The Hon Catherine King MP
CATHERINE KING: Good morning, can I just start by paying my respect to Elders, past and present and I extend that respect to any First Nations people joining us today. Thank you to the Australian Local Government Association for the invitation to speak at this year’s National Local Roads, Transport & Infrastructure Congress, and to ALGA President Matt Burnett and his team for hosting us here in Bendigo.
I also acknowledge the Mayor of Bendigo, Andrea Metcalf – and all the mayors, councillors and colleagues who have joined us. It’s wonderful to see both familiar and new faces. As a Ballarat local, I’ll admit there’s a bit of friendly rivalry with Bendigo – but I’m very glad to be here today.
This month marks six months into the Albanese Government’s second term, and we remain as committed as ever to delivering the improvements our nation needs across its transport network and roads.
In our first term, we undertook significant reforms to the Infrastructure Investment Program to make it sustainable and effective for the long term. Our goal was to bring greater rigour, transparency, and purpose to how infrastructure decisions are made, thereby restoring confidence in the programs that will shape our country’s road and infrastructure future.
A key part of our reform agenda was reinstating Infrastructure Australia to its role as the Commonwealth’s primary infrastructure advisor. We strengthened IA’s focus on project evaluation and strategic investment, and its role supporting a more targeted, transparent and accountable infrastructure pipeline through each Budget cycle. Our aim is to ensure that every dollar of public investment delivers maximum benefit to our communities, enhances productivity and supports Australia’s long-term growth.
Another significant step was the Independent Strategic Review conducted during our first term. The Review revealed that the pipeline of projects promised was not going to be able to be delivered without an additional $33 billion in Commonwealth funding alone. State governments would also have to find additional money, as would local governments with other projects there. The Review informed the necessary changes to establish a viable, long-term pipeline of infrastructure investment over the coming decade.
We also released the Infrastructure Policy Statement, which sets out three guiding principles to underpin our decision-making: Productivity, including resilience, liveability, and sustainability.
Since adopting these principles, we have committed to co-investing in projects that respond to our growing population and increasing demands on our transport systems. This way, we will ensure that our infrastructure program remains affordable and sustainable into the future. We are not quite there yet, but we have made significant progress.
Under our reforms, more money than ever before is being invested in infrastructure across the country. Right now, the Commonwealth investment in infrastructure is the largest Australia has ever seen, with a ten-year pipeline now worth more than $120 billion. Currently, $36.3 billion is allocated to funding 354 active regional projects, with a further $11.6 billion for projects spanning both urban and regional areas.
Over the next decade, around $27 billion is being invested directly or indirectly in road building initiatives – building the infrastructure that keeps communities connected and resilient. These investments are being realised right across the nation – such as the $7.2 billion in road safety improvements along the Bruce Highway, improving safety and productivity for Queenslanders and the country as a whole. And the $2.1 billion to deliver important safety and capacity building upgrades along the Western Freeway, and the $1.8 billion to upgrade the M1 Pacific Motorway Extension to Raymond Terrace.
These are just a few examples of the work the Commonwealth is co-investing in. Our guiding principles ensure our investments are not just about building roads, but about building stronger regions – places that can support growth and thrive into the future.
Targeted, well-planned investment that also creates opportunity. To connect people to jobs, goods to markets and communities to one another.
Around 350,000 Australians are employed across our road and rail transport sectors. It’s an industry that delivers far more than roads and rail lines – it drives our future, our productivity, and our growth, and puts bread on the table of families around the country. That’s why building a resilient and productive transport systems sits at the heart of my agenda.
Resilience in our transport network means keeping Australia connected – no matter what challenges we face. It’s about ensuring the bridges, roads and networks that link our communities remain open, reliable and safe.
Local governments are of course at the forefront of that – you know your communities, which roads are prone to flooding, although that has been changing over time; which bridges need reinforcement and which upgrades will make the difference in your communities. Your work defines the strength of our communities, and we’re committed to giving you the tools, resources and certainty to build for the future.
We’re not just about delivering projects – we’re building the infrastructure that sustains communities, supports industry and secures the future. You are a critical component of our local transport systems, helping to ensure safety, access and connectivity in every corner of the community. That’s why the Albanese Government continues to invest directly with councils – because strong local governments build stronger, more resilient roads.
Two years ago, I announced that funding under the Roads to Recovery program would double through staged increases from $500 million to $1 billion per year, reaching $1 billion in 2027-28, and stay there. This funding is now permanently embedded in the Federal Budget – providing that certainty for every single Council. You don't have to come to the Commonwealth every single year, it is now part of the baseline of the Commonwealth's Budget. The beauty of Roads to Recovery is, of course, that it gives flexible funding for you to determine your local priorities.
