The government has spent just $2.2m of a $3.5bn fund designed to tackle ‘immediate priorities’, the opposition says

This article is more than 11 months old

This article is more than 11 months old

The Morrison government has spent just $2.2m of a $3.5bn fund designed to tackle “immediate priorities” in regional infrastructure, with construction yet to begin on 98% of projects identified under the ‘roads of strategic importance’ initiative.

Announced in the last budget by Michael McCormack, as part of the “significant infrastructure transport projects”, the roads of strategic importance program identified four “immediate priorities” to help upgrade key corridors in regional Australia, for tourism, freight and resource transportation.

But in response to a question on notice from the Labor senator Murray Watt, construction has begun on just one project, which was not included in the original list of immediate priorities.

The government listed $1.5bn for northern Australia, $400m for regional highways in Tasmania, $220m for a Western Australian bypass and $100m in additional funds for the Barton highway between the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales. Just $2.2m has been paid out to the Tasmanian government, the government has confirmed.

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The shadow infrastructure minister, Catherine King, said the delay was part of a pattern of infrastructure underspend established by the Coalition government since it came to power six years ago.

“None of the ROSI ‘immediate priorities’ are underway and not a cent was spent on mainland Australian roads in all of 2018-19,” she said in a statement.

“With just $70.8 million allocated from ROSI for all of 2019-20, it just shows Scott Morrison’s infrastructure program is all on the never never.”

“The Queensland and NSW Governments have flagged a number of options for infrastructure fast-track – what will it take for Scott Morrison to actually get on with it?”

It’s one of the issues Labor plans on pursuing during Senate budget estimates which begin this week.

Infrastructure Australia recently warned $600bn in new spending was needed over the next 15 years to ensure the nation’s infrastructure kept pace with its growth.

In the last budget, the Morrison government announced $100bn would be spent on infrastructure, a figure McCormack has taken to trumpeting, without the caveat the spending is over a decade, with less than half to be spent over the next four years.

Treasurers from across the nation recently met with Josh Frydenberg in a bid to have infrastructure spending fast tracked, as the states and territories hunt for ways to stimulate their economies.

Frydenberg has called on the states to bring forward lower tier infrastructure projects, in the context of ‘boosting productivity’ in the face of a slowing national and world economy.