The budget has allocated $812.5 million for Queensland’s Bruce Highway – Gateway Motorway to Dohles Rocks Road Stage 2 upgrade. Photo: QLD Department of Main Roads.
Like most of the Federal Government’s 2026-27 Federal Budget policies, much of what was in the budget for infrastructure and fuel security had largely already been announced or leaked.
The budget has seen $12.1 billion allocated to new investments across the infrastructure portfolio, including $10.3 billion for transport infrastructure, $976 million for transport, and $803 million for community infrastructure.
Some of the projects covered in the budget include an additional $3.8 billion for Melbourne’s Suburban Rail Loop East as announced on 8 May; $1.75 billion for productivity and resilience upgrades to the national freight rail network; and $812.5 million for Queensland’s Bruce Highway – Gateway Motorway to Dohles Rocks Road Stage 2 upgrade to add to the $758.4 million investment in Stage 1.
Other investments include $552 million for the first stages of Western Australia’s Anketell Road Upgrades near Henderson; and $50 million for upgrades to the Sydney to Canberra rail corridor and to development of a business case for longer term initiatives as was announced on 11 May.
The budget also includes what the government has labelled a consolidation and refocused direction of the Inland Rail project which will now terminate at Parkes in Central West NSW instead of going all the way through to Brisbane.
The government says it will continue to provide local community grant funding, including bringing forward $2.9 billion of the 2026–27 Financial Assistance Grant Entitlement to Local Government; $750 million more for new rounds of the Thriving Suburbs and Growing Regions programs; $22.5 million to deliver round 10 of the Stronger Communities Program; and an additional $500 million for the Active Transport Fund.
In the face of ongoing uncertainty over fuel supplies form the Middle East, the budget has provided short-term support to manage fuel disruptions, and has allocated funding to invest in longer term productivity and resilience of the transport industry.
Some of these initiatives include $47.1 million to continue developing a Maritime Single Window designed to cut regulatory costs and provide a single digital portal for international maritime reporting; $4 million to develop a Green Fuel Bunkering Strategy to support decarbonisation; and $7.3 million per year over the forward estimates to deliver enhanced protections for the aviation sector.
Additionally, the budget will provide $4.5 million over the forward estimates for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to continue aviation price monitoring, and the government will work with industry to introduce a new market measure to help drive demand for the domestic production of low carbon liquid fuels through the $1.1 billion Cleaner Fuels Program.
The government says fuel resilience will be strengthened through the delivery of a major fuel security and price relief package, including an investment of $14.8 billion to secure more fuel and to strengthen supply chains and build resilience against future fuel shocks.
It says the Strengthening Australia’s Fuel Resilience package will deliver more fuel for motorists, and more fuel security in the economy by securing more fuel internationally through the $7.5 billion Fuel and Fertiliser Security Facility over and above extra supplies already procured since the war in the Middle East started; and build long-term resilience through the $3.2 billion Australian Fuel Security Reserve which aims to increase reserves of diesel and jet fuel to 50 days.
A Strengthening the Fuel Security Services Payment of $10 million will be made to ensure the future of Australia’s last two remaining oil refineries and to develop feasibility studies to expand domestic refining capacity; $54.7 million will be spent over five years to manage Australia’s Fuel Security Framework; and $9.2 million over two years has been allocated to the Fuel Supply Taskforce to deliver approaches to managing disruptions to fuel supply chains.
The government says supply chains have been strengthened and the pressure on fuel users have been relieved through $2.9 billion in funding to more than halve the fuel excise and cut the heavy vehicle road user charge to zero for three months to 30 June; while $1 billion in interest free loans through the National Reconstruction Fund’s Economic Resilience Program has been provided to provide cashflow relief to businesses in critical supply chains.
A further $67.7 million has been allocated over the forward estimates to support greater enforcement of competition and consumer laws by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, while weekly fuel price monitoring penalties for major breaches will be doubled from $50 million to $100 million.
$55 million has also been allocated this year for a Transport Resilience and Capacity Kickstart pilot program to incentivise more freight to move via trains – despite the cut to funding for the Inland Rail – and cargo ships, while the government will seek to accelerate heavy vehicle reforms through National Competition Policy to increase transport productivity and support the uptake of zero emissions heavy vehicles.
In an effort to build greater resilience, $1.1 billion has been allocated to the Cleaner Fuels Program designed to boost the production of low-emission fuels in Australia; $4 million for a green bunkering strategy to support uptake of low-carbon maritime fuels; and ongoing support for electric vehicles through a permanent 25 per cent fringe benefits tax discount for eligible electric cars until 1 April 2029.
An additional $40 million will be released over the forward estimates to accelerate the roll-out of fast kerbside electric vehicle charging infrastructure; while $40.5 million will be spent this year to accelerate the electrification of Australia Post’s delivery fleet.
