00:00It's the long-awaited train tunnel project to reshape Melbourne.
00:06The Premier's had a test ride, and first passengers are due next year.
00:10If you believe that one, we'll pig fly.
00:13Contracts tabled in Parliament cast fresh doubt on the deadline.
00:16It shows provisional handover of the project has blown out by a year, and final acceptance
00:21is delayed until the last day of 2025.
00:23I don't have a crystal ball, I mean, nobody could have foreseen COVID in 2019, but that's
00:29what happened.
00:30And I'm confident that we'll have people riding on the Metro Tunnel in 2025.
00:35Taxpayers have kicked in an extra $745 million to cover the latest delays.
00:4030,000 kilometres worth of test rides have been completed, but there's issues with interference
00:44with medical equipment at Parkville, and the two city stations are yet to be finished.
00:48You can plan, you can prepare, you can design, but you've got to test it and trial it, and
00:54you've got to make sure that you've got it right.
00:56And sometimes that can work really well, sometimes there might be complexities, and
01:00it might take a little bit longer.
01:02If infrastructure blowouts aren't enough, in Parliament dozens of reports continue to
01:05paint a picture of financial strain across the government, including an $81 million loss
01:10at Triple Zero, a $74 million deficit for the CFA, while court services were $73 million
01:17in the red.
01:18Treasury documents also reveal that Victoria's central account earned $444 million less than
01:24forecast.
01:25That has had no impact on the overall budget position.
01:27This is a government that can't manage money.
01:29The state of Victoria's books are in a complete mess.
01:33Parliament has now risen for the year, and we're halfway through the electoral term.
01:37Jacinta Allen will be hoping for some clear air over summer, and that the Metro Tunnel
01:41can be opened next year to help get this 10-year-old government back on track.
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