Projects kicked out of the Infrastructure Investment Program have a chance to reapply for Government funding, according to Minister Catherine King.
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Speaking to ABC Goulburn Murray while visiting the region to view the opening of the Inland Rail project’s new Beaconsfield bridge at Glenrowan that was constructed by McConnell Dowell, the Federal Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government said that the Government “couldn’t deliver” what the previous Government had promised, hence the $11.6 billion cuts to over 50 projects. King, however, gave hope to the cause for these projects to receive Federal funding again, as long as the expectations were realistic and appropriately considered.
“We had to look through the recommendations of the review, look at those projects where really they had been under-costed and certainly underfunded, and make decisions about how we’re going to proceed to make sure I could deliver the pipeline that we had,” she said. “So, there’s no reason that some of those projects may not come back into the pipeline later, but what they’ll need to be able to do is have business cases be properly costed.”
“In order to make sure we can deliver a pipeline within the funds that we’ve got available to us and actually build things, it meant that I had to go through that review process, but no reason those projects can’t come back on later,” she continued. “But we’ll need to ensure we know how much they cost, that they stack up and that the State Government wants to bring them forward as part of the Federal Budget process.”
The news follows the Federal Government’s culling of funding for 50 infrastructure projects across Australia following the review of the Infrastructure Investment Program in November last year.
The strategic review of the Infrastructure Investment Program was announced as part of the October 22-23 budget, with the goal of laying the foundation for a more sustainable, credible, nation-building Infrastructure Investment Program.
The interview with Minister King can be read in full here.
READ MORE:
- $11.6b cut from Infrastructure Investment Program.
- Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility to receive new investment mandate.
- Federal Government announces new Infrastructure Policy Statement.