Speech to Roads Australia 2024 Transforming Transport summit

Acknowledgement of country

Thank you for your kind introduction and for having me here today.

I begin by acknowledging the Traditional Custodians of this land – the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation.

I pay my respects to their Elders past and present and I extend that respect to any First Nations people joining us today.

Roads and transport networks reach into the very heart of every community around Australia and they interact with the landscapes and regions that First Nations communities have cared for time immemorial.

It is only right that we acknowledge their contributions at conferences like this and all across this vital industry.

Introduction

This month marks the second anniversary of the Albanese Government – a Government that is dedicated to improving investment in our transport networks and our roads.

Today, the Commonwealth is investing more money in infrastructure across Australia than at any point in our history – with the 10-year pipeline now sitting at over $120 billion.

We are jointly funding more than 440 major projects across the nation, including 90 here in Victoria, plus about 40 projects along the Princes and Western highway corridors.

These investments include nation shaping projects which support a range of economic and social objectives, including regional connectivity, liveability and safety.

Here in this state, that includes our commitments to major projects like North East Link in Melbourne and Stage 2 of the Barwon Heads Road Upgrade on the Bellarine.

Investments like this are echoed right the way across the nation.

We are investing $7.7 billion in the North-South Corridor in Adelaide and $1.7 billion in the M1 Pacific Motorway Extension to Raymond Terrace in the Hunter. 

We are investing over $10 billion in the Bruce Highway, which runs up and down Queensland’s coast, and $629 million in the New Bridgewater Bridge in Hobart.

We are a government that is building things.

Underlining that fact, it was only last month BITRE released its most recent quarterly infrastructure construction figures, closing out the 2023 calendar year.

These figures show that public sector expenditure on road construction was $18.8 billion for the 12 months to December 2023.

That was an increase of 18 per cent on the previous calendar year and was the highest level of spending on roads ever achieved in Australia.

I know this is a roads conference, but it would be remiss if I did not also mention that we broke the record for public expenditure on rail, with $13.4 billion spent too. 

We try not to play favourites with our transport modes!

We are making these investments because we know that better roads boost efficiency, productivity and safety.

Better roads get us home quickly and safely, they keep trucks moving, and they get goods to market.

But not only are we investing more in roads and infrastructure, we are making serious reforms to improve safety and reforming the way we invest.

Reform journey

Our government was elected on a platform of reforming infrastructure investment and giving Australians confidence that projects are selected based on genuine community need.

That is exactly what we have done.

The first of those major reforms passed Parliament in early December, when we restored Infrastructure Australia to its role as the Commonwealth’s principal infrastructure adviser.

These reforms defined IA’s mandate, improving the evaluation of infrastructure proposals, and refining the products IA delivers to better support government investment objectives – including ensuring a more targeted Infrastructure Priority List.

We have seen this pay dividends through this current budget cycle, with IA’s advice proving invaluable in identifying and selecting projects for investment.

It might surprise you to know this, but this is the first budget cycle in which IA has played a formal part in the budget cycle. 

Then, soon after that conference, I released Dr Kerry Schott’s report into the governance and delivery of Inland Rail.

For those of you who read it, you would know that it was perhaps the most damning indictment you could read about a major infrastructure project.

I know that this is a roads conference, but the findings remain instructive.

Dr Schott found that, “Somewhat surprisingly the project has commenced delivery without knowing where it will start or finish”, adding that the final date and cost remained uncertain, because of a lack of confidence in the latest cost estimates.

It is a clear example of what not to do.

It was the example of this, along with some other projects in our infrastructure investment pipeline, that led me to undertake the next step of our reform agenda, when I initiated an Independent Strategic Review of all the Commonwealth’s investments.

This was a landmark step in ensuring that the Commonwealth’s land transport infrastructure pipeline is sustainable and fit for purpose.

The independent review confirmed that the pipeline of infrastructure projects we inherited from our predecessors was unaffordable and undeliverable.

It found that the mix of large and small-scale projects clogging the pipeline had led to unprecedented and unsustainable pressures on construction materials and skilled labour. 

The review found there has been $33 billion worth of cost blowouts and that without significant changes, the Commonwealth would be unable to commit to any new projects for ten years.

Informed by the recommendations of the review, and following consultation with state and territory governments, in November we made difficult but necessary changes to the infrastructure pipeline we inherited. 

This includes reshaping how the Commonwealth funds projects, returning to a preference of 50:50 funding with the states and territories for future investments, so both levels of government carry an equal share of both the benefits and the risks, particularly when it comes to properly scoping projects to minimise unexpected cost escalations.

These were not easy decisions to make, but they were absolutely necessary to put the pipeline on a sustainable footing and take pressure off inflation.

It was these hard decisions that meant on November last year, I could announce Roads to Recovery funding will increase progressively from $500 million to $1 billion per year – giving every single council across Australia more money to spend upgrading local roads – and Black Spot funding will also gradually increase from $110 million to $150 million per year, making our road network safer and more reliable.

At the same time, I also announced we would further improve safety – particularly for our freight vehicles – by merging the Heavy Vehicle Safety and Productivity Program and the Bridges Renewal Program into a new Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program – with the funding allocated to those programs to increase to $200 million available per year, up from the current $150 million.

And it was exactly those hard decisions that have allowed us to contribute the extra $6.8 billion to help cover cost pressures on major projects across the country, as well as enabling us to provide funding for important projects at the upcoming budget.

And, while I can’t give away now everything that will be announced in the Budget, I can confirm that those hard decisions mean we will be announcing investments in new road and rail projects across the country.

These projects, in every state and territory, will deliver better transport networks for Australians.

Importantly, each of these investments have been selected following advice from Infrastructure Australia and consideration of our Infrastructure Policy Statement.

We know that these projects are the right projects and will deliver better outcomes for Australians.

We can make these investments now because of the hard work our Government has undertaken over the past two years to clean up the infrastructure pipeline.

Road Safety Data

Now, the upcoming Budget won’t only contain more infrastructure investment, it will continue our reform journey, this time in the space of road safety.

I know that this is a topic of central interest to you, and I congratulate you on the release today of your new report into the risks posed to our roadworkers from drivers speeding through construction zones.

While I look forward to seeing the conversation that report drives, I can today announce that our Government is responding to the increase in road trauma with two new actions – first, our Budget will include a $21 million-dollar investment in the National Road Safety Data Hub.

This investment will ensure that the Hub can be used effectively by everyone, including decision makers and will continue the work of harmonising the important data provided by state and territories.

A clear picture, underpinned by data, about where best to target road safety funding will save lives and ensure we are investing in the projects that will make the biggest difference.

States and territories, researchers and stakeholders, as well as the general public, will also benefit from increased access to national datasets.

Second, we will seek to improve data sharing from the states through our upcoming federation funding agreement negotiations.

An absence of consistent road safety data was one of the issues raised in the Halton review of the National Partnership Agreement on Land Transport Infrastructure, which I commissioned and received last year.

I thank Professor Jane Halton for that work.

Following that report, I can confirm that, for the first time, the Commonwealth will seek to include a provision in this negotiated agreement with the states, that will create a requirement for the provision of a nationally consistent data set.

I know too that this is something that many stakeholders, including the Australian Automobile Association, have been calling for, and it was one of the recommendations of the Halton review of National Partnership Agreement, which I commissioned and received last year. 

This is the first opportunity our government has had to act on data through these intergovernmental agreements.

We are committed to this – I encourage the states now to do the same.

Conclusion

With all of that said, thank you very much for the opportunity to join you today, and now let’s get to the discussion.