Population, cities and urban infrastructure minister Alan Tudge says construction will begin on the first of the government’s urban congestion projects before Christmas, but shadow infrastructure minister Catherine King says that’s not good enough.
The Coalition announced its Urban Congestion Fund in 2018, but after almost a year and a half, construction is yet to begin on any of the 166 projects, including rail crossing removals and commuter car parks, aimed at reducing urban congestion.
“Urban infrastructure minister Alan Tudge embarrassingly admitted to Parliament this week that construction has not started on any projects funded under the Urban Congestion Fund,” shadow transport and infrastructure minister Catherine King said on September 19.
“The Minister also claimed construction would commence on some smaller projects before Christmas, but failed to name a single site.”
Tudge, speaking on ABC Radio, said the shadow minister was engaging in “a bit of politics”.
“We announced just before the election … 166 smaller scale projects around the country, really addressing those localised congestion hotspots, and we’ve got work underway on every single one of them and construction will begin on the first before Christmas,” Tudge said.
“We’re getting on with the job. We’ve got good relationships with the state governments. They want to work with us to get these projects done and we certainly want to see them done as quickly as possible.”
King also pointed to the Final Budget Outcome released by treasurer Josh Frydenberg, which showed the government spent $195 million less on infrastructure that it promised in the 2018 budget.
“Over their first five budgets this Government underspent on infrastructure every single year – short changing the Australian people by over $5 billion,” King said.
“Infrastructure Australia predicts road congestion costs on our major cities will more than double by 2031. With congestion rapidly rising, Australians cannot afford more of the same inaction from this third-term Government.”