The South Australian Liberal Opposition has announced plans to place 30 per cent of state mining royalties into a fund for road infrastructure improvements, to the tune of up to $750 million over the next decade.
The party plans to introduce the legislation should it win the state election in March 2018, according to SA Leader of the Opposition Steven Marshall.
Marshall explained to ABC radio that his party wanted “to make sure that the regions across South Australia are going to get their fair share of infrastructure money to upgrade critical roads”.
The proposal is in keeping with the National Party’s ‘Royalties for Regions’ legislation in Western Australia, which has since 2008 utilised 25 per cent of mining industry royalty revenue for use in local projects as a state spending buffer. The Nationals entered into agreement with the Liberals following a hung parliament result at the 2008 WA state election, on the condition that proposals be considered.
One difference between the SA Opposition proposal and the WA Government Act however, is that the WA Government does not fund road repairs with mining structure due to high costs.