Budget splurge on Vic roads

VICTORIANS will be the big winners in tomorrow’s Federal Budget, with a massive $7.8 billion package of new roads and rail lines to slash travel times and improve safety.

Nearly a third of the Turnbull Government’s $24.5 billion infrastructure bonanza is coming south to ease the congestion woes gripping the growing state.

The cash splash includes $1.75 billion to help build the North East Link, a maze of tunnels and extra lanes on the Eastern Freeway that will save motorists up to half an hour between Melbourne’s north and south.

After decades of inaction, two new rail lines will be added in the southeast, with $475 million to link Monash University’s Caulfield and Clayton campuses and $225 million to electrify the Frankston line to Baxter.

Treasurer Scott Morrison said the spending boost “puts to rest any suggestion” the Commonwealth was shortchanging Victoria, which had received just 10 per cent of federal infrastructure funding.

“The biggest single increase in spending around the country is in Victoria,” he said.

The Budget infrastructure package, which totals $75 billion over the next decade, also includes: A $140 MILLION congestion fund to tackle frustrating bottlenecks roads; COMPLETION of the Princes Highway duplication between Traralgon and Sale, with an extra $132 million to ensure the road is separated all the way from Melbourne; and PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s $5 billion commitment to build a rail link to Melbourne Airport, which was revealed last month.

The Budget will also see a flurry of other initiatives, including several health measures and a crackdown on the illicit tobacco trade.

But the big question about how much workers can expect in their pay packets from a cut in personal income taxes remains unanswered.

Mr Morrison has sought to temper Budget expectations.

“I’m not going to pretend these would be mammoth tax cuts, they will be what is affordable, they will be real and they will be within what the Budget can afford,” he said.

He said the Government had flagged for many months the priority to deliver tax relief for low to middle-income earners because they had been doing it tough for some time without a decent pay rise.

The Government will also provide a $33.8 million cash injection into the mental health service Lifeline to boost its telephone service, while all pregnant women in Australia will have access to a free whooping cough vaccination from July at a cost of $39.5 million. on suburban