Australia’s peak voice for the civil infrastructure sector, the Civil Contractors Federation, has welcomed the Federal Government’s infrastructure investment package announced in the 2020-2021 Federal Budget and has called on governments to work with industry to roll out the funds in a fast and effective manner.
“CCF welcomes the $7.5 billion worth of new infrastructure investment, taking the total Federal Government commitment to $14 billion since the outbreak of COVID-19. This is in addition to the existing $100 billion rolling 10-year infrastructure investment pipeline,” CCF National Chief Executive Officer Chris Melham said.
“I would like to thank the Deputy Prime Minister, the Hon Michael McCormack MP and the Minister for Population Cities and Urban Infrastructure, the Hon Alan Tudge MP, for their constructive dialogue with CCF over many months leading up to the Budget and acknowledge their recognition of the important role the civil infrastructure sector can play in contributing to Australia’s economic recovery as evidenced in tonight’s budget.
“This investment reflects the significant productive capacity of the civil infrastructure sector, and its readiness to generate additional jobs as outlined in the CCF’s 2020-2021 Federal Government pre-budget submission. CCF has long argued for significant and sustained civil infrastructure investment to support Australia’s economic recovery efforts and the budget announcements reflect CCF’s policy."
Mr Melham also welcomed the Federal Governments ‘use it or lose it’ message to the States and Territories but he said it needs to go further by requiring ‘shovel ready’ infrastructure funds to be spent in a transparent manner across urban, regional, rural, and remote Australia – and not to be used for ‘pork barreling’ in the lead up to respective State elections.
“In addition, Federal, State and Territory government procurement policy must be more balanced by encouraging and maximizing greater participation of Tier 2 and Tier 3 head contractors, and I look forward to the Federal Government adopting this policy and its application to the release of infrastructure funds to State and Territory procurement agencies,” he said.
“While the Government has made it quite clear that it is targeting ‘shovel-ready’ projects across all States and Territories, creating opportunities for parties to work more collaboratively is the key to contracts being awarded earlier and to identify and manage risks."
Civil Contractors Federation National - 2020-2021 Budget Brief
- Economic Highlights
- Budget deficit is $213.7 billion in 2020-2021
- Economy forecast to fall by 3.75 per cent in 2020
- Unemployment is forecast to peak at 8 per cent in the December 2020 quarter
- Establishment of a new JobMaker hiring credit - payable for up to twelve months and immediately available to employers who hire those on JobSeeker aged 16-35
- Expanded asset write off incentives and new loss carry back measures
2.
Infrastructure Investment
The Federal Government has announced:
- an additional $7.5 billion for road and rail infrastructure projects in the 2020-2021 Budget (see Attachment A for a break down of new and additional funding commitments). The $7.5 billion investment includes new projects in each jurisdiction as well as additional funds for existing projects, and in most cases, requires matching funds from the respective State or Territory Government.
- an additional $2 billion investment in road safety measures as part of a new Road Safety Program.
- an additional $1 billion under the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program in addition to $500 million announced in June 2020.
- $2 billion in new funding to build water infrastructure including dams, weirs and pipelines.
- The Commonwealth’s investment in infrastructure since the outbreak of COVID 19 is approximately $14 billion.
3. Apprentices/trainees
The Federal Government has announced a $1.2 billion package in the 2020-2021 Budget to support the hiring of apprentices. The package is in addition to the previously announced $2.8 billion Supporting Apprentices and Trainees wage subsidy to help employers to retain their apprentices and trainees. Under the package employers will be eligible for 50 per cent of the wages for a new or recommencing apprentice or trainee for the period up to 30 September 2021, up to $7,000 per quarter. The subsidy will be available to employers of any size or industry, Australia-wide who engage an Australian apprentice or trainee from 5 October 2020 until the 100,000 cap is reached.
