Infrastructure Minister Catherine King says projects under construction will proceed.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen.
The review,first revealedon Friday,was spurred partly by a spike in material costs driven by supply shocks and a 95,000-person worker shortage that has stretched the ability of construction firms to build dozens of megaprojects announced by states in recent years.
The number of infrastructure items grew from 150 to 800 under the previous Coalition governments and hundreds of these projects,Labor claims,were announced with minuscule funding.
“Importantly for industry,projects under construction will proceed and we have committed to maintain significant infrastructure investment for the medium term,” Infrastructure Minister Catherine King said in a written statement.
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“It is time to clean up the mess left by the Liberals and Nationals clogging the pipeline with ‘press release projects’ – announced but unable to be delivered.”
“Easing the pressure on the construction sector will help drive inflation lower and deliver more predictable investment and delivery outcomes from governments.”
States and territories agreed to participate in the audit at a meeting of national cabinet on Friday,but some of them have expressed private worries that crucial projects will be affected.