Record Levels of Infrastructure Investment

Across Australia, there are cranes on the skyline of our cities – a powerful reminder of the construction boom that is being driven by the Turnbull Government’s record levels of infrastructure investment. The Turnbull Government is spending on infrastructure around the country at record levels. We have committed to spend $50 billion by 2020 – and we are well on track to meet that commitment.

In the 2017 budget we made a further commitment to invest $75 billion over the next ten years. This record spending is designed to get vital airport, road and rail infrastructure projects underway around the country – and it is having the desired effect. Construction work is under way on more than 100 projects funded
by the Turnbull Government, and a further 130 projects are currently in pre-construction planning. Commonwealth budget figures show an average infrastructure spend exceeding $8bn a year from fiscal 2014 to fiscal 2021. By contrast, over the six years of the previous Labor government, average spending on
infrastructure was just over $6bn a year.

From NorthConnex in Sydney to the M80 Ring Road in Melbourne to the Perth METRONET, the Turnbull Government is supporting tens of thousands of jobs in the construction industry and beyond. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ engineering construction survey, the value of “work yet to be done”
for projects already commenced on transport infrastructure for the public sector is at a record high. It currently stands at a level 60% higher than the peak under Labor in fiscal 2011.

According to the Commonwealth Bank, the lift in public infrastructure spending in fiscal 2018 will generate an extra 36,000 jobs in Australia. The Turnbull Government’s infrastructure investment is creating unprecedented opportunities for the construction industry. We are backing you, and we are backing jobs.

This article appeared in the Australian National Construction Review April 2018 Issue