Home›Questions on Notice›QoN 599

❓ Hon Steve Martin questions the Minister for Transport regarding the $300 million cost escalation of the Thornlie Cockburn Link project, seeking a detailed breakdown of contributing factors. The Minister's response refers to State Budget Papers and highlights the project's cost-effectiveness per kilometre.

AnsweredQoN 599Legislative Council

Asked

11 September 2025

Member

Hon Steve Martin

Portfolio

Transport

QuestionView source ↗

I refer to the Minister's answer to Estimates pre-hearing questions in relation to cost escalations for various METRONET projects between last year's budget and the 2025-26 Budget, which stated "the escalation in these projects' budgets is due to unavoidable increases in labour, plant, equipment and materials driven by supply chain constraints", and I ask: (a) in relation to the Thornlie Cockburn Link escalation in Estimated Total Cost from $1.3 billion last year to $1.6 billion in the 2025-26 Budget, can the Minister provide the dollar amount split of the $300 million escalation attributable to: (i) labour cost increases; (ii) plant cost increases; (iii) equipment cost increases; (iv) materials cost increases; and (v) other supply chain constraints (please specify)?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered

15 October 2025

Responded by

Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport

Response time

5 days

(a) Information relating to the cost of METRONET projects can be found in the State Budget Papers.
On a cost-per-kilometre basis, the Thornlie-Cockburn Line is one of the most affordable rail projects being delivered in Australia.

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