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Your weekly community newspaper covering Safety Beach to Portsea
Wednesday 17 May 2023
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Coronation party southern peninsula style INTERNATIONAL eyes may have been focussed on a solemn religious ceremony at Westminster Abbey, London on Saturday 6 May, but the coronation of King Charles III was also celebrated in a far flung outpost of the former British empire, Portsea. On Monday 8 May a Coronation Party was held by Sorrento Portsea RSL, complete with palace approved Royal bunting, flags and pictures of King Charles and Queen Camilla. On the menu, described by the chair of the RSL committee’s community engagement and marketing arm Marg McInnes as a picnic lunch, were scotch eggs, cucumber sandwiches “and of course the ever popular Coronation chicken sandwiches”. Topping off the meal was a royal crown cake made over two months by Val Wenzel. “Throughout the event a special playlist of royal songs was played with a singalong of favourite tunes,” McInnes said. More than 120 people were at the coronation celebration, which raised more tha$1600 for the Sorrento Portsea RSL flood appeal. The royal fundraiser was organised by Portsea friends, Jan Anderson, Geraldine Laycock and Wenzel.
Review could signal end to rail extension Brodie Cowburn brodie@baysidenews.com.au THE proposed electrification of the railway line from Frankston to Baxter is in serious doubt, with $225 million in federal finance for the project facing the chopping block. The previous Coalition federal government committed $225 million towards the extension of the Frankston line in 2018. Since then the project has laid dormant, and no other level of government has contributed cash towards it. While releasing its first budget last Tuesday, the Labor federal govern-
ment confirmed that an independent review into all Infrastructure Investment Program projects not yet under construction will be undertaken. The News has confirmed that the Baxter rail extension is one of the projects under review. Dunkley MP Peta Murphy said the review is a “genuine review to get the best outcome”. “All Infrastructure Investment Program projects not currently under construction and not an election commitment are in the 90 day independent review. The budget reflects the Albanese government’s commitment to keeping the Commonwealth infrastructure investment pipeline at $120
billion over 10 years,” she said. “[The review] has the cooperation of the states and territories and will look at what projects are still priorities for the Commonwealth, states and territories. The review is looking at how projects can be delivered, what the true cost is, and how those projects can be delivered given the economic conditions we face.” A business case assessing the electrification and duplication of the Frankston line to Baxter revealed that the total cost of the project could be up to $1.5 billion. The business case was completed before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The proposal cannot proceed
without more money being committed to it. In the lead up to the 2022 state election, the state Liberal opposition promised to spend $971 million to build the project within four years of being elected. The re-elected Labor government did not match the promise. Frankston MP Paul Edbrooke cast further doubt on the project last year when he told The News that he was concerned that the proposal would wipe out homes, land, and the historic Frankston Signal Box (“BaxLabor rules out rail plan ‘without checks’” The News 18/10/22). Infrastructure minister Catherine King said that the independent infra-
structure review will “allow all levels of government time to consider the projects that are actual priorities, and assess their cost and deliverability in the current climate.” “Under the Liberals and Nationals, the number of infrastructure projects in the pipeline blew out from 150 to almost 800. Projects were left without adequate funding, resources or genuine commitment,” she said. “The Albanese government is keeping the $120 billion rolling 10-year pipeline - and every dollar remains in the budget. “But it would be irresponsible to move ahead without fixing the backlog.”
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