In 2025-26, we will deliver $799 million under the program - $300 million more than what the previous government had planned. By 2027-28, local governments will receive half a billion dollars more each year than had previously been budgeted for. This long-term certainty allows you to plan strategically, and to invest in projects that deliver real safety and economic benefits, and be able to actually have a capital works program, not just for each and every single budget, but for future budgets to come.
We’ve also strengthened our support through the Safer Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program – a $200 million per year initiative that replaces and expands the Bridges Renewal and Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity programs. They were both application based, this remains application based, but it's very much focused on local councils. It focuses on projects that build resilience and sustainability, helping councils address emerging infrastructure needs. Of the 52 projects funded so far, 51 are being led by local councils – a strong demonstration of that partnership in action. We’re expecting the next round of approved projects under the program to be announced by the end of the year, that rests now with Minister Kristy McBain, and then a further round is currently under assessment, with a new round opening for applications on 1 December.
Road safety is an important priority for all of us. It is a shared responsibility. That’s why we’ve also boosted funding for the Black Spots Program from $110 million to $150 million each and every year. Again, it is application based, and I encourage, when we came to office, we were not actually spending the$110 million each and every year, which seemed to me unbelievable, that we needed to need to actually get that money out the door delivering projects. We're still not quite there yet. On the $150 million we've had some small underspend this year, but I'm really determined to get that down. Because every time we have a movement of funds into the next year, it means that money has not gone out to fix roads in our community. The program has reduced crashes by around 30 per cent at treated sites – saving lives and improving safety for every road user. In 2024-25 alone, 102 projects in rural, regional and remote Australia shared in $64 million of funding under this program and we’ll continue to work our way through to ensure that we get that money out the door.
On road safety, I do want to briefly address the recent discussion about reviewing default speed limits on regional and remote roads and where that’s come from. This is not a new idea. Reviewing these limits has been on the road safety agenda since at least 2018, when the National Party held this portfolio.
The 2018-2020 National Road Safety Action Plan identified this as its first priority action:
“Review speed limits on high risk regional and remote roads, in consultation with the community.”
The recent consultation was undertaken by the Office of Road Safety as part of its work gathering views from road safety experts, industry and the community - as they are required to do by all Infrastructure and Transport Ministers under the National Road Safety Strategy. Submissions closed just a few days ago, and thank you to all those that took part. This consultation will then inform the Federal Government as to whether the national road safety model code needs change. State and territory government have the legislative authority to set and adjust speed limits.
Our government remains firmly committed to improving road safety through investment, partnership and informed policy initiatives. We also recognise that maintaining our roads is just as important as building new ones.
We were surprised in coming to government that the indexation for national road maintenance funding was frozen in 2013. I took the opportunity in the in our Budget to now re-index maintenance funding for our national highway network. That has now been done and I backdated it. That means that supporting state and territory governments to maintain roads under that national land transport network is a key part of both boosting road resilience and keeping our communities connected. Well timed and frequent maintenance does deliver immediate benefits.
It helps reduce costs for road users, improving safety and extending the life of existing assets.
That’s why we’ve increased the national allocation for National Land Transport Maintenance from $350 million to $460 million in 2024-2025 – that was the first increase in almost a decade for road maintenance funding.
That money goes directly to state and territory governments specifically for maintenance of roads under the National Land Transport Network which are incredibly important for connecting communities. This delivers stability for states and territories and allows better planning for long-term maintenance programs. Because resilience isn’t just built through new projects – it’s built by looking after the infrastructure we already have. Maintaining our roads is an investment in reliability, safety and economic productivity for the communities who depend on them every day.
A resilient transport network relies heavily on financially sustainably councils. We've continued our commitment to Financial Assistance Grants, with more than $3.4 billion in untied funding for local councils in 2025-2026 alone, and continue to index it against population growth and CPI changes. To support immediate delivery of local priorities, we brought forward $1.7 billion of this funding into this financial year.
By contrast, I note the previous government froze indexation of Financial Assistance Grants in 2014 – stripping close to $1 billion from local councils and permanently reducing your funding base. I acknowledge that has had a lasting impact on councils. The reverberations of these decisions are still echoing in local government today.
It is hard to fix, but we are certainly working our way through that, and obviously the Roads to Recovery permanent funding was very much part of our response to trying to deal with that. That’s why we’ve asked the parliamentary Standing Committee on Regional Development, Infrastructure and Transport to continue the inquiry that we initiated last year into local government financial sustainability.
