Taxpayers footing the bill for artwork buried 26 kilometres underground as cost-of-living crisis bites
Victorian families are struggling to put food on the table, keep the lights on, and meet their mortgage repayments — yet the Allan Labor Government has commissioned Indigenous artwork on tunnel boring machines that will be buried underground, where no Victorian will ever see them.
The cutterheads of two Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) tunnel boring machines, costing upwards of $130 million when delivered from China, have been painted with a piece entitled Footsteps of the Past — artwork that will spend its entire working life hidden beneath the earth as the machines carve out up to 26 kilometres of tunnel between Glen Waverley and Box Hill.
Family First Victorian candidate Jane Foreman said the decision was an insult to working Victorians already crushed by the weight of Labor's debt and dysfunction.
"This is what happens when a government loses touch with ordinary people. Families are cutting back on groceries, skipping the dentist, and watching their energy bills spiral — and Labor is commissioning art for machines that will never see the light of day. It beggars belief."
While the SRL Authority insists the artwork cost nothing "additional", Ms Foreman rejected that framing outright.
"The idea that something costs nothing just because it was already budgeted is exactly the kind of thinking that has put Victoria $200 billion in debt. Every dollar spent is a dollar that came from a Victorian family. That money should be going to our police, our hospitals, and our schools — not decorating the front of a machine that will be buried underground."
Ms Foreman also questioned the broader culture of waste and spin that has come to define the SRL project, which has already attracted controversy over its costs and delays.
"Victorians deserve honesty. If you're going to spend public money on something, own it. Don't tell people it's free. Don't hide it in a budget line and then promote it in a press release. Victorians are not mugs, and they are tired of being treated like they are."
Family First believes governments must prioritise the wellbeing of families and communities above symbolic gestures and political optics. Ms Foreman called on the Allan Government to conduct an urgent review of discretionary spending across the SRL project and report transparently to the public.
"The SRL is already the most expensive infrastructure project in Victoria's history. Victorians need to know every dollar is being spent wisely. This artwork decision might seem small in isolation — but it is symbolic of a government that has fundamentally lost its way."
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