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The Hon Anthony Albanese MP answers your questions - Transcript

The Hon. Anthony Albanese MP, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government

Hi, I’m Anthony Albanese, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government.

Thanks for your questions over the last few weeks.

It’s clear many of you are interested in knowing more about the Government’s nation building agenda.

Michael, for example, asked why construction is a major part of the Government’s efforts to tackle the global financial crisis.

Ever since the global economic crisis began to unfold, the Government has been putting in place measures that support jobs, invest in the future, and cushion the impact of the global recession on our communities.

One of the most effective ways to achieve these goals is through investing in our nation’s infrastructure.

Investing in our infrastructure has a number of important benefits.

Firstly, it provides employment across a number of sectors and a wide range of geographical regions, which is particularly important during these tough economic times.

Secondly, it will boost national productivity in the medium to longer term by improving important transport links within Australia and to our nation’s export gateways.

And thirdly, better infrastructure reduces urban congestion in our cities and our towns, making them a better place to live and do business.

So how are we doing this?

Many of you will be aware infrastructure spending was the centrepiece of the 2009-2010 budget.

On budget night, Treasurer Wayne Swan announced $8.5 billion dollars for 15 new road, rail and port infrastructure projects.

This historic investment was guided on the advice we received from the Government’s infrastructure advisory body, Infrastructure Australia.

Perhaps the most significant aspect to the infrastructure budget was our multi-billion dollar commitment for passenger rail, including metro rail, infrastructure in our cities.

The funding will build new rail lines and upgrade existing infrastructure.

It will also re-invigorate our cities by encouraging people to use public transport instead of their personal vehicles.

There’s more information on the 15 projects on my website, and I encourage you to have a look when you have a chance.

One of the projects to receive funding is the upgrade of the Bruce Highway, which was the subject of a question by Les.

Thanks for the question.

Les asks when work will commence on the Bruce Highway between Cooroy and Curra.

Queenslanders would know that the Bruce Highway is one of the State’s most important and busiest roads.

The highway’s crash rates are, however, also 40 percent higher than other roads on the National Network.

The section between Cooroy and Curra alone carries around 17,000 vehicles a day, including significant amounts of freight.

It is one of the highway’s most dangerous sections.

In many places, the highway is little more than a two-lane road with very few opportunities to overtake.

This budget provides $488 million to upgrade a 12-kilometre stretch between Cooroy to Curra.

The Queensland Government is contributing $125 million towards this project.

This is a high crash area. From July 2002 to March 2009 there were 13 road fatalities along this section of the Bruce Highway.

Work is scheduled to begin later this year, and go through until 2012.

And importantly, the project is expected to support 650 direct jobs in the community.

Another Government program supporting jobs in the local community, particularly in regional Australia, is our regional and local Community Infrastructure Program.

A number of you asked questions about how the program works, and how grants are allocated.

This $800 million Program is an important component of the Government’s Economic Stimulus Plan.

It is a local response to a global recession.

This funding is helping to support local jobs, generate local economic activity, and create better infrastructure for all Australians to enjoy.

The Program has two parts.

This year the Government provided $250 million to all local councils across Australia for 3,220 ready-to-go projects, such as community halls, upgrades to main streets, and sporting facilities.

Work is underway on many of these projects right now.

We’ve backed that up with a further $550 million for the second part of the program.

This investment is funding for larger community projects that are expected to be completed in the 2009-2010 financial year.

137 large projects across Australia have been successful in obtaining funding under this component of the program.

I look forward to telling you about these, and other nation building initiatives, on this website in the future.

Thanks for visiting and keep sending in your questions and your comments.