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The vast majority of the tens of billions of dollars the Coalition has vowed to funnel into "congestion busting" road and rail projects will not be spent until after the next federal election, prompting criticism that the Morrison government is claiming credit for infrastructure it may never deliver. A breakdown of $30 billion in new infrastructure spending announced in the budget shows just 30 per cent is earmarked to be handed out over the next four years, with the spending not scheduled to peak until 2024 - well beyond the forward estimates and far past the next federal poll due in 2022. Handing down his first budget on April 2, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg declared "cranes, hard hats and heavy machinery" would soon be seen across Australia as part of a government-funded building plan designed to boost the economy and ease congestion. "We know you want to be there for the school drop off, to help the kids with their homework and spend more time together at the dinner table," he said. But in NSW alone, at least 80 per cent of the $7.2 billion in new funding will not be spent in the next four years. The government plans to spend $500 million on the Princes Highway through the critical marginal seat of Gilmore on the NSW south coast in an announcement Liberal candidate Warren Mundine praised as a "really good commitment" to upgrade the notorious highway in conjunction with the state government "over the next few years". But the budget fine print shows 90 per cent of that federal funding is only slated to be spent from 2023, including $50 million as far out as 2028. A pledge to sink $400 million into projects along the Newell Highway - which connects Victoria, Queensland and NSW - won't kick in until 2024. And only $50 million of a $1.6 billion extension of the M1 to Raymond Terrace will be spent over the next four years. Victorian commuters who were promised $6 billion in the budget for road and rail extensions will have a four-year wait before 70 per cent of the funding starts to be rolled out. Signs have already gone up announcing plans for a $2 billion very fast train connecting Geelong to Melbourne but just $50 million is earmarked to be spent by 2023-24. None of the $700 million slated for an upgrade to the rail line between South Geelong and Waurn Ponds is pencilled in to be spent before 2024-25 and motorists hoping to enjoy the $360 million duplication of the Western Highway between Ararat and Stawell will have to wait until 2026-27 before it is finished. A spokesman for Infrastructure Minister Michael McCormack defended the long timeline for many of the freshly announced projects, saying they would take time to get right. "The government has a 10-year infrastructure pipeline recognising that major projects take many years to plan, design and deliver," he said. "A 10-year pipeline provides certainty for state governments and industry about where the Australian government will be investing over the longer term, giving them the certainty to do necessary preparatory work and to make investments in new capacity and workforce." The spokesman said if states could deliver the projects faster then the funding would be paid sooner. The government used the budget to argue it was spending $100 billion over 10 years to deal with Australia's infrastructure problems, but the budget documents show much of that has been pushed well into the future. In Queensland, 65 per cent of funding won't flow in the next four years and only 20 per cent of the money promised to South Australia will be handed over in that period. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has already announced a string of small-scale projects including roundabouts and commuter car parks at railway stations. But the funding for these have been spread out over the next three years, and will depend on state and local governments finding suitable locations and possibly cash. In several cases, the federal government has capped the planned spending without knowing the exact cost of what it has proposed. Labor infrastructure spokesman Anthony Albanese said the figures showed the government was making big promises through inflated timelines. "The more you look at this smoke-and-mirrors budget the more it looks like a pre-election con job," he said. "The bulk of the promised infrastructure funding won't flow for at least four years. You would have to re-elect the Liberals twice more to see any money because it has been pushed off into the never-never." The ALP has picked up on how far forward some of the projects are planned. At the weekend it announced plans to bring forward $60 million worth of work across two important NSW Central Coast marginal electorates. Mr Albanese said Labor planned to bring forward projects where possible. - SMH/The Age

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