Category Archives: Infrastructure

Bridget McKenzie and Mark Coulton reject suggestion they ‘trespassed’ at inland rail project

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Nationals pair say they were at a level crossing on a public road when they visited the rail corridor without ministerial permission

Nationals MP Mark Coulton and senator Bridget McKenzie have angrily rejected suggestions they may have trespassed by visiting the inland rail project near Narromine after permission to do so was denied.

Coulton told Guardian Australia that the issue, pursued by Labor in Senate estimates, was “absolute complete bullshit”, backing McKenzie’s account the pair were at a level crossing on a public road when they visited the rail without the minister’s permission.

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Jacqui Lambie joins thousands of Tasmanians at rally against $715m AFL stadium

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The senator told the premier Tasmanians have had a ‘bloody gutful’ over the stadium and ‘you can stick it up your bum’

Thousands of Tasmanians have voiced their opposition to a $715m stadium critical to the state’s entry to the AFL, a day after the project brought the Rockliff government to its knees.

Australia’s only state Liberal government was thrust into minority status on Friday after two MPs quit, citing concerns over state debt and government transparency around the planned build on the edge of the Hobart CBD.

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Inland rail review supports concerns raised by regional communities

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Wagga Wagga and other towns on the inland rail route have been asking for a bypass and say that is supported by Dr Kerry Schott’s review

Communities along the inland rail have welcomed Dr Kerry Schott’s damning review into the National party’s key infrastructure project, saying they have felt dismissed for years over concerns around the route selection, traffic disruption and noise.

Schott’s long-awaited report found “astonishing” cost blowouts in the 1,700km line, now estimated to cost more than $31bn.

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Australia politics live: Dutton says Coalition won’t support motion to censure Morrison – but Archer says she is ‘inclined to’

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The censure motion against Scott Morrison over multiple ministries scandal will be debated in House of Representatives tomorrow. Follow the day’s news live

Bipartisanship cedes to brinkmanship in battle over integrity commission

Meanwhile, Mark Dreyfus is preparing to stare down the Liberals and the Greens over an amendment to the national anti-corruption commission legislation which Dreyfus says risks establishing the commission and the Liberals and Greens say will ensure it won’t be political.

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Dungowan Dam likely dead in the water after Infrastructure Australia deems proposal low priority

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Costs of dam project championed by Barnaby Joyce to secure water for Tamworth ‘far outweigh the benefits’, assessment says

The proposal to build a new Dungowan Dam in Barnaby Joyce’s seat of New England at a cost of $1.27bn appears to be dead after Infrastructure Australia delivered a scathing assessment.

The project, which was promoted by the former National party leader as a way to secure the water supply for Tamworth, in New South Wales, had originally been costed at $433m, with the Morrison government promising to contribute $242m.

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England ‘failing to invest in water networks to avoid future droughts’

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Government policy amounts to ‘keeping fingers crossed’ rather than acting to adapt to changing climate, says infrastructure chief

England is failing to invest in the water networks needed to avoid a future of recurrent serious droughts, with current policies amounting to the government “keeping [its] fingers crossed”, the UK’s infrastructure chief has warned.

The current drought was a warning that water systems could not cope with the changing climate, with more hot dry spells interspersed with heavier rainfall, said Sir John Armitt, chair of the National Infrastructure Commission.

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Improved disease control in public buildings ‘could save UK billions a year’

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Measures such as improved ventilation would boost economy by helping prevent ill health, says report

Mandating improved ventilation and other forms of disease control in public buildings could save the UK economy billions of pounds each year through the prevention of ill health and its societal impacts, according to a report.

It is the first study to comprehensively evaluate the health, social and economic costs of airborne infections, including Covid. Even without a pandemic, seasonal respiratory diseases cost the UK about £8bn a year in disruption and sick days, said the report by the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers. In the event of another severe pandemic within the next 60 years, the societal cost could be as high as £23bn a year.

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China funnels its overseas aid money into political leaders’ home provinces

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Schools, stadiums or airports help the presidents of countries that receive cash from Beijing tighten their grip on power

China’s financing of overseas projects has disproportionately benefited the core political supporters of incumbent presidents or prime ministers of those countries that receive the funds, according to a new book.

During the 20th century, China was mostly known as a recipient of international development finance. Its overseas development programme was modest – roughly on a par with that of Denmark. But over the course of one generation, as Beijing emerged as the world’s second-largest economy, its footprint began to extend far beyond its borders – often in the form of infrastructure initiatives such as Belt and Road.

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Crossrail: much-delayed Elizabeth line to open on 24 May

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Tunnelled section of £19bn project through centre of London finally ready for passengers

London’s Elizabeth line is to open on 24 May, it has been announced, with the long-delayed tunnelled central section of the £19bn Crossrail project now ready for passengers.

Transport for London (TfL) said the line would open, subject to final safety approvals, the week prior to the Queen’s jubilee celebrations.

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Russia’s war in Ukraine ‘causing £3.6bn of building damage a week’

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Kyiv School of Economics estimates cost of conflict could rise to $600bn, almost four times the nation’s GDP

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is inflicting damage to the country’s infrastructure at a cost of $4.5bn (£3.6bn) a week as bombs tear through thousands of buildings and public utilities, and miles of road.

According to estimates compiled by the Kyiv School of Economics (KSE), and supported by the Ukrainian government, the total amount of direct infrastructure damage has reached $92bn since Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion in February.

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Victoria’s treasurer delivers health-focused budget and promises return to surplus

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Tim Pallas announces new hospitals, clearing of a surgery backlog and hiring of thousands of healthcare workers

The Victorian government will spend $12bn to repair its Covid-battered health system with the treasurer, Tim Pallas, confident that the worst of the pandemic is behind the state and a return to surplus will happen in the near future.

