00:00By the end of the year passengers should also be stepping onto trains on the metro tunnel.
00:10Testing next weekend will force Sunbury, Cranbourne and Pakenham travellers to change trains to
00:14get to the city as their routes test the new line.
00:18We're trying to really put the tunnel through its paces.
00:20But with the government wanting more people to work from home and public transport patronage
00:24down since the pandemic, will the new line actually take many passengers?
00:29We don't expect that working from home will change that overall demand, though of course
00:34the way usage patterns and so on will be changing.
00:37The COVID induced working from home revolution has changed the city's economy.
00:42Office vacancy rates remain high at nearly 18 per cent, although it has recovered by the
00:46barest of margins for the first time since the pandemic.
00:50But the Property Council believes further improvement is at risk under the Premier's working from
00:55home plan.
00:56To mandate work from home for two days per week, we think will have a very negative
01:02impact on sentiment to invest into Victoria, and we're concerned about that.
01:08We're here to make sure that working from home, which works for so many families, is protected.
01:14While workplace law is Canberra's responsibility, the PM is unfazed by the Premier's work from
01:22home intervention or complaints from business.
01:25Jacinda Allen, I'm sure, is responding to what the committee have said, which is that flexible
01:31working arrangements help workers and they help employers.
01:35How the government plans to make this work remains a mystery, including who will be considered
01:39to be able to reasonably work at home.
01:42The idea is heavy on politics and sends a clear message about who the Premier values most.
01:47It's also bait for the Liberals, who are yet to take it and follow business into resisting
01:52the plan.
01:53Where are the details?
01:54The Premier needs to explain herself.
01:56Plenty of others are asking the same question.
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