As Jim Chalmers flags the need for tough decisions in the October 25 budget, experts say pet projects from both sides of politics should be on the chopping block.
and about $1.1 billion set to be spent on the state’s Paradise and Urannah dam projects should be reviewed.He welcomed comments from Prime Minister Anthony Albanese that projects which have not begun construction could be among those under scrutiny.
“But we’ve just had the [Victorian] Parliamentary Budget Office come out and say they think the eastern and northern sections to build and operate for 50 years will cost $200 billion – so at least four times as much,” Ms Terrill said. “You’re destroying value if you proceed with this,” Ms Terrill said, adding that it had not been subject to an independent assessment by Infrastructure Australia.Another commitment Ms Terrill would scrap is the federal government’s $500 million funding to acquire land for fast rail along the Sydney-to-Newcastle corridor.
“If you blow a generation’s worth of infrastructure investment on one project, you want to make sure it’s a really good one,” Ms Terrill said.The cost of former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce’s pet inland rail project has also blown out, and Ms Terrill wants the government to put together a new business case.
Dr Denniss said Labor should pause the inland rail project, currently the subject of an independent review by former Energy Security Board chairwoman Kerry Schott.
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