Suburban Rail Loop: Victorian government secretly increased public transport fares to help pay for controversial SRL

Labor put ‘levy on all public transport fares in metropolitan Melbourne and regional Victoria’ since January 2025, auditor general finds, as questions raised over premier’s involvement Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastQuestions have been raised about Ben Carroll’s knowledge of a “secret tax” the Victorian government has slapped on public transport fares to help pay for the Suburban Rail Loop and other Big Build projects.The existence of the levy was revealed in an auditor general report tabled in parliament on Wednesday, which also threw doubt on whether the first stage of the multibillion-dollar project – a 26km stretch of twin tunnels from Cheltenham to Box Hill dubbed SRL East – can be delivered on time or within budget. Continue reading...