page_title: 2016 Australian federal budget
section_title: Infrastructure
hierarchical_section_title: 2016 Australian federal budget / Programs and expenditure / Infrastructure
caption_attribution_description: CAF tram 16 - Marion, Sydney - 13/10/2014
context_page_description: The 2016 Australian federal budget was the federal budget to fund government services and operations for the 2016–17 financial year. It was presented to the House of Representatives by Treasurer Scott Morrison on 3 May 2016. It is the third budget to be handed down by the Liberal/National Coalition since their election to government at the 2013 federal election, and the first to be handed down by Morrison and the Turnbull Government. Breaking from convention, the budget was submitted a week earlier than the traditional annual date of the second Tuesday in May, amidst a run-up to the 2016 federal election. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull had recalled parliament early, in anticipation of a double dissolution triggering an election for 2 July 2016.
context_section_description: Over $33 billion will be spent to deliver "critical and innovative" infrastructure, including road and rail upgrades. Out of this infrastructure fund, $115 million will be pledged towards the construction of the Western Sydney Airport at Badgerys Creek over two years, with $89 million dedicated towards planning, development, land acquisitions and construction security, and $26.2 million dedicated towards design research for a proposed extension of the South West Rail Link towards Badgerys Creek. It will be the only ongoing infrastructure project in Sydney to see an increase in funding from the previous federal budget. In total, $2.9 billion will be spent on infrastructure in New South Wales, including $1.7 billion towards construction of the Sydney Metro's extension into the city and southwest, and $78.3 million towards design and development of the Parramatta Light Rail. In Melbourne, $3 billion is still available for the Government of Victoria to spend on the proposed East West Link, which had been previously accepted by former Liberal Premier Denis Napthine, but rejected by Labor Premier Daniel Andrews after his election in 2014, who vowed instead to fund and construct the Melbourne Metro Rail Project, without federal support. Despite this, it was recommended to the Victorian Government that federal support of $857.2 million be spent on the Melbourne Metro, in addition to $20.2 million for the Murray Basin Rail project, taken from the Federal Government's Asset Recycling Initiative.
  The $4 billion sale of the Australian Rail Track Corporation, proposed by the preceding Abbott Government, was completely dropped by the Turnbull Government, in favor of developing and constructing the long-proposed inland rail line linking Melbourne and Brisbane. $594 million will be spent towards research and land acquisition, though there is no funding as of yet for construction of the line, which is projected to cost around $10.7 billion. The Federal Government will also allocate over $2 billion to the establishment of the National Water Infrastructure Loans Facility, which will allow concessional loans to state and territory governments, helping to fund the construction of dams, pipelines, and groundwater recharge projects from July 2016. The new bank will replace the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund, which was established in 2015, and allocated only $500 million. The National Water Infrastructure Loans Facility will exist for 10 years, and State and Territory governments will have a deadline of 25 years to repay money taken from the fund. Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources Barnaby Joyce stated that funding proposals for over 60 water infrastructure projects had been received by the federal government at the time of the budget's release.
caption: Public transport projects, such as the Parramatta Light Rail, were given more focus over road projects – a notable contrast from Abbott Government budgets.[16]
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