Australian Federal Budget 2018-19: Projects, Infrastructure & Environment

This article was written by Wendy Miller and Edward McGinness.

Infrastructure spending is a significant part of the 2018-19 Budget with extensive spending and the creation of various new funds.

Significant projects

The Government will continue its previously announced $75 billion 10-year infrastructure plan, spending approximately $25 billion on infrastructure funding and financing in 2018‑19 to 2024-25 on significant regional, urban and water projects across the nation. Major projects include:

$3.5 billion to establish the Roads of Strategic Importance initiative to support the upgrade of key regional road corridors in Australia;
in Victoria, up to $5 billion for the Melbourne Airport Rail Link and $1.75 billion for the North East Link;
in Queensland, $3.3 billion for additional Bruce Highway upgrades;
in South Australia, $1.4 billion for Adelaide North-South Corridor future priorities;
in Western Australia, an additional $1.1 billion for Metronet projects;
in NSW, $971 million for the Coffs Harbour Bypass on the Pacific Highway;
in Tasmania, $461 million for the Bridgewater Bridge Replacement; and
$518.9 million from uncommitted funding in the Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities portfolio towards other policy priorities, including round three of the Building Better Regions Fund and round four of the Stronger Communities Programme.

New funds

The Government announced its proposal to establish infrastructure specific funds, including:

$250 million to establish a Major Project Business Case Fund to assist with the development of business cases for future critical land transport infrastructure projects; and
$1 billion to establish the Urban Congestion Fund to support projects to alleviate congestion, increase traffic safety and improve network efficiency for commuter and freight movements in urban areas.