Australian Infrastructure Budget Monitor 2022-23

Jurisdiction rankings

After taking top spot last year for the first-time, Victoria has once again finished in first place in the Budget Monitor rankings with an $85.3 billion allocation to infrastructure – representing a 22.7 per cent of the State’s total general government expenditure. Victoria defends its position in top spot despite moderating its four-year allocation by $4.9 billion in response to a heated infrastructure market.

New South Wales takes second place allocating $88.4 billion in general government expenditure to infrastructure over four years. This represents a $2.8 billion or three per cent increase on the State’s 2021- 22 four-year allocation, however due to a 10 per cent increase in total general government expenditure, the State’s share of general government expenditure has declined from 19 per cent to 17.9 per cent.

South Australia and the Northern Territory have swapped places in this year’s rankings, with South Australia moving up to third place after increasing its four-year share of total spending on infrastructure to 14.3 per cent, while the Northern Territory takes fourth place by decreasing its share from 15 per cent to 13.8 per cent.

Similarly, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory have traded places, with Tasmania taking fifth place in its 13.5 per cent allocation to infrastructure. The Australian Capital Territory finishes in sixth place at 12.8 per cent, down from 13.1 per cent last year. Queensland remains in seventh place with 11.6 per cent allocated for infrastructure over four years.

Queensland’s rank comes despite a $5.8 billion, 19 per cent increase in infrastructure spending. The Western Australian Budget delivered an infrastructure funding share of 9.9 per cent of general government expenditure – above the 10-year average of 9.5 per cent. However, the State remains in last place in the rankings for the sixth consecutive year.

Per Capita Infra Spend Analysis

This year’s Budget season sees mixed results for per capita infrastructure spend, with most states delivering minor increases. A $1,400 per person increase in Tasmania and a $1,500 per person decrease in the Northern Territory provide exceptions to this rule. Despite this decrease, the smaller population and large geography of the Northern Territory sees it deliver the highest per capita infrastructure spend again. The moderation of infrastructure spending sees a $600 decline per person in Victoria, however this remains significantly higher than the historical average after the $3,000 increase delivered in the 2021-22 Budget. Figure 3 shows per capita infrastructure investment across Australia over the last two years.

Figure 3: Per capita infrastructure funding by state and territory

Source: Infrastructure Partnerships Australia analysis based on 2022-23 Federal Budget