The Coalition’s obsession with pork barrelling and undeliverable projects made Australian infrastructure pipeline unsustainable, the CFMEU said today.
The previous Liberal-National government promised billions of dollars towards projects that didn’t stack up in an effort to buy votes.
As a result, Infrastructure Minister Catherine King has been forced to change course in order to give construction workers and the public certainty.
An independent review of Australia’s infrastructure pipeline found projects that did not demonstrate merit and lacked any national strategic rationale.
CFMEU National Secretary Zach Smith said Liberal ex-Prime Ministers should admit their infrastructure agenda had been a sham.
“Morrison, Abbott and Turnbull are still hurting Australians from beyond the political grave,” he said.
“Construction workers will never forget the reckless, politicised and downright stupid decisions that led us here.
“The Coalition sprayed around billions of dollars like confetti in cynical ploys to pick up votes.
“Industrial-scale pork barrelling and backing projects that didn’t stack up – that’s what a decade of Coalition infrastructure failure gave us.
“Major road and rail projects must be sustainable to give workers good, secure jobs that help us build tomorrow.
“Minister King is dead right when she says infrastructure needs to focus on productivity, sustainability, and liveability.
“The business lobby will predictably use this as an opportunity to spread the same old lies about wages driving construction costs higher.
“The simple facts are real wages have been flatlining for years.
“The profit-fuelled cost-of-living crisis has driven up the cost of building materials the same as pretty much every product in Australia.
“Hopefully this infrastructure reset will lock in a sensible and sustainable infrastructure pipeline for years to come.”
