Derryn Hinch (Victoria, Derryn Hinch's Justice Party) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Deputy Prime Minister, Senator McKenzie. After the Liberals' abysmal performance in the Victorian state election on Saturday, I want to raise an awful but important word: infrastructure. The Murray Basin Rail Project to standardise the rail network and connect regional and metropolitan Victoria will create 280 jobs and has already cost taxpayers $440 million. Why has the Maroona-Portland line not been made a priority for a project of this scale? All you need, I am told, is to upgrade the sleepers. That seems like a piece of cake. Do you acknowledge that a failure to build the Maroona-Portland line will mean many Victorian farmers, growers, exporters and producers are locked out of the benefits of this rail project?