Independent advice to help the Victorian government prioritise spending on infrastructure will be axed under the latest pivot from Premier Ben Carroll.
Finance Minister Enver Erdogan announced Infrastructure Victoria and Economic Growth Victoria would both be wound up, slashing up to 50 jobs and saving $12 million over the coming four years.
Staff were informed of the decision this morning.
Former senior bureaucrat Helen Silver’s independent review into the public service had recommended closing the agencies, but the suggestion was rejected under former premier Jacinta Allan.
Infrastructure Victoria’s chief executive says the body has helped improve social, economic and environmental outcomes for the state. (ABC Gippsland: Peter Somerville )
“This is about extracting the best value and where there’s opportunities to end duplication and find efficiencies, we’re going to take those opportunities,” Mr Erdogan said today.
Former premier Daniel Andrews established Infrastructure Victoria in 2015 with bipartisan support to take the politics out of the massive spending area.
Its work will be absorbed by the Department of Transport and Planning.
The agency, which also endured a funding cut last year, provided advice on short and long-term priorities the government should focus on.
Finance Minister Enver Erdogan says the government wants to end duplication and find efficiencies. (ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
Some recommendations were repeatedly ignored.
Infrastructure Victoria chief executive Jonathan Spear said the agency’s impactful advice improved social, economic and environmental outcomes for the state.
Victoria was one of the first to establish such a body, he said, and had since been followed by every major jurisdiction in Australia.
“Our work informs the policy positions of all parties in the Victorian Parliament,” he said in a statement to the ABC.
“Our independence is unambiguous. Independence is what makes our advice worth having.
“It allows us to give government and parliament frank, evidence-based assessments — on getting more from the infrastructure we already have, and on what the state will need in the decades ahead.”
Dr Spear said 84 per cent of the recommendations in the 2021 30-year strategy had been accepted or implemented.
The 2025 recommendations, meanwhile, laid out how the government “can reduce costs of providing infrastructure over the next three decades and generate over $166 billion worth of benefits for Victorians”, he said.
Mr Erdogan insisted the department was capable of providing thorough and independent advice and rejected any suggestion the government was scrapping Infrastructure Victoria because it didn’t like its recommendations.
Infrastructure Victoria also advised the government on strategies to reduce costs on its projects.
Winding up Infrastructure Victoria will require legislation through state parliament. (ABC News: Darryl Torpy)
Meanwhile, Mr Carroll is grappling with how to fulfill billions of dollars’ worth of contracts for the Suburban Rail Loop.
He has sought to distance himself from the former administration and find further savings since taking the leadership last month.
But this was immediately challenged by his decision to abolish the secret rail investment charge, a 1 per cent tax slapped on all public transport fares since January 2025, only revealed by the Victorian Auditor-General’s Office (VAGO) this week.
Scrapping this levy will leave a larger gap in state finances.
Coalition pledges to keep Infrastructure Victoria
Winding up Infrastructure Victoria will require legislation through the parliament and Mr Erdogan confirmed it would take months to close the agency.
Opposition transport spokesman Matthew Guy said the Coalition would keep Infrastructure Victoria if elected in November. He said the Suburban Rail Loop showed now was not the time to cut back independent advice.
“It was designed to give frank and fearless infrastructure advice — in their words, to take the politics out of infrastructure,” Mr Guy said.
“Now they’re abolishing it. What’s that tell us about their infrastructure agenda? Probably that it’s based on votes, not based on facts.”
Matthew Guy says the Coalition will retain the body if victorious in November’s state election. (AAP: Joel Carrett)
Community and Public Sector Union state secretary Jiselle Hanna agreed the agency did important work.
“In a time of increased scrutiny on infrastructure projects, we need to retain independent authorities that are capable of providing frank and fearless advice, not abolish them,” she said.
“Victorians are already fed up with a government they increasingly see as unaccountable and unwilling to listen. That loss of trust is one of the reasons Labor is under so much pressure at this election.
“You do not rebuild trust by abolishing independent scrutiny and sacking public servants whose job is to provide expert advice.”
Greens leader Ellen Sandell also confirmed the minor party would not support legislation to scrap the agency.
“Labor needs to find money to fix their SRL mess, and their first instinct is to axe the independent agencies that have held Labor to account,” she said.
“When Labor doesn’t like the independent advice that Infrastructure Victoria gives them, their response is to try to shut them down.”
Spending on tea and coffee for public servants to be slashed
The government is targeting another $70 million saving by cutting back its reliance on consultants, Mr Erdogan announced.
Secret fare hike to fund Melbourne’s SRL, report finds
A new decree across the public service will also reduce spending on pot plants, tea and coffee, as well as branded merchandise within department and agency offices.
There will be no new expenditure on plaques for politicians opening projects, with “sensible exemptions”.
Mr Erdogan was asked how he felt about plaques that have already gone up in his honour.
“One is at Cherry Creek Youth Justice Correctional Facility. So I think that’s a tough one. It’s not one that I want to plan on visiting post politics,” Mr Erdogan said.
“I’d be happy if it wasn’t there, to be frank.”
Mr Carroll earlier announced the Suburban Rail Loop Authority (SRLA) would be absorbed by the Victorian Infrastructure Delivery Authority (VIDA).