The Australian government has committed to hundreds of infrastructure projects around the country, mostly road and rail projects.
However, as many as 250 projects that have yet to begin construction may be scrapped or delayed as a cost-saving measure to pay for at least $33bn in cost overruns.
But any cutbacks to planned projects won’t come without a fight. While the Albanese government has its eye on the short-term budget bottom line, the states are looking further afield to burgeoning populations and an infrastructure pipeline already clogged with delayed projects.
Here, you can see the full list of infrastructure projects listed in the 2023-24 federal budget, excluding those that have already been completed. You can search the list by council name or local government area to see which projects are planned, or underway in your region.
The list of projects on the chopping block is still unknown but the infrastructure minister, Catherine King’s response to the review into the infrastructure pipeline is due any day.
The states and territories will then learn if their longed for projects – including road upgrades and heavy rail – will be among those either scrapped or pushed out, as the federal government seeks to deal with what it says is a $33bn cost blow out.
The Albanese government has pointed the finger squarely at its predecessor for “an absolute mess” with projects committed to but underfunded.
The IMF’s warning to Australia to cut back on the infrastructure spend or risk pushing the economy beyond full capacity and fuelling inflation has made the Albanese government’s caution more acute.
But the states see things differently. With every jurisdiction, except Tasmania, now under a Labor government, open warfare has not yet been declared but the rumbles are there.
Queensland’s deputy premier, Steven Miles, facing an election year but also a jump in population growth due to increased migration, both domestic and international, kicked off the backlash with a demand for the federal government to scrap stage-three tax cuts, rather than desperately needed infrastructure.
With the state already struggling to connect its existing population, it wants guarantees from the federal government the heavy rail project on the Sunshine Coast and 50-50 funding on that national highway, the Bruce, will be locked in stone.
The federal government cannot give that guarantee. New South Wales has been less public in its demands, but has made it known to the federal government that as the recipient of the bulk of new arrivals in Australia, it needs the infrastructure to keep the state moving.
Victoria has made similar entreaties. Tasmania, freed from party loyalty, has been a little more blunt.
The Tasmanian treasurer, Michael Ferguson, who also holds the infrastructure portfolio said the Albanese government review into the infrastructure pipeline was “explicitly stated” as budget repair, not reducing inflation.
“Dr Chalmers is clearly sowing the seeds of a significant write-down of Australian government investment in the infrastructure that Australians need, purely to fix his financial problems while blaming it on inflation,” Ferguson said.
“The fact is that any reduction in the Australian government’s infrastructure commitments, particularly in Tasmania, will be unwelcome news for the civil construction sector in Tasmania, which has already expressed concerns to me personally about the future capital pipeline and the certainty that provides the industry.
“To be clear, we regularly revisit our infrastructure profile to ensure we work in with industry capability and don’t blame changes on another level of government.
“The delay or cancellation of any Australian government funding to Tasmanian road, bridge or freight rail projects would obviously have a negative effect on civil construction sector jobs and our economy more broadly.”
While not yet publicly being as explicit, the other national cabinet members are building towards the same fight. In that, they find themselves on the same side as the Coalition, who are pushing the Albanese government to uphold the Morrison government pledges.
Labor senator Murray Watt said the Albanese government could not uphold pledges that never had funding attached.
“Under the former government the number of infrastructure projects in the pipeline blew out from nearly 150 to 800,” he said.
“What a shame the former government’s appetite for announcing projects wasn’t matched with a commitment to deliver. We will deliver, and we will get this program working.”