I'm sorry it took us a little longer, we were actually trying to see whether we could do a joint inquiry. And there's a bit of argy-bargy between that mysterious place, the Senate, as a House of Reps member, I don't always get quite how they work, but it just took us a little while, but now we've settled on that new House of Reps inquiry.
The inquiry examines funding frameworks, infrastructure needs and the service delivery challenges that councils face today. I look forward to the recommendations of the inquiry and discussions about how we foster a stronger future for all local councils across the country. I know many of you will take the opportunity to update the submissions you have already made.
The work I’ve outlined today represents just part of what’s happening across all levels of government to boost productivity and resilience in our transport networks. We are a government is very focused on not just making announcements about infrastructure, but actually delivering them. I hate to see, it's one of my worst bugbears, money sitting on my infrastructure investment pipeline that is not being spent today, building the roads that we need for tomorrow. Our focus remains on delivering projects that truly make a difference—building stronger, more resilient infrastructure that meets the evolving needs of our communities. Our reforms and our investments are aimed at creating a sustainable and productive transport network, supporting long-term economic growth, and enhancing the quality of life for all Australians. We are committed to working with local communities, industry and partners to ensure that every dollar spent delivers maximum value. Together, we will continue to build an infrastructure pipeline that is not only affordable and effective but also sustainable for generations to come. We are committed to achieving these goals.
Thank you to ALGA for bringing us together, and thank you to all of you – mayors, councillors and officers – for being here and the work you do every day.
INTERVIEWER: Some exciting announcements there, Minister, I'll take this seat so you can be closer to our audience, and we open the floor now to questions. I'm sure there'll be plenty of them. We have a number of microphones making their way to the hands in the air. Yes, sir. Thanks.
MIKE BODSWORTH: Hi, Minister. I'm Mike Bodsworth, the Mayor of Surf Coast Council, and I'm grateful to you for coming along this morning and for taking our questions as well. I've come today with a real focus on active transport, and I didn't hear anything about active transport in your address. We were really grateful for the national active transport fund of $25 million a year, but that's about 1/3 of 1% of federal roads funding annually, and yet we contrast that with the societal benefit of walking and cycling. And I'm wondering if you can comment on the disconnect between the amount of funding allocated to that federally and the bang for buck for active transport.
CATHERINE KING: Thanks very much for the question. You're in a beautiful part of Victoria. If anyone hasn't had a chance to visit down there, it is incredibly lovely to be able to go there. The $100 million active transport fund, I think the last time the Commonwealth even had an active transport fund was when my boss [Anthony Albanese] held this portfolio, and then it was $60 million dollars. I like to tell him that I've increased it substantially. I think now it was well over subscribed, because the demand is absolutely there for that. We haven't settled on whether we will have a further go at that. I think it is something that is worthwhile. I'm somewhat constrained, obviously everything has to be linked to the National Land Transport Act and what we fund under that pipeline, So that's why that active transport fund included, that it had to be part of actual active transport. There are a lot of beautiful projects that councils are looking for funding for, like mountain bike trails, for other sorts of transport opportunities that bring tourism opportunities, but really, this is about; how do you get people moving from train stations to home? How do you get them moving to school? How do you do that? So we're still considering whether we'd go and do an additional amount there, but that $100 million was something I was pretty proud of, but really was massively oversubscribed, so we're well aware that there is significant demand for that. So really that's a matter for our next budget next year, as to whether we do that, and I can convince colleagues of that as well.
DENIS TODD: Denis Todd Wurrumbungle Shire Council. The Inland Rail, do you intend to complete it? Or will you just let it linger on, like it is at the moment.
CATHERINE KING: Well, the Schott report was pretty damning, really. If you want to look at an infrastructure project that, pardon the pun, went off the rails, then the Schott report is really damning reading. The Commonwealth basically started a project – and you think about your own councils, and if you've got any council officers here, they'll be horrified – The Commonwealth started a project, not knowing we started building a project, not knowing where it was going to start and finish, not knowing what the actual costs were, not having any planning approvals in place for any of the project, and it has been really difficult to get it back into a form that now can be delivered sustainably, and that's been really my focus. So what we did, we accepted all of the Schott report's recommendations. I again, I highly commend it to you, it was a very good report, and basically what it said is that you should concentrate first on getting the rail line to Parkes, and put energy and effort into doing that, which will open by 2027. That will then start to see revenue flow into Inland Rail for the first time, because it will then open up the east-west corridor, allow freight from Inland Rail into the Port of Newcastle and into the Port of Botany and Newcastle. And then there's some question mark over whether there's a rail spur to Gladstone that some private operators want to do. In terms of it beyond Parkes, we are now going through all of the planning approvals in Queensland in particular, we don't have any planning approvals currently for that. We're also, as part of the Schott review, we're required to do a very deep dive into the actual costs. So we've had an actuary looking at all of those, and we'll make further announcements. But at the moment, we don't have any planning approval beyond that. The sod turn on Beveridge Intermodal in Victoria is not too far away. We've had an investigation into an intermodal of Parkes. We're still working with the Queensland Government in relation to Ebenezer and what we do, particularly getting it off, down the range in Toowoomba. But we'll have more to say about the project as we get some more certainty about that.
