If you could give the Bruce Highway a rating out of five, I wonder what it would be from your point of view. Have you driven it lately? Maybe you had a break over Christmas and New Year and drove part of it, a stretch of it. Currently, the Bruce Highway doesn't score even three stars out of five officially. The Federal Government today has announced a record $7.2 billion that they're prepared to spend, $9 billion in total so that it can get to this minimum rating of three stars. Joining me on the line this afternoon is the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. Good afternoon to you, Prime Minister.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon, Bern. Greetings from a very sunny Rockhampton.
YOUNG: Well, you're in an even hotter part of the state, I would think, in Rocky right now. What have you seen firsthand of the condition of the Bruce where you are?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we went to Gympie earlier today, landed on the Sunshine Coast and drove up the section of the Highway that has been substantially improved as a result of the work we did between Cooroy to Curra, which was at the time the most dangerous section of road in Australia. It's fully duplicated, all four sections done. And I was there with an ambo, Wayne Sachs, who's been an ambulance officer for all almost 50 years, working 30 years out of Gympie. And he came to see me when I was the Infrastructure Minister way back in 2009. And it was his advocacy was one of the factors that led us to put in record funding at the time to make sure that this dangerous section of road was fixed. And he was there today for the announcement of the $7.2 billion to upgrade and fix the Bruce Highway across a range of priority sections that have been identified so that the Highway is brought up to at least that three star standard.
YOUNG: What does it actually mean in practical terms? What's a three star highway?
PRIME MINISTER: What it means is when you look at the analysis at the moment, there's a crash rate on the Bruce of three to five times higher than other highways. You don't have appropriate roadside safety barriers, you don't have appropriate separations where it happened, where it is needed. You've got in some areas flood damage and issues which just make it not safe. You don't have enough rest areas, you don't have enough wide centreline treatments as well to separate the road. So, what it means is in some areas there's major works going away now, like the Rockhampton Ring Road that's under construction at the moment. But in other areas, it does mean that there will be safety upgrades have been identified of $9 billion that was required. We're providing 80 per cent of the funding to make sure that that can happen, because we know, sadly, it's the state's deadliest road and Australia's deadliest road. 41 lives lost in the last year alone. Two lives were lost just last week. This brings our total investment to $17 billion, which is by far the largest investment that's been made in any infrastructure project in the country.
YOUNG: I want to ask you a bit more about the investment and the choice to go 80-20 rather than 50-50. But just in terms of the priorities of what you want to see fixed first, almost half of that highway between Gympie and Cairns at least has the two star rating. So, what do you see is the priority area first? What will be fixed, in what order?
PRIME MINISTER: The priority areas that have been identified on top of, there's 45 projects currently underway or under planning, but on top of that, Maryborough to Benaraby has been identified as perhaps the biggest priority area. But Rocky to St Lawrence, Bowen to Townsville, Ingham to Innisfail, they've all been identified as, if you like, the top four areas that need to be done first. We obviously want this to happen as soon as possible. The investment is available from this year, the additional investment on top of the $10 billion that has already been allocated by the Australian Government.
YOUNG: And can you put a timeline on when all of these upgrades will be done?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we want it to be done as a matter of urgency. I'd like it to happen tomorrow, but you can't do that with infrastructure, of course. You need proper planning, you need a workforce. And one of the issues here is that the Commonwealth doesn't actually provide the funding and the contracting, sorry, we do provide the funding, but not the contracting and the payment of that, the organising of the workforce. That will be up to the Queensland Government. And we want it to happen, though, as a matter of urgency. The sooner the work's done, our funding will be available.
YOUNG: Well, David Crisafulli, the LNP premier in Queensland, has welcomed the funding. He says that that road is a disgrace and a national disgrace at that. You're in Rockhampton at the moment. I want to share with you something Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, from someone else who calls Rockhampton home. He's a grieving uncle. His niece was killed on the Bruce Highway back in 2020, she was heading from Rocky down to Gladstone with a friend. The friend survived but did have horrific injuries. This is what Leyland Barnett had to say. Now, he's also a driving instructor and these were his thoughts on your announcement today.
LEYLAND BARNETT: It's incidents like this and other road users that have died on the Bruce Highway. And we're just one part of the story. There's so many other stories of people that have died on the Bruce Highway. And it's so tragic. It hits you hard when it impacts your own family. So, yes, I'd like to thank the Prime Minister for taking his stance on what he's done. And I do hope that the Coalition will follow through if they were to win this year's election. And we hope that they unite together in fixing this Bruce Highway. This is so important for our region, so important for the whole country. Because it's a lifeblood of the highway. The national highway. Should be the number one highway in our state.
YOUNG: That's Leyland Barnett. You can hear the emotion of course in his voice, still grieving the loss of his niece. But he wants unity. So, why make this announcement now when it will be seen as buying votes for your re election, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we've been making announcements about additional funding in the Bruce Highway and every single Budget that we've made.
YOUNG: But this is a grand announcement today. You can't deny that. $7.2 billion of $9 billion.
