's proposed actions this month could test commuters' patience, Mr Claassens said the onus was on top government decision makers   referring chiefly to Premier Dominic Perrottet   to show up to negotiations to prevent industrial action.
"Until we get those key decision makers, we're going to keep going around in circles," he said.
"I hope they (the public) understand it's not us.
"This could all stop tomorrow if the government decides to sit at the table and stop playing political games."
https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/7964719/more disruption ahead for nsw commuters