Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan have used their first joint appearance of the federal election campaign to reinforce their pledge to deliver Melbourne’s Airport Rail.
The leaders today spruiked their commitment to provide a train service to Melbourne International Airport after Opposition Leader Peter Dutton last week claimed Labor was more focused on delivering the Suburban Rail Loop.
On his third visit to Melbourne during the campaign trail so far, Albanese and Allan visited Sunshine Station to reaffirm support for a $4 billion upgrade to the rail hub.
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“I’m a prime minister who understand Victorian infrastructure and this is a premier who certainly understands infrastructure,” Albanese said.
“…Because unless you fix Sunshine Rail, you can’t do the Airport Rail link.”
The pair took aim at Dutton over his proposal of a “gold-plated” version of the upgrade, which would slash project costs in half.
“Peter Dutton is saying to Victorians that he wants to cut into the heart of the airport rail project and cut into the heart of rail services to the city and country and the western suburbs,” Allan said.
But when asked when Victorians would be able to take a train to the airport, an answer of “as soon as possible” was the closest estimate the media could get.
Allan was forced to answer to heavy hitting questions from media, including whether she would take responsibility if support for Labor falls at the federal election next month.
“As to the commentary that’s in the question, quite frankly, I’m going to leave the commentary to others,” she said.
The Sunshine Station upgrade is the first stage of the Airport Rail Link.
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