Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visited the marginal seat of Latrobe yesterday, enjoying the scenery of the Dandenong Ranges and stopping by tourist attraction Puffing Billy. It was a great picture opportunity, and a chance for the government to commit $6.5 million to the novelty train ride that doesn’t really go anywhere.

The pictures are lovely and may swing a few voters on Melbourne’s outskirts, but voters using Melbourne’s trains that actually get them from A to B are left scratching their heads. The government has parted with just $10 million for the Melbourne Metro Rail project — a $10 billion rail tunnel the Victorian government has committed to fund on its own after getting crickets from Canberra. The government has already been criticised for prioritising outdated technology when it comes to the NBN, and it’s not a great look now.