LENORE WYATT: Good morning, Minister, I just want to start by saying a huge thank you. Thank you for your speech and all the things that you were listing there that are relevant to us as councils. I want to thank you for embedding Roads to Recovery. My name is Lenore Wyatt. I'm the Deputy Mayor from a place up in far north Queensland, which is currently 32 degrees, I must say. And so we're a little bit cold here, and we in Queensland, we have a priority, which is we ask that we increase the FA grants, obviously, to 1%. But I'm listening to what you're saying, and I'm listening to the amounts that risen by. I'm listening also to the fact that you are increasing them as they go along. And I would love to see an economist tell me the money that you're giving in other areas towards roads, how that equates to what we're missing? I suppose what they're saying the gap is in FA grants. So really, it's just about thanking you, and also I thank you for the tone of your speech. I've heard many politicians speak, and all they ever say is the previous government, the previous government. They've left me with this. They've left me with that. And I must say, I didn't hear that in your speech. You did reference, but there was, there was none of that. It's always, I think the whole idea is about being positive moving forward and not worrying about what happened in the past. So huge thank you.
CATHERINE KING: Okay, there's a little bit in that, but thank you, that's very kind of you. I think one of the things that we don't even have a handle on federally, is that how much money federally does go to local government. It's one of the things the inquiry really does need to look at in depth. We know clearly financial assistance grants, so we can measure those and the formula that they have been based on. You know that may be one of the things in your submissions that you want to look at or talk about, because obviously it has a roads component in the way in which the formula is calculated. Because it's untied, I don't think you have to spend it on roads, but it is calculated, Roads to Recovery you must spend on roads. So that's important, and so we can set line of sight of that. We're currently spending now in community infrastructure. I haven't got the final, final figure, but it's well over a billion dollars at the moment, just in one financial a year alone, in community infrastructure, in local government. So the government is already is doing that, and that's ranging from active transport projects, but right the way through to aquatic centres, to sporting facilities, arts facilities, a whole range of senior citizens facilities. There's a lot of that, and that's through a range of programs, whether it's a Growing Regions program, through the election 2022 and 2025 election commitments, legacy grant programs that are still community development grants, the BBRF. So there's a whole lot of that, and that's all really sort of still coming out as well. Then, of course, there is the money that comes from emergency relief, which none of us want to have to spend, but we do. That's been substantially growing, and the amount the Commonwealth is spending on that because of, as we know, the disasters that are occurring and increasingly so. So there's that as well. Then there are also some councils that do service delivery on behalf of aged care and health. So we actually don't have a really good handle on just how much money across all portfolios it's got. I suspect it's over 1%. And so that's a challenge in terms of, if we say, okay, we're going to do 1% then does that mean the others shrink back again? So I don't think anyone would want that to be the case. So part of the job with the inquiry is to really try and say, is what's actually happened, but also to sort of understand, has state money been shrinking back? I hear anecdotally that it has, but I don't know. So I think there's a bit of that, trying to get a bit more of a handle on what we’re actually spending to start with, and then actually starting to think about, what's the Commonwealth's role. What's the Commonwealth's responsibility? Largely, what we are looking to local government to do is to deliver Commonwealth priorities, whether that be in transport, whether that be in housing, whether that be in health and aged care. So that's really the focus that we've got. How do we how do we partner with local government to get you to assist us to deliver on the priorities that we have. I think the Housing Support Program that also is delivering, I didn't mention that one, that's delivering quite a lot. I think it's over $500 million into local councils as well. So if you add all of that up, it's quite a quite a lot that now sits with Minister Clare O'Neil. So we have to sort of do a cross portfolio audit of all of that first.
INGRID JOHNSTON: Hello Ingrid Johnston from the Australasian College of Road Safety. There was an inquiry into the failure of the previous road safety strategy, which recommended that we needed about $3 billion annually invested in road safety, not just for building new roads, but actually for safety improvements. With us fast approaching a fifth year in a row of increasing trauma rates, is it time to revisit that recommendation?
