Roads Australia has urged Australia’s governments to keep investing in transport infrastructure, amid the release of a new Infrastructure Australia report showing a sharp decline in funding for road, rail and active transport projects.
Infrastructure Australia’s 2024 Infrastructure Market Capacity report reveals that the investment pipeline for transport has declined by 10 per cent in the past 12 months.
Transport now accounts for 59% of the public infrastructure pipeline, a $32 billion reduction on the previous year’s outlook. Transport investment is expected to decline year on year, as the focus of government spending shifts to defence, energy and housing.
Roads Australia CEO Ehssan Veiszadeh said: “Transport is the backbone of our cities and regions. It’s critical to our quality of life and it must remain an investment priority for all governments as our communities continue to grow.
“Transformational transport projects have opened to the public this year in every state and territory, with many more in the final stages of delivery. These projects bring enormous economic benefits, connecting people with jobs, education and essential services and creating vibrant public spaces.
“But there are still many communities that bear the brunt of congested transport corridors, that are crying out for safer roads, or that have no access to any public transport services at all. There is an urgent need to plan ahead and to think seriously about how to address these infrastructure gaps,” said Mr Veiszadeh.
Mr Veiszadeh said multi-decade planning and a rolling pipeline of transport investment was vital to maintain living standards in Australia’s cities and regions.
“There has been a necessary course correction in recent years to address cost overruns and ensure Australia’s infrastructure sector can appropriately meet demand, however we are now heading too far in the opposite direction.
“Constrained government budgets should not stop up us from having a long-term plan for the future of our transport system, particularly as it plays such a significant role in enabling access to affordable housing.
“We welcome the Australian Government’s allocation of an additional $2.7 billion to infrastructure last week as part of MYEFO. This is an important step in the right direction and will help deliver major road projects and upgrade essential infrastructure across the country.
“With a growing population, we need to be ambitious about transport again and focus on what our communities stand to gain,” Mr Veiszadeh said.