Pallas’s eighth budget, handed down on Tuesday, includes $2.9bn worth of new health infrastructure. This includes $900m to build a hospital in Melton, in Melbourne’s west, which will include a 24-hour emergency department and an intensive care unit, along with maternity and mental health services.

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‘An X on the map’: inland rail flood measures fail to reassure regional NSW communities

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Australian Rail Track Corporation proposal for 200 drainage control areas comes after years of local and expert concerns about flooding

The Australian Rail Track Corporation is capitulating to some community flooding concerns over parts of the inland rail raised seven years ago after record recent flood events in northern New South Wales and the start of the federal election campaign.

In late March landholders received correspondence from the ARTC identifying potential new areas for flood mitigation works after years of the organisation insisting it had “the utmost confidence” in the inland rail’s flood modelling.

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Barnaby Joyce wrongly claims $1.5bn funding for second Darwin port has already been legislated

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Bill that includes Northern Territory infrastructure funding did not pass before parliament was dissolved

Deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has wrongly claimed that an infrastructure package that includes funding for a second port in Darwin has already been legislated, despite the budget bills lapsing when parliament was dissolved on Monday.

Speaking in the Northern Territory on Tuesday, where the Coalition is targeting two Labor-held seats, Joyce was talking up the government’s regional funding commitments, including $2.6bn allocated to the NT through a regional development plan announced on budget night.

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Coalition unveils $17.9bn pre-election cash splash on road and rail projects

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Largest new spending is $3.1bn for Melbourne Intermodal Terminal with package also allocating $140m for a regional road safety program

The Morrison government will use Tuesday’s budget to unveil a multi-billion dollar national infrastructure spend that includes projects in key marginal seats, with $17.9bn in new money to be spent over the next decade.

The pre-election cash splash on road and rail also includes projects for regional Australia that had been secured in negotiations with the Nationals, including $140m for a regional road safety program and $678m for the Outback Way, announced by deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce last month in the key NT marginal seat of Lingiari.

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Victorian government calls for ‘fair’ commonwealth funding for transport projects

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Grattan Institute report finds ‘consistent pattern’ of transport funding going to political battleground states

Victorian transport infrastructure minister Jacinta Allan has called on the federal government to provide the state with its “fair share” of funding after a report found the state was being shortchanged compared with New South Wales and Queensland.

The Grattan Institute report, released on Sunday night, found there was a “consistent pattern” of successive federal governments spending more money on transport in New South Wales and Queensland – where elections tend to be won and lost – than in Victoria.

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New Gabba train station centrepiece of $1.8bn infrastructure spend in south-east Queensland

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Three levels of government announce ‘city deal’ plan in Brisbane to address ‘positive issue of growth’ amid population boom

Environmental and “liveability” pressures that are mounting on south-east Queensland as its population booms will be alleviated under a $1.8bn “city deal”, the prime minister, Queensland premier and Brisbane lord mayor have all promised.

The three leaders spoke on Monday morning from inside the Gabba, the stadium that will be knocked down, rebuilt, integrated into a new underground train station and will, according to the prime minister, Scott Morrison, form the heart of a deal which plans for the next two decades.

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Biden visits site of Pittsburgh bridge collapse and promises action with infrastructure law –as it happened

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Defense secretary Lloyd Austin will host a joint press conference with joint chief of staff chair Mark Milley later today.

A 2019 law allowing anyone in Pennsylvania to vote by mail is unconstitutional, a state court ruled on Friday.

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Joe Biden visits Pittsburgh bridge, collapsed hours before infrastructure speech – video

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Joe Biden visited the site where one of Pittsburgh’s major car bridges collapsed hours before speaking about it in an infrastructure schedule speech in Pennsylvania, on Friday.

At about 7am, the 477ft-long bridge on Forbes Avenue caved in, leaving a mass of concrete rubble and twisted metal as a visual metaphor for America’s crumbling infrastructure.

At least 10 people were injured, three taken to hospital, and a bus and several cars left stranded in the wreckage

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Pittsburgh bridge collapses hours before Biden’s infrastructure speech in city

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At least 10 injured and a bus and several cars left stranded in wreckage after 477ft-long bridge on Forbes Avenue caved in

It would be hard to imagine a more dramatic way to illustrate the need for investment in US infrastructure that Joe Biden was set to talk about in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Friday.

Hours before his visit and just four miles from where the president was scheduled to speak, one of Pittsburgh’s major car bridges collapsed.

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Rocky road: Paraguay’s new Chaco highway threatens rare forest and last of the Ayoreo people

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Forced from their homes by missionaries, the Ayoreo cling on in the Chaco. Now the Bioceanic Corridor cuts through the fastest-vanishing forest on Earth, refuge of some of the Americas’ last hunter-gatherers

In 1972, Catholic missionaries entered the Chaco forest of northern Paraguay and forced Oscar Pisoraja’s family, and their nomadic Ayoreo people, to leave with them. Many perished from thirst on the long march south. Settled near the village of Carmelo Peralta on the Paraguay River, dozens more died from illnesses. Still, the survivors kept up some traditions – hunting for armadillos; weaving satchels from the spiky caraguatá plant. “We felt part of this place,” says Pisoraja, now 51.

Today, his community – and other indigenous peoples across the Chaco, a tapestry of swamp, savanna and thorny forest across four countries that is South America’s largest ecosystem after the Amazon – are confronting a dramatic new change.

Mario Abdo Benítez, Paraguay’s president, and Reinaldo Azambuja Silva, governor of Mato Grosso do Sul state in Brazil, at the site of a new bridge across the Paraguay River, due to be completed in 2024

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