We have already spent a fortune on the SRL. There’s a good chance that money will be lost in the hole

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There are two line items in this week’s state budget which, when put together, raise an appalling scenario.

Is it possible that the next Victorian government, if indeed we have a change of government in November, could scrap a project that has already cost taxpayers $6,683,115,000?

This is the estimated public money which by June 30, will have been sunk into early and tunnelling works for Suburban Rail Loop. This $6.68 billion is the monstrous sum of money that the Victorian Liberal Party, a political organisation notionally steeped in fiscal responsibility, is thinking about setting fire to, as the unpalatable cost of not building the SRL.

I’ll let you in on a little secret of my trade. Normally, whenever you see a dramatic question posed in a headline, the answer is no. I can assure you that this time, however, the question about the future of the SRL is very much alive.

More likely than not, we won’t have a clear answer until Jess Wilson and her transition team shift into No.1 Treasury Place. Before that happens, Wilson will stick to the response she gave ABC Radio host Rafael Epstein when he pressed her the morning after the budget: “… we will pause the SRL and review it.”

What this means, decoded, is that only after Wilson wins government, finds a credibly independent person to examine the contracts and costs of the project, and reveals to the surprise of no one that the........

© The Age