Timelines for swath of Victorian construction projects blow out
Another project renewing sections of the Great Ocean Road, forecast to be completed this year, is expected to be four to six months behind schedule after already being pushed back from as far back as 2020.
The Big Housing Build, a 2020 state government commitment to build 12,000 social and affordable homes over four years, is now forecast to be completed in 2028.
The government says the $6.3 billion project will now deliver 13,300 social and affordable homes, with work on 10,100 complete or under way.
A government spokesperson said the auditor-general's report was a 'snapshot in time' and information was provided 12 months ago. Other delays outlined in the report are no longer accurate and have not been included in this article.
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'Since then, works have progressed, with Victorians reaping the benefits from these vital major projects across the state,' the spokesperson said.
Opposition major projects spokesman Evan Mulholland said the government's management of projects had become a 'slow-motion disaster'.
'Victorians pay the price with added costs and delayed projects because we have a government that rewards union thuggery instead of demanding accountability,' Mulholland said.
Improvements to Victoria's male prison system capacity, first forecast for 2023, are also delayed and unlikely to stay within budget because of black mould infestations affecting hundreds of new beds at Barwon Prison in Lara and the Metropolitan Remand Centre in Ravenhall.
The Department of Justice and Community safety is currently negotiating with the contractors of the prison project and argues the works were not completed to standard.
Infrastructure Australia's market capacity report, published in December 2024, said investment in transport projects was falling as billions of dollars more in funding flowed to energy and housing projects.
Chief executive Adam Copp said at the time that the nation's infrastructure ambitions were being challenged by skills shortages, stagnant productivity growth and the rising costs of materials.
'Construction materials on average cost around 30 per cent more than they did three years ago, and with ongoing skills shortages we simply don't have the people power we need to get the job done on time – our analysis shows 7 per cent of the pipeline, or $15 billion of planned construction work, has been hampered by project delays,' Copp said in the report.
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Copp said projects would also shift into regional areas and northern Australia, which would bring other challenges in attracting workers and supplying materials.
Roads Australia chief executive Ehssan Veiszadeh has previously warned of the impact of delays, particularly those linked to union action.
The peak body's members reported that repeated construction delays and poorer working environments added 30 per cent to the total costs of projects.
'On major public infrastructure worksites, workplace safety has not only been undermined – it has been weaponised,' Veiszadeh said.
'Worksites have been shut down for spurious reasons, sometimes costing up to $5 million a day. Often industrial action has targeted critical works such as concrete pours, which can have a cost impact of tens of millions of dollars.'
This masthead's Building Bad investigation has detailed allegations of serious misconduct across government sites over the past year, including allegations gangland-linked figures were receiving large payments from companies on publicly funded projects looking to gain favour with figures within the CFMEU.
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Herald Sun
13 hours ago
- Herald Sun
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Sorry, Brad's not available. I was prompted to check when the last time Victoria's Opposition Leader had appeared on Sky's top rating four day a week Credlin show and found, according to our records, it was five weeks ago. I present the Friday version of Credlin and can't remember the last time he appeared with me either. Now Battin and his team can choose to appear in the media and with whomever they choose. But to suggest he has a high profile as Opposition Leader is ludicrous. Most Victorians would struggle to even name him. It's a problem the conservative side of politics, both state and federal, struggle with. The NSW Liberal Opposition leader is a bloke called Mark Speakman who as late as this week was facing a leadership challenge over a net-zero bungle. In South Australia a bloke even I have never heard of leads the Liberals – Vincent Tarzia. 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So, media savvy was he that after being confronted by a barbecue wielding union protester out the front of the old AW studios in Bank St he made one more big demand. He asked us to install a landline into his office to conduct live interviews from there. We did it only to regret the decision as Jeff kept dialling in to go on air like some sort of media commentator. At least Victorians knew who he was. Dislikes • Convicted drug and gun criminal Snoop Dogg as the Grand Final entertainment – how does that fit the AFL's family image. • Anthony Albanese promising to recognise a Palestinian State. • Cowardly masked neo-Nazis marching through Melbourne in the dead of night. • ACTU pushing for a four-day week at Canberra's economic roundtable next week. 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The Advertiser
