Mercury (Hobart)

Millions more for northern exposure

- DAVID KILLICK

NO federal budget would be complete without a multimilli­on-dollar promise of upgrades for the Bass Highway and Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has another $80m in the kitty for the red-carpet road.

It has a history of attracting big-spending pledges, but the state’s peak motoring body on Monday called for clarity on how the millions are being spent.

The 273km highway runs through the marginal federal seats of Bass and Braddon.

The state Liberals pledged $40m in upgrades to the road in the lead-up to the March 2018 state election and the federal government allocated $102m to upgrades in the 2018/19 federal budget.

The highway appears to have missed out on a cash splash in 2019/20 but was granted $40m under the Tasmanian Roads Package in the May 2020/21 federal budget and it would appear $100m under the federal government’s Roads of Strategic Importance program in October the same year.

Last November’s state budget upped the ante with $147m in upgrades over four years “as part of our more than $200m joint commitment with the Australian government”.

The federal government has flagged a figure of $80m towards $100m worth of upgrades in Tuesday’s budget for “safety and freight efficiency upgrades”.

The RACT has called for clarity on how the money is being spent.

“While the $80m commitment is welcome, the federal government needs to reveal when the funding will be spent and on which sections of the Bass Highway,” RACT chief advocacy officer Garry Bailey said.

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