The Government is responding to the needs of the economy by building infrastructure that will drive economic growth, create jobs and improve productivity.

All levels of government are facing considerable constraints in their budgets. This has become a significant impediment to the provision of the infrastructure Australia needs.

In this Budget, resources will be shifted from recurrent expenditure into investment to deliver the $11.6 billion boost in funding.

In addition, to provide a secure funding source for road infrastructure, the Government will re-introduce the bi-annual indexation of fuel excise to the Consumer Price Index from 1 August 2014.

The Productivity Commission's draft report on Public Infrastructure identifies poor project selection and inadequate planning as major constraints on building infrastructure in Australia. To address the mounting costs and inefficiencies that are unnecessarily delaying projects, this Government is reforming Infrastructure Australia which will improve infrastructure project planning, selection and delivery, and contribute to a strong pipeline of infrastructure projects.

To further leverage private sector investment, the Australian Government stands ready to use its balance sheet to help manage risks that might otherwise impede private sector financing. For example, the Government is providing alternative financing in the form of a concessional loan to accelerate the delivery of the WestConnex project.

The Australian Government will also, where possible, encourage greater reliance on user charging, with the potential to stimulate significantly greater levels of additional private sector investment.

Together with record funding levels this will ensure the delivery of vital infrastructure for the 21^st Century.