Article: States, territories agree to $26b infrastructure funding plans

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States, territories agree to $26b infrastructure funding plans

States, territories agree to $26b infrastructure funding plans

Mr Albanese says the infrastructure work will stimulate economic activity over the next five years.

The Federal Government says it is making significant progress on major infrastructure projects that will stimulate economic activity.

Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese says the states and territories have agreed to funding plans for 120 road projects and 26 rail projects.

They will get more than $26 billion of Commonwealth funding announced in last year's budget and the Nation Building Plan.

Mr Albanese told Channel Nine it is an important step.

"All states and territories have signed up now to the Government's $26.4 billion nation building program," he said.

"This is more than double what the previous the Government, the Howard government, spent under its Auslink program under a similar period of time."

Mr Albanese says the infrastructure work will stimulate economic activity over the next five years.

"Projects right around Australia will benefit from this," he said.

"This is a program that will honour all of Labor's election commitments and it's been good that we've been able to conclude it so quickly with the states.

"This was, of course, raised at the COAG meeting earlier this year by the Prime Minister."

But the Opposition's infrastructure spokesman, Andrew Robb, has told ABC 1's Insiders program the Government should have organised the funding agreements months ago.

"This should have been the first thing they did," he said.

"In fact, perhaps the major focus of any government spending should have been on these major infrastructure projects, as long as they've been chosen properly.

"We're yet to see any transparency about how these things were chosen, but this is how the money should be spent."

Mr Robb says the Government should not have prioritised tax bonuses ahead of infrastructure spending.

"That major infrastructure spending, that should have been the first stimulus package," he said.

"That should have happened seven or eight months ago, like they did in China. They spent all their stimulus on major infrastructure projects.

"That should have been the first stimulus package and then, I suspect there shouldn't have been another second and third."