The federal coalition is promising to channel billions of dollars into Victorian infrastructure to help handle a population boom, but Premier Daniel Andrews says it's too little too late.
About 26 per cent of the country's population live in Victoria, but Mr Andrews said the state is only getting 10-to-15 per cent of Canberra's infrastructure handout and the funding flow is "so far away that it wasn't really relevant to the work we are doing right now".
The Labor leader is cynical of a $2 billion Melbourne-to-Geelong fast rail project which is widely thought to be a move by the federal government to underpin the re-election hopes of Liberal Sarah Henderson in the marginal seat of Corangamite.
"People in Geelong would need to vote for Sarah Henderson in seven weeks time, in another three years and three years after that before any real funding's provided to that project," Mr Andrews told reporters in Melbourne on Wednesday, following the federal budget.
"Over the next four years the Victorian government's investing more than $40 billion in road, rail, hospitals and school building.
"The Commonwealth government's investing some $5 billion, that is so far from a fair share."
Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said Victoria was set to get 30 per cent of infrastructure dollars over the next decade.
His budget put aside $50 million over the next four years for the Geelong rail project, which Prime Minister Scott Morrison expects to begin construction in 18 months.
Asked how works could begin without further funding, Mr Morrison said the project wouldn't be held back.
"If we are in a position to start earlier we will," he told ABC Melbourne radio.
State opposition and Liberal leader Michael O'Brien championed his federal colleague's fiscal plan, saying it was "the biggest spending federal budget in Victoria (in) my political memory".
"Daniel Andrews is like the bloke that gets diamonds in his Christmas stocking and complains there isn't gold there as well," he told reporters.
However, Mr O'Brien would not be drawn on whether the budget was enough to save federal Liberal seats in Victoria, where the party received a thrashing at November's state election.
"I don't know, we'll see whenever the election's announced I suppose," he said.
"Politics is a tough business but as we saw in NSW good governments with good messages can get re-elected."
Overall, Tuesday's budget allocated $6.2 billion for new infrastructure projects in Victoria.
It includes $1.1 billion for suburban roads upgrades and $700 million to duplicate rail tracks from South Geelong to Waurn Ponds.
