The Public Transport Users Association has joined with other transport policy and urban planning groups to issue an open letter to incoming Premier Ben Carroll and Opposition Leader Jess Wilson.
Our letter is motivated by concern that the terms of reference for the upcoming Royal Commission on the Big Build may focus too narrowly on issues of surface level criminality and corruption that have dominated media coverage, and forgo the opportunity to probe the serious policy and governance failures that contributed to Victoria’s current situation.
Unless this opportunity is taken, our transport and land use planning process will remain vulnerable to capture by political and commercial interests at the expense of the public interest. This would see the repeat of planning failures such as the $26 billion North East Link blowout, the mushrooming of a $0.5 billion West Gate Distributor into a $12 billion West Gate Tunnel, and serious compromises in network connectivity in the design of the Suburban Rail Loop.
See also:
- The Age 22/8/2026: Integrity experts urge royal commission to look beyond crooks to deeper problem
- The Age 22/8/2026 Editorial: Finally, the royal commission Victoria desperately needs