Treasurer Joe Hockey says Australia is ''running out of time'' to build a new economy and tackle infrastructure bottlenecks, as he outlined his vision for the federal government to take on some of the investment risk that deters the private sector.

In an exclusive interview with Fairfax Media, Mr Hockey said the government had identified up to $130 billion in state and federally owned assets that could be sold to raise capital and reinvest in new projects including airports, roads, rail and ports.

The Treasurer said he was determined to spur private-sector investment in infrastructure and said big superannuation funds had complained to him that ''there aren't enough products in Australia to invest in''.

He said he wanted to ''lift the tide for everyone'' and praised previous Victorian governments for having made more progress than others in privatising state assets.