CANBERRA, April 1 (Xinhua) -- The Australian government has announced billions of dollars in funding for infrastructure projects nationwide ahead of delivering the federal budget.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Prime Minister Scott Morrison will reveal the budget for 2019-20 on Tuesday, announcing a surplus for the first time in a decade.
Prior to announcing the budget, the government announced on Monday that it will spend 1 billion Australian dollars (711 million U.S. dollars) on upgrading freight networks nationwide, 2.1 billion Australian dollars (1.49 billion U.S. dollars) on transport infrastructure in Victoria and 1.5 billion Australian dollars (1.06 billion U.S. dollars) for roads projects in South Australia (SA).
Morrison said that the funding promises were about “getting Australians home sooner and safer.”
“I want people across Victoria to spend less time in traffic and more time doing what’s important to them,” he told News Corp Australia on Monday.
The Victorian funding will be spent on adding lanes to major arterial roads, sealing previously unsealed roads and upgrading rail lines.
That for SA will go towards funding the North-South Corridor, a highway that has been described as the most ambitious infrastructure project in the state’s history.
Alan Tudge, the minister for cities and urban infrastructure, said that completing the project would make a huge difference for the people of SA.
“It’s been truly great to work with (state government) on the remaining stages, which will be the most complex,” he said.
“But they are progressing well so we can get on with delivering the final section.”
At least seven freight corridors across Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales (NSW) will be upgraded to deliver faster transportation of goods.
“The federal government has been working with industry, state and territory governments and other stakeholders to determine priority corridors, drawing on expert analysis from CSIRO,” Michael McCormack, the deputy prime minister and minister for infrastructure, transport and regional development, told News Corp.
In a television interview broadcast on Sunday night, Frydenberg said that the budget -- his first as Treasurer -- will focus on “responsible spending, targeted spending, in key areas that lifts the productive capacity of the economy,” saying it is “not a time for a cash splash.”
“What I can say is that this budget is focused on growing the economy so we can secure a better future for all Australians, and to repair the nation’s finances given we were left enormous debt by Labor,” he said.
The incumbent Liberal-National Party Coalition (LNP) will use Tuesday’s budget as its foundation in the lead-up to May’s general election.
According to opinion polls, economic stability is one of the areas that voters think the LNP is better-suited to handle than the opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP).
