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Levy secretly added to Victorian public transport fares scrapped asLabor admits it ‘did not pass the pub test’

Premier confirms levy, which was intended to help pay for the multibillion-dollar Suburban Rail Loop and other Big Build projects, will be abolished

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Benita Kolovos Victorian state correspondent27 Aug 2026, 06:55 amUpdated 1d ago1 min readWorldWorld

World — Benita Kolovos Victorian state correspondent

Levy secretly added to Victorian public transport fares scrapped as Labor admits it ‘did not pass the pub test’

Premier confirms levy, which was intended to help pay for the multibillion-dollar Suburban Rail Loop and other Big Build projects, will be abolished

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The Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, has announced he will abolish a levy secretly slapped on public transport users 18 months ago to help pay for the Suburban Rail Loop, as experts warn it is too late for the state to back out of the costly project.

The existence of the levy was revealed in an auditor general’s report tabled in parliament on Wednesday , which also cast 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.

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This report is published with credit to The Guardian. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on The Guardian →

Source: The Guardian · Benita Kolovos Victorian state correspondent. Published 27 Aug 2026, 06:55 am.

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