This morning Labor has announced a $100 million Active Transport Fund with a commencement date of 1 July 2025.
This falls far short of the 20% of federal transport funding for active transport called for by the Climate Council in its 2023 Shifting Gear Report in order to achieve Australia’s obligations under the Paris Agreement, and to combat traffic congestion in our cities.
The Greens have long called for a dedicated Active Transport Fund, and at the last federal election announced a Fund of $500 million per year – twenty times Labor’s recent announcement.
Attributale to Elizabeth Watson-Brown MP, Greens spokesperson for Transport, Infrastructure and Sustainable Cities:
While our cities groan with traffic and transport emissions grow, Labor is offering only one twentieth of what would be needed in terms of active transport investment to give people the freedom to leave their car at home.
Labor’s new fund will not see a meaningful decrease in cars on the road. This is evident from the fact that, while they budget $25 million a year for active transport, they’re still tipping over $10 billion a year into road projects that will see more people drive.
As with so many announcements from this Labor government, the wording sounds nice, but the reality is a penny pinching mentality, while big corporations make record profits and dodge tax.
If Labor’s new active transport commitment were spread between Australia’s 86 cities and regional centres, it would equate to just over $290,000 a year each for active transport infrastructure. That’s hardly much more than a few painted lines. We need an Active Transport Fund that can deliver the infrastructure our growing cities need.