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"Without reform, we risk a future where our roads are underfunded, unsafe, and unable to support the demands of a growing population," Mr Veiszadeh said. No public recommendations were released from the meeting but the infrastructure partnerships group will use the discussion as the basis for a briefing to Treasury before next week's roundtable. The government had an opportunity to promote EV uptake by using the revenue generated from a road user charge to roll out charging infrastructure, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia chief executive Adrian Dwyer said. "The primary impediment to the greater uptake of electric vehicles is range anxiety - we can kill two birds with one stone by future-proofing our funding system and paying for the charging network that will drive EV uptake," he said. While the federal government has maintained the issue is for states and territories, frontbencher Tanya Plibersek said the idea of a tax for EV users made sense. "I don't think anything's happening tomorrow, but I do think it's sensible ... for the states and territories, to look long term at what they do, to make sure that there's enough money to build the roads that people want to drive on," she told Seven's Sunrise program. Victoria tried to put in place a two cent per kilometre charge on EV users in 2023, but the proposal was overruled by the High Court, effectively banning states from implementing a road user charge and leaving the issue in the lap of the Commonwealth. NSW has assumed one will eventually be implemented regardless. In its latest budget, the state's treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, forecast a road user charge kicking in by 2027/28, which is estimated to bring in $73 million. New Zealand has a road user charge scheme for EVs based on vehicle weight and distance driven. Last week the NZ government announced petrol cars would also have to pay the charge, while its fuel excise would be scrapped. 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"I don't think anything's happening tomorrow, but I do think it's sensible ... for the states and territories, to look long term at what they do, to make sure that there's enough money to build the roads that people want to drive on," she told Seven's Sunrise program. Victoria tried to put in place a two cent per kilometre charge on EV users in 2023, but the proposal was overruled by the High Court, effectively banning states from implementing a road user charge and leaving the issue in the lap of the Commonwealth. NSW has assumed one will eventually be implemented regardless. In its latest budget, the state's treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, forecast a road user charge kicking in by 2027/28, which is estimated to bring in $73 million. New Zealand has a road user charge scheme for EVs based on vehicle weight and distance driven. Last week the NZ government announced petrol cars would also have to pay the charge, while its fuel excise would be scrapped. EV owners group the Australian Electric Vehicle Association said any road user charge must be universal and not incentivise internal combustion vehicles over EVs. The introduction of road user charges should not slam the brakes on Australia's shift to clean transport, Electric Vehicle Council chief executive Julie Delvecchio said. "Reforms should only apply once electric vehicles reach 30 per cent of new vehicle sales." EVs accounted for about 12 per cent of new car sales in the first half of 2025. Coalition senator Jane Hume said more needed to be done to fix ailing roads, which a broader road tax could achieve. Motorists could face distance-based fees to drive on Australian roads as part of a proposed tax change expected to be on the menu of Treasurer Jim Chalmers' economic roundtable. Momentum is building for a road user charge, seen by one federal frontbencher as a "sensible" solution to fund road maintenance as more people switch to electric vehicles. 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No public recommendations were released from the meeting but the infrastructure partnerships group will use the discussion as the basis for a briefing to Treasury before next week's roundtable. The government had an opportunity to promote EV uptake by using the revenue generated from a road user charge to roll out charging infrastructure, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia chief executive Adrian Dwyer said. "The primary impediment to the greater uptake of electric vehicles is range anxiety - we can kill two birds with one stone by future-proofing our funding system and paying for the charging network that will drive EV uptake," he said. While the federal government has maintained the issue is for states and territories, frontbencher Tanya Plibersek said the idea of a tax for EV users made sense. "I don't think anything's happening tomorrow, but I do think it's sensible ... for the states and territories, to look long term at what they do, to make sure that there's enough money to build the roads that people want to drive on," she told Seven's Sunrise program. Victoria tried to put in place a two cent per kilometre charge on EV users in 2023, but the proposal was overruled by the High Court, effectively banning states from implementing a road user charge and leaving the issue in the lap of the Commonwealth. NSW has assumed one will eventually be implemented regardless. In its latest budget, the state's treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, forecast a road user charge kicking in by 2027/28, which is estimated to bring in $73 million. New Zealand has a road user charge scheme for EVs based on vehicle weight and distance driven. Last week the NZ government announced petrol cars would also have to pay the charge, while its fuel excise would be scrapped. EV owners group the Australian Electric Vehicle Association said any road user charge must be universal and not incentivise internal combustion vehicles over EVs. The introduction of road user charges should not slam the brakes on Australia's shift to clean transport, Electric Vehicle Council chief executive Julie Delvecchio said. "Reforms should only apply once electric vehicles reach 30 per cent of new vehicle sales." EVs accounted for about 12 per cent of new car sales in the first half of 2025. Coalition senator Jane Hume said more needed to be done to fix ailing roads, which a broader road tax could achieve.
