The case for roads and rail, despite inflation risk

afr.com:

The Albanese government should not cut back hard on infrastructure projects as part of its review of the project pipeline, with road and rail projects still needed to deal with strong population growth up to 2050, major lobby groups say.

Infrastructure Minister Catherine King is yet to publish the 90-day review of the government’s $120 billion, 10-year capital works spend, but infrastructure and construction groups fear cuts may be coming to more than just pet projects of the former Morrison government, such as commuter carparks.

Roads and rail projects are still needed to deal with strong population growth.  Dominic Lorrimer

Infrastructure Partnerships Australia chief executive Adrian Dwyer said major cost blowouts on big projects, such as Inland Rail, had increased pressure to cut back the total of 250 projects to allow the Albanese government to keep its $120 billion headline figure.

“Inland Rail has tripled in cost since its first business case and doubled since the last budget [to $31 billion] and there has been substantial increases in other projects,” Mr Dwyer told The Australian Financial Review.

“It’s unlikely to be sufficient to just cut commuter carparks. They will have to cut existing commitments or push stuff to the right in terms of timing. That’s why the $120 billion is a variable number because we don’t know what’s in the remaining six years [past the four-year budget period].”

But Mr Dwyer said the Albanese government should not pause projects until the economy improved or capacity constraints were cleared, saying strong population growth meant roads, rail and bridges were still needed, especially in capital cities.

“You have to build the infrastructure for the economy you want, not the one you’ve got.