$100b Promised for Infrastructure Ahead of Election
10 April 2019
The government has moved to put infrastructure front and centre of the election campaign, unveiling a record $100 billion in funding for road and rail projects over the next decade.
The $100 billion figure announced in Tuesday’s budget is up almost 30 per cent from the $75 billion over 10 years announced in last year’s budget.
The move to 10-year funding agreements – well beyond the traditional four-year budget cycle – has allowed Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to announce the record figure in Tuesday’s budget.
Apart from the $2 billion Melbourne-to-Geelong fast-rail, Victoria will receive another $6.2 billion. This includes $1.1 billion for suburban road upgrades, $700 million for the South Geelong-to-Warun Ponds rail, $360 million for the final stage of the Western Highway duplication, almost $400 million from the Urban Congestion Fund and $490 million for roads of strategic importance.
The infrastructure boom is expected to generate thousands of new jobs across Melbourne/Victoria and thousands more services-related jobs for decades to come.
