Budget 2021: Job-creation hopes riding on roads, rail

An extra $15.2bn in commitments for infrastructure projects ­designed to bolster as many as 30,000 jobs have been ­detailed by the government.

Earthmovers carve out the runway as works continue at the Western Sydney International Airport. Picture: John Appleyard

An extra $15.2bn in commitments for infrastructure projects ­designed to create as many as 30,000 jobs across Australia and shore-up Coalition votes in the cities and regions have been ­detailed by the Morrison government.

They will lift the 10-year ­national infrastructure pipeline to $110bn as the government ­attempts to balance the pandemic recovery with the need to cater for growing cities and economically challenged regions.

The $15.2bn shared across the country is for roads, rail and water projects and will feature in the next federal election campaign.

In Victoria, the commonwealth is still offering $4bn for the first state government to invest in the stalled East West Link road project linking eastern Melbourne and the city’s west, as well as the north. The project was dumped by the Andrews government after the 2014 state election.

The federal funds announced on Tuesday are on top of existing investment in projects including the Western Sydney International Airport, the Sydney Metro Western Sydney Airport and the Melbourne Airport Rail Link.

Deputy Prime Minister ­Michael McCormack said more than 220 federal projects were under way, with an ability to support an estimated 100,000 jobs.

The government will commit up to $2bn to deliver a large-scale freight terminal in Melbourne, aimed at capitalising on inland rail. In NSW, $2bn will be poured into the Great Western Highway upgrade between Katoomba and Lithgow.

“This is part of the government’s commitment to funding transformational infrastructure to increase the productivity, ­efficiency and capacity of the ­national freight network,” Mr McCormack said.

“This $110bn, 10-year infrastructure pipeline forms part of our economic recovery plan and will secure Australia’s world-leading economic recovery by delivering nation-building infrastructure projects, water security to inland Australia, meeting our national freight challenge and getting Australians home sooner and safer.”

The pandemic has sparked ­demands from the private sector for significant input from state and federal governments to shore up the economy. However, Tuesday’s budget offers numbers that are significantly stronger than most were predicting a year ago, when the Victorian pandemic lockdown stalled the national economic recovery.

Other new funding included an extra $400m for the Bruce Highway in Queensland, $240m for grade separations in WA and $160m for the Truro Bypass in South Australia.

The government has added $1bn for its $3bn road safety program, with about 700 projects ­already approved.

An extra $1bn will be added to local roads and community infrastructure, and a further $260m to help create a national water grid. The projects to benefit from the $15.2bn funding increase will ­inevitably be used by the Coalition to help fight the next election, which is expected within a year.

NSW will receive an extra $3bn for projects in 2021-22, roughly the same as Victoria, and $1.6bn will be handed to Queensland. WA gets an extra $1.3bn and Tasmania $322m. South Australia will get $3.2bn for this next budget year, predominantly for roads. Over the 10-year pipeline the three most populous states dominate funding.

Mr McCormack said the infrastructure package was in part about reducing the horrific cost of road accidents. He estimated the cost to the national economy to be as high as $30bn a year.

“But this figure is far outstripped by the immeasurable suffering of families impacted by road deaths and serious injuries,” he said.

“Future (funding) tranches will continue installing lifesaving road safety upgrades to prevent fatal and serious crashes across all states and territories.

“The Office of Road Safety will continue to play a significant role in improving road safety in Australia and the budget will provide $5.1m of new funding over four years to support this important work.”