There’s a strong sense in parliament that the end of the year can’t come soon enough,and that is precisely the government’s problem.
The federal infrastructure minister has to explain how a country,facing record rates of migration,will trim almost $11 billion worth of spending on major projects and put more than 30 others in doubt.
The cash-strapped Allan government faces ongoing funding battles over Airport Rail and the Suburban Rail Loop after a federal review of the nation’s infrastructure pipeline.
A long-awaited federal infrastructure review has landed,with suggestions it was a collaborative effort. Queensland Treasurer Cameron Dick says it’s “not true”.
A review of the federal government’s infrastructure pipeline says up to one in 10 needs to be axed in favour of more important projects.
The outgoing chief executive of Sydney Airport,Geoff Culbert,may only have two weeks left in the job,but that hasn’t stopped him from lobbing a grenade at Qantas and Virgin on his way out.
Flight Centre’s boss and founder Graham ‘Skroo’ Turner says travel industry insiders blame Transport Minister Catherine King for higher airfares.
But Infrastructure Minister Catherine King made it clear any additional funding for the mega project hinges on the actual cost – an amount still in dispute.
The federal government says without cuts and spending control,it cannot promise any new infrastructure for another decade.
State and federal governments have starved councils of the $1 billion a year needed to maintain Australia’s 680,000-kilometre network of roads,the Grattan Institute says.
The federal government will still sink $120 billion into its 10-year infrastructure program,but cuts to some projects will be needed to make way for $33 billion in cost overruns.