Victoria on 'stable recovery path', says Infrastructure Partnerships Australia

In a media release on Friday, the infrastructure industry think tank Infrastructure Partnerships Australia said the highest infrastructure spend on record delivered by Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas had set the state “on a clear path to recovery.”

“On the back of a big infrastructure spend last year, Treasurer Tim Pallas has delivered another major increase in funding for infrastructure,” said Infrastructure Partnerships Australia chief executive, Adrian Dwyer.

“Treasurer Pallas has increased funding for infrastructure by $12 billion, bringing total funding to a historic $90.2 billion over the next four years. Infrastructure funding is now at its highest level ever in Victoria, with almost a quarter of total general government spending flowing to new infrastructure,” he added.

Public transport and infrastructure were big winners in the Victorian state budget for 2021-22, which was delivered by the state Treasurer on Thursday last week.

The 2021-22 Victorian budget promises record investment in the state’s transport infrastructure and services to improve travel times, safety, accessibility and support jobs across the transport sector.

The budget provides $3.2 billion for public transport services and infrastructure, including $986 million to build 25 brand-new, modern trains in Victoria and upgrade the Craigieburn Train Maintenance facility, increasing service capacity and supporting local jobs.

Funding of $265 million is provided to plan for, upgrade and maintain suburban, regional and rural roads. This includes $42 million to improve accessibility and productivity of the road network for freight. An additional $386 million is provided for a new Road Safety Strategy to develop new safety technologies and deliver infrastructure upgrades..

Additionally, the 2021-22 state budget is committing $7.1 billion to health services and health infrastructure. The state government will also invest $1.2 billion in building and upgrading hospitals and health care infrastructure across the State. An additional $1.6 billion is provided to deliver schools infrastructure, including 13 new and 52 upgraded schools and new investment in essential maintenance.

“One in every four dollars being spent by the Victorian Government is being invested in infrastructure,” Dwyer noted.

“It is clear from this budget that the infrastructure stimulus delivered over the last year has helped to support employment and economic activity, with growth rebounding significantly over the forward estimates,” he added.

In his budget speech, state Treasurer Tim Pallas noted that Victoria now has the biggest infrastructure pipeline in the history of the state.

“It’s a pipeline delivering generational, city-shaping projects like the Metro Tunnel, the North East Link and the Melbourne Airport Rail. In the 2021-22 budget, more than $144 billion of state capital projects are either commencing or underway,” he added.

The Victorian government has set a target of 50 per cent of all new light vehicle sales being zero emission vehicles by 2030. This budget funds $46 million for Australia’s first public Zero Emissions Vehicle Subsidy Program, $15 million to add 400 zero emission vehicles to the Victorian government fleet and upgrade infrastructure across government owned and leased buildings, and $5 million to establish an innovation fund for the commercial sector. In addition, $21 million is provided to improve the safety and usability of Victoria’s walking and cycling network.

Referring to a $4.9 billion infrastructure underspend in the current year’s budget for Victoria, resulting from a “pressures of a hot market combined with a record stimulus investment,” Dwyer called for a “laser focus over the coming years to make sure dollars on pages convert through to digger in the dirt.”

Infrastructure Partnerships Australia is the nation’s leading infrastructure think tank, providing independent policy research focused on excellence in social and economic infrastructure.

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