Building a more productive, safer and connected Australia

An elected Dutton-Littleproud Government will deliver the necessary infrastructure needed to fix Labor’s neglect of our road network and invest for the vital long-term in projects that will help lift productivity, and the efficiency and safety of our road and rail network.

Our plan also includes important longer term goals to make our cities more livable and the economies of our regions stronger and more sustainable after three years of out-of-control immigration that has added congestion and pressure on services for Australians.

“After three years of savage cuts and delays to infrastructure and the degradation of our freight and supply networks, the Coalition is determined to renew investment both in city and regional infrastructure for the immediate and long-term,” Senator McKenzie said.

“You don’t have to travel very far to see the extent of this neglect through potholes on our roads, but they are just a symptom of much deeper problems in our road networks, bridges, regional airports and other infrastructure.”

“Infrastructure and transport investment are the building blocks towards a more efficient and productive Australian economy, getting people home sooner, more safely, getting goods to market quicker and more efficiently, making our cities more liveable, supporting future growth in our capitals and in our regions.”

The plans announced in this election by the Coalition include a commitment to deliver more than $17.7 billion worth of road and rail commitments as part of our plan to build better and safer roads, improve transport efficiency and strengthen the economy.

These commitments include delivering projects budgeted in the $120 billion Infrastructure Investment Program, and new election commitments that include:

We have also made one of the most important pledges in the campaign - to restore 80 per cent Commonwealth funding for nationally significant road and highway projects in regional Australia.

Labor reduced funding under its 90-day infrastructure review to a 50-50 arrangement to match the urban funding model. Most of the national highway network runs through regional Australia and Labor’s cut meant these critical freight routes will be denied the funding needed to maintain efficient, safe and productive supply chains.

To directly support our miners and our farmers grow jobs and opportunities for all Australians, the Coalition will invest $600 million to establish a new Ag & Mining Roads program.

This will make it easier to transport product from the farms and minerals to ports. We will consult with rural transporters, agriculture and resources sector representatives to identify priority sections of roads and highways under this new program.

And we will help local government invest in community infrastructure, fix potholes and maintain the 70 per cent of the road network for which our councils are responsible, by investing $1 billion to re-establish the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure program and an additional $250 million to immediately double Roads to Recovery funding to $1 billion per year.

The Coalition remains committed to the delivery of the Inland Rail in full, a project that has no clear future under Labor. And we will work with the Australian Rail Track Corporation to build the resilience of the national rail network to withstand extreme weather events and floods.

And if elected I will support our truckies, working to achieve a consistent regime for heavy vehicles driver accreditation, reducing red tape, and consult with industry to review the methodology of the Heavy Vehicle Road User Charge.

Housing Infrastructure Programme

Housing is the most important piece of infrastructure for all Australians and the centrepiece of our economic plan includes a comprehensive package of measures to make housing more affordable and accessible to younger Australians.

That is why we have made a $5 billion commitment over five years for enabling infrastructure to increase supply by getting the power, water, sewerage, energy and other works needed to unlock up to 500,000 new house blocks.

“We can green light more housing developments more quickly with this important use-it-or-lose it policy,” Senator McKenzie said.

Development of our Cities White Paper

We have also announced that an elected Coalition Government will undertake a

White Paper into the development of our cities.

“You can’t pour 1.8 million new people into our country in a short period, mainly into our capital cities but also the regions, without severe unintended economic, social and environmental consequences,” Senator McKenzie said.

“You end up constantly playing catch-up on infrastructure and there is no serious forward planning.”

“We want to think deeply about the future of our cities and how the built environment can help create a healthy, prosperous and sustainable future for our children and our grandchildren. “

The White Paper will provide advice and recommendations to support our economic growth, ensure livability, identify priority transport, freight and logistics infrastructure solutions to overcome congestion pressures.

It will ensure our infrastructure provision is planned to support and increase the supply of housing instead of us all being surprised by a housing crisis. And we want to support the transition to a low emissions future in transport and design of urban infrastructure.  

Tasmanian Freight Equalisation Scheme

We have also committed $65 million to provide interim support to Tasmanian farmers and industry and address increased costs of travelling to and from Tasmania to the mainland.

And we will initiate an urgent, independent review the scheme within the first 100 days of a Coalition Government, together with a review of the Bass Strait Passenger Vehicle Equalisation Scheme.

Regional Australia Future Fund

One of the most important announcements that we've made in this election for regional Australia, is the ground-breaking $20 billion Regional Australian Future Fund.

The Coalition will ensure that going forward the regions receive a fair share of the windfall commodity receipts that they produce.

“This will be a perpetual fund protected from future governments because traditionally for the regions, it's been a boom-bust investment cycle, as we have seen with the Albanese Labor Government abolishing more than $10 billion in regional programs on coming to office,” Senator McKenzie said.

Reform to Infrastructure Funding Agreements

The Coalition will also renegotiate the infrastructure funding agreements with the states to deliver better value for money, including our decision to cease signing blank checks to the states for project cost blowouts.

“The brutal truth is that the cost of building and upgrading a road is higher than comparative nations and in large part this is due to higher energy and higher building costs which make it harder to justify investment,” Senator McKenzie said.

“The impact of special deals between Labor states and unions like the CFMEU has added up to 30 per cent to the cost of construction, which has flow-on effects across the economy.”

“The Coalition will remove CFMEU influence from the delivery of Commonwealth funded infrastructure project, cap project funding at originally agreed amounts, not fund states for their red and green tape imposts on projects and support small and medium sized businesses seeking to deliver infrastructure projects.”

Road Safety

Over the past three years the Coalition has joined with road user organisations such as the Australian Automobile Association to press for states to report road safety data as a condition of infrastructure funding, building on initiatives we introduced when last in government.

“It is a shocking tragedy for our nation the national road toll has worsened over the past three years, with more deaths on Australian roads in 2024 - 1,300 fatalities - than in any single year since 2012,” Senator McKenzie said.

If elected we will invest $10 million to upgrade Driver Reviver Sites across Australia, and $6 million for a No Fault Investigations Pilot to help inform future road safety investment decisions based on actual road risk data.

And within the first 100 days of a Dutton-Littleproud Government we will hold a national road safety summit to bring as many wide and different views together into finding solutions to the daily tragedies and traumas of road accidents in Australia.

“We want an Australia that is prosperous, sustainable and safe

“We want to ensure that opportunity exists for all Australians no matter where they live. And we are determined to invest valuable taxpayers’ money prudently but strategically towards achieving these goals.”