In May,King announced a 90-day review of the government’s infrastructure pipeline by federal and state bureaucrats Mike Mrdak,Reece Waldock and Clare Gardiner-Barnes amid concerns the cost and number of projects had grown out of control. It has already started trimming projects promised by the previous government,including the$5.4 billion Hells Gate Dam in Far North Queensland.
Last week,theInternational Monetary Fund urged all governments to slow down and better co-ordinate infrastructure spending,saying it was contributing to inflation pressures that might require even higher interest rates on mortgage holders.
King,who is expected to release the infrastructure review in coming weeks,said the government remained committed to a $120 billion pipeline of projects,with 300 of them under construction.
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She said there were likely to be cost overruns above the $33 billion already identified,noting that each project in the pipeline was affected.
“What I don’t want to do is promise people that we’re going to build something when it clearly is not going to be built,” she said.
The review looked at around 200 projects and recommended some should be cancelled and others delayed allowing costs to be fully considered,she added.