PM commits further $1.5B for infrastructure construction

A Brisbane-Melbourne inland rail link and an underwater electricity connection linking Tasmania and Victoria are among key infrastructure projects that will be fast tracked as part of the Federal Government’s post COVID-19 economy recovery plan.

Today, Prime Minister Scott Morison announced a $1.5 billion boost to the infrastructure construction sector to kick start shovel ready projects that he anticipates will create 66,000 direct and indirect jobs.

As part of the package, $1 billion will go towards fast tracking the priority projects while $500 million will be used for road safety works.

“This is an important opportunity to make our roads safer right across the country, not just in rural and regional areas where it is critically important but also in other parts of the country,” Prime Minister Morrison said.

Among the projects on the table fast tracked for approval include:

“The result being we will have brought forward or provided additional funding of $9.3 billion in infrastructure investment in just the past eight months,” Prime Minister Morrison added.

He said the Government is also working on improving the approvals processes for building projects on both state and Federal Government levels.

“One area in which the Commonwealth has a direct regulatory role for relevant projects is through approvals under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999,” he said.

In 2019, approval decisions took 90 days on average and costed the industry over $300 million that year, according to departmental estimates.

The Commonwealth has managed to reduce the approvals time frame to 40 today and hopes to do more.

“Our goal is to cut these times by a further 25 per cent by the end of this year – to 30 days for major projects,” Prime Minister Morrison said.

“Ultimately, our objective is the streamlining of Commonwealth and state processes to a point of ‘single touch approvals’.”

The funding boost announced today was the latest in a series of measures designed to stimulate activity in a sector in freefall. Last week, the Government announced the HomeBuilder scheme to help move the needle on residential construction.

In April, the construction sector recorded one of its weakest months in recent history, as reported by the Australian Industry Group, with activity levels plunging to record lows.