CATHERINE KING: Well, we've just put $7.2 billion into road safety initiatives on the Bruce Highway, which had in the last year, 41 deaths on it in 2024 alone, on that one road. So we are investing more in road safety infrastructure, including, so most of that money will go to significant road safety improvements. It is a shared responsibility. It's not one level of government alone that can fix the road infrastructure. But I think equally, we have to acknowledge that in road safety, as you know, with the safer systems approach, there is what we do with our cars, there's what we do with our roads, but there's also what happens with people. The safest roads in the in the country, we can't build them everywhere, but we can certainly try and build the safest roads in the country. But if people are still going to speed on them, if still people are still going to engage in drug taking activity, if people are still going to do dangerous driving, it's a really big challenge. And I think that, to me, is one of the areas that is really still quite underdone, and we just haven't cracked it. How do we actually change driver behaviour? And what's happening, we can put more money in roads. We are doing that, but I think that driver behaviour piece and enforcement, I think, is really where we're going to get, where we have to concentrate.
GARNER SMITH: Good morning, Minister. My name's Garner Smith. I'm Mayor of Gannawarra Shire, which is about an hour north of here, still in Victoria. I just want to comment on you mentioned the default speed limit, and do a look at that, which would have quite serious impacts for us, because we're a rural area. I mean, we've sort of had this cloud hanging over us for a while, and I mean, it always brings out the question of having car worthy roads. We worry about roadworthy cars, but we've got to have car worthy roads, and that has been a big issue for us in Victoria, and one of the reasons that they sort of talked about, but what worries me a little bit is this one size fits all. You know, if we get a directive from the Federal Government, I don't know whether that's going to be appropriate for every local government area. And also, we had speakers during this forum. And some of you have said, well, we can just reduce the speed limit. And then others have said, well, that's a very simplistic approach. So my question is, if you are going to look at this seriously, are you going to allow local government to determine what's appropriate for their municipality? Because I think you know we understand what the road toll is, what the road trauma is in our municipality, and I'm actually not aware of very much. And also, if we do this, if you do go this path, are we able then just to simply sign all our roads and say it's 100 kilometres an hour, which will be a cost and burden on local government to actually put the signs up and then maintain them into the future, are we going to get compensated for that?
CATHERINE KING: Well, let's just talk about what's actually happening. The federal government doesn't set speed limits. There's what's called a model code of Australian road rules. And basically it says to states and territories, this is what we think are the best road rules for the country in terms of in terms of safety, largely, that's what they're designed to do. And it's up to states and territories to determine what they're going to pick and choose from that. Now that's a matter for states and territories. They have the legislative authority to do that. What the National Road Safety strategy did, and as I said, I know that it's been in the National Road state safety strategy, certainly it was there in 2018, well before I took the portfolio over, and there was discussions of it when I was the parliamentary secretary under Anthony for it as well. So that's really all that's being looked at, at the moment, should the model Australian road rules be changed? And then it will be up to states and territories if they then determine to change their road rules. If there's some in some areas, local government has some power to do that, then that retain you would retain that as well. So really, that's all that's being looked at, at the moment, should those model road rules be changed, and then that will be a matter for states and territories to do. And that's why there's consultation about it at the moment.
INTERVIEWER: I can't really take another question, but if you keep it very, very short, really, really short.
SOPHIE TORNEY: Hi, Sophie Torney, Mayor of Boroondara, we are an inner city Melbourne Council. And just a quick question, taking up Mike's question about active transport, we've got, you know, significant active transport opportunities to link Box Hill all the way through to Docklands. And just really keen to know how the federal government can help with that.
CATHERINE KING: Well, as I said, I think the previous active transport fund was oversubscribed. I don't think there's another round of it under that $100 million. That was the first and biggest contribution the Commonwealth made to that. There is, I have to go back and have a look at the rules, but I feel like under the Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program, there's some active transport components of that as well. So you can look to that, but whether we have another round, or whether we have a permanent active transport fund built into the budget, but it would still be application based, I think we got, like, billions of dollars-worth of applications, which shows the need is there, beyond what one level of government is probably going to be able to fund. So I think that's really a matter for the Budget, but I'm acutely conscious that it's really, critically important. We're seeing real benefits from the projects that are being funded through that program. I think you can also use some of your roads to recovery funding. We sort of changed some of the guidelines to acknowledge that really what we're trying to do is connect people and places. We can get in contact with you about that as well, but use the opportunities. The other thing we're seeing a lot of, which is great when we're funding really big road infrastructure, I've just been out to Western Sydney Airport and all of those new roads are all being built now with really significant pedestrian and cycleways actually built into the infrastructure in the first place, which is a much better idea for us to do when we're building new or improving roads, to actually do that from the start. So you're seeing a lot more of that as well, but understand there's a need. We'll work on it.