The Victorian Farmers Federation has renewed its calls for the Victorian government to release the revised business case for the Murray Basin Rail Project.
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VFF Grains Group president Ashley Fraser says the government's refusal to release the revised business case risks condemning the project to years of further delays and setbacks.
Work on the troubled $440 million project, to standardise lines from the north-west to the Port of Melbourne, stopped in June last year, when the MBRP was only half finished.
It was meant to have been completed in 2018.
Mr Fraser joined calls from Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack to Victorian Transport Infrastructure minister Jacinta Allan to immediately release the revised business case.
"Ms Allan has previously said she wouldn't release the project's business case without the support of the federal government,' Mr Fraser said.
"Given Minister McCormack's support, we fully expect the revised business case to be released now."
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The VFF has repeatedly called for the details of the project to be unveiled, to enable the grains industry and wider rural communities to view the State Government's plan to get the project back on track
"While it's very disappointing the project received no funding in the federal budget, it is fair enough for the federal overnment to expect feedback from stakeholders on the business case for the project.
"As a result, the Victorian government has no alternative other than to release the details of the stalled project now to ensure there's time to scrutinise the details ahead of the state budget," Mr Fraser said.
"We simply must ensure this promised once-in-a-generation project, to revitalise and standardise Victoria's freight rail network, is delivered as planned way back in 2015.
"Rural Victoria is crying out for major infrastructure projects to stimulate the economy and provide much needed local jobs."
Mr Fraser said it was staggering to think the state could be heading into 2021 without any funding on what was billed as a major project for rural Victoria.
"Victorian farmers should already be experiencing the benefits of the project that was scheduled for completion in 2018."
"The ball is in the court of Minister Allan and the Victorian Government," Mr Fraser said.
Ms Allen was attempting to rewrite history by handballing blame for the stalled project to the federal government, according to Victorian National Party leader Peter Walsh.
He said Ms Allan's claims that Victoria has been let down by the lack of federal budget funds to restart the stalled Basin Rail couldn't be further from the truth.
"Jacinta Allan's crocodile tears aren't fooling anyone," Mr Walsh said.
"The Labor government was handed a fully-funded project and botched it, leaving our north-west producers and stakeholders saying they're now worse off than when the project started.
"Rumours have been circulating for months that Jacinta Allan is seeking a cheap exit strategy because her failed mismanagement has blown out the total cost of the project from $440 million to more than $1 billion."
He said producers and stakeholders should be reaping the benefits of more efficient links to Melbourne's port, but instead were left with a barely half finished mess.
A Victorian Auditor-General Office report on the Andrews Government's failed handling of Basin Rail found "completion of the MBRP is a year overdue, with over twice the original budget now estimated as necessary to complete the project to its original approved scope"
Mr Walsh said Ms Allan must come clean on how the government would fix its mess by releasing the revised business case for consultation.
