The Hon Catherine King MP
$685 million infrastructure boost for Tasmania
In the 2022-23 Federal Budget, the Australian Government is delivering on $685 million of election commitments for vital infrastructure projects in Tasmania.
The Government is investing $540 million to upgrade Tasmania’s important road corridors, including the Bass Highway, the Tasman Highway and the East and West Tamar Highways.
The Australian Government will work closely with the Tasmanian Government to target the highest-priority locations for the upgrades, which will improve safety and travel times.
The Budget will also commit up to $35 million for the TransLink transport hub at Launceston Airport.
The Budget will honour our election commitment to provide $60 million towards the upgrade of the runway at Hobart Airport.
We are working in partnership with the Tasmanian Government on the investments that deliver the best value for taxpayers’ dollars and the best outcomes for the people of Tasmania.
A BETTER WAY
The Albanese Government wants infrastructure that leaves a lasting legacy. Our first budget will honour the pledges we made to voters in urban and regional Australia while also managing the economy in an uncertain global environment.
The budget takes an important first step in ensuring the Commonwealth’s infrastructure spending is responsible, affordable and sustainable.
It also starts making up for nearly a decade of waste and missed opportunities.
The former Government made promises without ever thinking about how to deliver them, often not even talking to the state and territory government they would later rely on to partner with.
They promised car parks that could never be built, and also tripled the budget for Inland Rail and blew out the timetable.
They sidelined, ignored and then stacked the Infrastructure Australia Board with political appointments.
And for years they pretended money was in the budget for zombie projects such as the East-West link in Melbourne and the Perth Freight Link.
We are putting sense back into infrastructure planning and delivery.
We are once again making Infrastructure Australia the premier body to advise Australian governments on our significant infrastructure gaps and opportunities.
And we are cleaning up the Coalition’s mess in the Inland Rail project, and bringing transparency and accountability back into this critical macroeconomic portfolio.
INFRASTRUCTURE IN AN UNCERTAIN GLOBAL ECONOMIC CLIMATE
Infrastructure is an important driver of economic growth, productivity and skills in the regions and cities, but the Government was left with an unsustainable pipeline of projects designed purely to look good on paper but never be built.
Our first budget takes an important step to make our infrastructure pipeline more sustainable and to ensure we don’t further strain a sector already facing labour constraints, inflationary pressures and cost increases due to supply chain challenges.
The decisions we have made will ensure the sector is in a strong position to help buffer any global headwinds, and create a sustainable pathway for building the skills needed into the future.
They will also contribute to repairing the budget after the Coalition left Australia with a trillion dollars of debt.
Infrastructure is critical to building the nation we all want. Opportunity and connection come from good infrastructure. Making good decisions now is critical to making sure no one is held back and no one is left behind.
Comments attributed to Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese:
“Good infrastructure investment creates jobs, builds opportunity and unlocks economic growth and productivity.
“Resilient and reliable transport is the backbone of the nation.
“Through its first Budget, our Government is getting on with the job working collaboratively with the states, territories and across local government to deliver the projects that will make a real difference to the lives of all Australians.”
Comments attributable to Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government Minister Catherine King:
“Good roads are the lifeblood of communities across Tasmania – and improving safety and travel time is really important for local families and the economy.
“Our Government will upgrade key road corridors across the state, getting locals home more safely and more quickly.
“We will work in partnership with the Tasmanian and local governments to deliver these commitments, and we will ensure we consider Hobart’s congestion needs in our overall approach to road funding in Tasmania.”