The Rudd Government today announced a $4.7 billion nation building package to strengthen the Australian economy and create Australian jobs. Today’s
The Rudd Government today announced a $4.7 billion nation building package to strengthen the Australian economy and create Australian jobs.
Today’s package is an investment in road, rail, and education infrastructure, as well as vital tax changes to help Australian businesses during a global recession.
These national infrastructure projects and the assistance to business will boost the level of GDP and help create up to 32,000 Australian jobs.
There are three key infrastructure elements in today’s package:
- Inject $1.2 billion in new funds into the Australian Rail Track Corporation
- Bring forward $711 million in road spending to this financial year and next and more than double funding for the Black Spots program
- Invest $1.6 billion in critical university and TAFE infrastructure
Today’s package also includes two vital tax changes:
- A 10 percent temporary investment allowance to encourage capital investment by Australian businesses
- A 20 percent cut in the next quarterly pay-as-you-go (PAYG) tax instalment for 1.3 million small businesses
Today’s package builds on the Rudd Government’s $10.4 billion Economic Security Strategy, the $6.2 billion New Car Plan, the $300 million local infrastructure funding boost, and the $15.1 billion COAG package.
The Government will make further announcements about nation building projects, funded from the Building Australia Fund, and subject to the Infrastructure Australia priority list, early next year.