Federal Budget 2022

The 2022 Federal Government Budget was delivered in Canberra tonight by the Federal Treasurer, the Hon, Josh Frydenberg MP and Civil Contractors Federation National has achieved great success with the main aspects of our pre-budget submission being adopted by the Federal Government – please refer to the attached media release for a more detailed explanation. In summary they include:
  1. Sustained Infrastructure Investment – the 10 year rolling infrastructure investment amount has been increased from $110 billion to $120 billion (this was sitting at $75 billion in 2016 and represents a $45 billion increase after tonight’s announcement and since CCF National first began advocating on this issue at the National level).
  2. An equitable spread across rural and regional Australia – an additional $17.9 billion to existing and new infrastructure projects allocated across all jurisdictions.
  3. Fuel excise – a cut in the fuel excise by 22 cents per lite effective from midnight tonight for a 6 month period _ although it will take 1 to 2 weeks to kick in as retailers clear current inventory at the old rate.
  4. Procurement reform – an amendment to the Commonwealth Government Procurement Rules to require debundling of large projects and greater involvement of local contractors.
The Australian Government has committed over $639m towards new infrastructure projects for Tasmania, including $336m for Stage 2 of the Northern Roads Package; $100m for the Great Eastern Drive; and $13.5m for Hobart’s Northern Transit Corridor Solution. These projects give the industry confidence to invest in equipment and also in recruiting, training and up-skilling and funding projects in regional Tasmania helps support regional contractors and regional communities.    These further skills and training initiatives announced are a sign that federal and state governments are intent on building a high vis army of civil workers for the future.  We have all the pieces in place, we now just need to work together to deliver all of these projects and ensure a sustainable long term pipeline is visible. The temporary relief to the fuel excise is welcomed, however, we will continue to  lobby for a longer term strategy that is sustainable for the sector.  The 6 month relief isn’t enough, particularly as the March quarter will see most contractors dealing with a 25-30% increase in their fuel costs.