Scott Morrison said infrastructure commitments would be made but would neither confirm nor deny the claims

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The Turnbull government was planning to drip-feed announcements from a $7.6bn roads and rail package in the run-up to the election, with major projects planned for key marginal seats.

The leaked list of projects, reported by the Herald Sun, shows roughly $1.6bn was planned for Queensland electorates – held by Coalition MPs who voted against Turnbull in last month’s leadership spill, including Peter Dutton, George Christensen and Michelle Landry – in a bid to save their seats.

The leaking of the list will deny the Morrison government of some scheduled good news stories in the run-up to the election.

The prime minister, Scott Morrison, has neither denied nor confirmed the story.

When asked about the list on Melbourne’s 3AW radio, Morrison said: “[If] they think they’ve got a story, they can stack it up.”

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The leaked list shows most of the infrastructure projects will occur in Queensland, where the Coalition is struggling to fend off One Nation. However, New South Wales will receive the lion’s share of planned infrastructure spending, given the value of the $3.5bn Western Sydney Rail project, which stretches across seven Labor-held seats. The list of projects includes:

Queensland:

$880m for the Rockhampton Ring Road, in the seat of Capricornia, held by the LNP’s Michelle Landry on a margin of 0.6%



on a margin of 0.6% $280m for the Mackay Ring Road Stage 2, in the seat of Dawson, held by the LNP’s George Christensen on a margin of 3.4%



on a margin of 3.4% $160m for the Linkfield Road Overpass at Carseldine, which stretches across the Petrie and Dickson electorates, held by the LNP’s Luke Howarth (1.7%) and the LNP’s Peter Dutton (2%)



(1.7%) and the LNP’s (2%) $180m for the Cairns Southern Access Stages, in the seat of Leichhardt, held by the LNP’s Warren Entsch on a margin of 4%



on a margin of 4% $112m for the Gold Coast Light Rail Broadbeach to Burleigh Heads, in the seat of McPherson, held by the LNP’s Karen Andrews on a margin of 11.6%.



New South Wales:



$3.5bn for the Western Sydney Rail (North-South Link), which stretches across seven ALP-held seats, including Lindsay, held by Emma Husar on a margin of 1.1%



South Australia:

$1.2bn for the North-South Corridor Adelaide (River Torrens to Glenelg Overpass), in the seat of Boothby, held by the Liberal’s Nicolle Flint , on a margin of 2.8%



, on a margin of 2.8% $185m for the Adelaide Tram Extension (Adelink)



Victoria:

$150m for Geelong, as part of the government’s City Deal Fund, with the main beneficiary to be the seat of Corangamite, held by the Liberal’s Sarah Henderson on a margin of 0.3%



Northern Territory:

$100m for Darwin, as part of the government’s City Deal Fund, in the seat of Solomon, held by the ALP’s Luke Gosling on a margin of 6%



Victoria, Australian Capital Territory, New South Wales:

$1.5bn for pre-construction for high-speed rail connecting Newcastle, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne

Morrison would not deny the story on Monday, telling 3AW’s Neil Mitchell that Victoria would receive billions of dollars in infrastructure funding over the next 10 years. Mitchell asked Morrison if the story was wrong at least, and Morrison avoided the question.

“What I will say is infrastructure commitments by my government will be made by me and they will be a reality when I announce them,” he said.

Mitchell said he’d take that as a yes, but Morrison said Mitchell couldn’t do that.

“No, I don’t think you can,” he said. “What I’m saying is the infrastructure commitments my government makes are decisions that I will take – and I’ve been in the job, as you say, for 11 days.”

Anthony Albanese, the shadow minister for infrastructure, said the story exposes deep divisions within the Morrison-Turnbull-Abbott government.

“[They] are now derailing its attempts to play catch-up on rail and road investment following years of cuts and neglect,” he said.

“The leak to the Herald Sun of a list of the government’s infrastructure project budget decisions, taken but not announced, is a major embarrassment for prime minister Scott Morrison and his rabble of a government, which has an abysmal record when it comes to nation building.

“Federal infrastructure grants to the states will fall off a cliff over the next four years, from $8bn in 20217-18 to $4.5bn in 2021-22.

“In this year’s budget, the government tried to hide its cuts behind promises of new projects in major cities. But none of the money was new and 85% of it won’t be spent for at least four years.”