Turnbull reinstates local government ministry

Another catch-all departmental name

21 September, 2015

Industry chuffed at VIC $30m to standardise freight rail

Movement on delayed journey to uniform gauges.

18 February, 2015

Federal infrastructure fund inundated by cash-strapped councils

Councils jostle for a piece of the infrastructure pie

15 September, 2014

Stalled $2.1bn Roads to Recovery funding finally jump-started

Anger over length of legislative delay.

2 September, 2014

Gosford’s glow in the dark footpath lights-up savings

Phosphorescent surfacing on fast track from Feds.

1 September, 2014

High Court school chaplains decision set to choke council money from Canberra

It may not have come as a surprise, but the Williams case MkII decision is exactly the legal nightmare local governments have unsuccessfully been fighting to avoid for years.

19 June, 2014

Catastrophic impact warning from councils over axing of federal funds for local government

The National Commission of Audit’s recommendations to dump dozens of government programs could cut off cash flowing from Canberra to councils if direct funding programs are eliminated.

5 May, 2014

New Sydney airport approval hits turbulence from industry over ambiguous rail links

Any immediate prospect of using fast trains to bypass freeway congestion to connect to people to international and domestic flights has been shunted aside for another big ticket roads build.

16 April, 2014

Councils demand regional airline access to Sydney Airport

NSW councils are getting increasingly nervous over whether regional airlines will have continued guaranteed access to Sydney’s Kingsford Smith Airport if a second airport is built with fears growing country communities could lose access to services available only in the city.

27 March, 2014

Councils back Inland Railway to stop truck damage to local roads

The potential for the federal government’s planned Melbourne-to-Brisbane Inland Railway to reduce costly damage to local roads has led to praise from councils across Australia.

21 March, 2014

Queensland applauds Abbott’s $6.7 bn for Bruce Highway

A federal government commitment to flood-proof Queensland’s Bruce Highway is being predictably hailed by the Campbell Newman government.

13 March, 2014

Holden departure throws open government fleet business

By Julian Bajkowski Government fleet buyers across Australia in all sectors will be forced to reassess their procurement plans after iconic carmaker General Motors Holden confirmed that it will cease local production in 2017, leaving Toyota as the last onshore manufacturer. The confirmation has big implications for the federal fleet sector as well as Victorian […]

11 December, 2013

Truss leaves High Speed Rail door open

By Julian Bajkowski The prospect of Australia finally building a high speed passenger rail line along the East Coast of the continent has been softly revived by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, Warren Truss, during a key speech to the influential Australasian Rail Association’s AusRail Plus conference in Sydney. Following […]

29 November, 2013

Miners claim to shovel $37bn into communities

By Julian Bajkowski The minerals and mining industry is digging deep to produce evidence that its activities contribute far more to communities than the ill-fated Minerals Resource Rent Tax (MRRT) could ever collect. As the Abbott government prepares the MRRT for burial by repealing its legislation, powerful peak body the Minerals Council of Australia has […]

19 November, 2013