PRIME MINISTER: It's a very significant announcement that we put into the Mid-Year Economic Forecast, made some provisions and that will be in our Budget. We want to make sure. One of the things that we've done upon coming to office is fix the mess that was the infrastructure budget. A project like the Rockhampton Ring Road that was planned when I was the Minister way back more than a decade ago. There hadn't been a hole dug in that project. Tragically nothing had actually happened. And you can't drive on a media release, you need to drive on a road. And tragically nothing had happened with that. It was $700 million underfunded and you can't also have a contract -
YOUNG: Sorry, Prime Minister, could we just stay focused on today's announcement though? Is this the start has gone on your re-election campaign, I guess is what I am wondering.
PRIME MINISTER: No. Well, we've been making sure that we had to fix the infrastructure budget in our first two. That's provided us with the space to make this announcement today. This is a commitment that's consistent with the commitments that I made when I was the Infrastructure Minister. I understand how important the Bruce Highway is. And I've driven it on multiple occasions. During the pandemic, I did three big road trips. Two of which were the length of Queensland's coast and one from Barcaldine across through Emerald to Rockhampton here and then down. So, I do understand the state of the road and the need for significant improvements. And we've been making sure that we're in a position to do so. And today's announcement is an important one. It is a historic one and it will make a difference and it will save lives. And my heart goes out to Leyland and to others. Every road accident is traumatic for the families and it never goes away, it stays with people. And better infrastructure is just one of the things that can assist. Road rules and standards of course are another. And of course, driver behaviour is the third.
YOUNG: In terms of an election campaign and officially it's not underway, I suppose, is what you're saying, however, I think a lot of people feel that it perhaps even began at the end of last year. Are you tempted, Prime Minister, with people in a better mood post holiday, for instance, to call an early election? Do you have a date in mind?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I think three years is too short. One of the problems with a three-year term, unlike every state and territory government has longer than that four years and overseas most countries have at least four, but many of them have five-year terms as well, is that once you're through the first 18 months, people keep asking you about when the election will be. I've said very clearly that my view is three years is too short. So, I'm just focused on governing and governing properly and putting in place our plans. Both looking after families, but also caring about the country. And today's announcement is about both.
YOUNG: There'd be very few people who will be unhappy to hear that you're prepared to pay 80 per cent of the bill and only leaving 20 per cent for the State Government. But in some regards, if you'd stuck to the 50-50, which had been said earlier that you were going to go 50-50, you could have had a $14 billion spend. So, why not do that?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we're not limiting how much the State Government want to put in to projects. We're providing though appropriate funding for what is a gap there. The Hume Highway is fully duplicated, the Pacific Highway is fully duplicated, but the Bruce Highway certainly is not. And it needs to be brought up to up to a better standard. You can't have situation whereby Australia's most dangerous highway, with a crash rate of three to five times higher than other highways, is just allowed to continue to be in that position. And more than 60 per cent of Queenslanders rely upon or will use the Bruce Highway, not just those who will use it regularly. Some people will use it to go on holidays or to visit friends and family. But it's also an important economic artery as well for the movement of freight and goods up and down what is Australia's most regional state.
YOUNG: At 20 past three on ABC Brisbane and Gold Coast. You're with Bern Young and my guest is the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. Just a couple of more questions, if you don't mind, Prime Minister. Governments around the world are finding incumbency tough at the moment, with voters blaming them for higher inflation. Whether it's your fault or not, it doesn't seem to matter, the ever-growing cost of living challenges. And by providing 80 per cent instead of 50-50 split, you are going to be part of the narrative that your Opposition and the leader, Peter Dutton, says that you spend your way into and out of elections. So, how do you answer that? Are you spending your way to buy votes?
PRIME MINISTER: We're doing the right investments. That's why we're investing in Medicare. I just went to an Urgent Care Clinic here in Rockhampton that's made an enormous difference. More than a million Australians have benefited from our Urgent Care Clinics, more than a million Australians. A billion dollars has been saved on our cheaper medicines, 1.2 million families have benefited from the cheaper child care we've provided. Every single one of your listeners who's a taxpayer has benefited from the tax cuts that we put in. All of those measures were opposed by Peter Dutton. We care about Australian families under pressure. We understand that there's more to do, but we say that we don't want people to be left behind. And we also care about the country, which is why we're investing in infrastructure, which is why we're investing in making more things here in Australia as well. We acknowledge that the shift to net zero presents an enormous opportunity from acting on climate change rather than the nuclear fantasy, where Peter Dutton wants to give Australians a bill for what will be the most expensive form of new energy that you could possibly come up with sometime in the 2040s.
YOUNG: One final question, and it's probably the most controversial. Some say today is the 12th day of Christmas. Others say it was yesterday. Have you taken down your Christmas tree, Prime Minister?
PRIME MINISTER: The Christmas tree is down. And it came down just after New Year's. And it, though, is always a bit sad, I think, when the Christmas tree comes down, I've got to say. So, I am not critical of anyone for leaving a Christmas tree up for as long as they want because it might bring them some joy when they look at it.
YOUNG: You're already getting into business by the sounds of things, if your Christmas tree came down on New Year's. Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, thanks for your time on ABC Radio Brisbane and Gold Coast.
PRIME MINISTER: Great to talk with you.
