The road projects in Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland were to be paid for out of Labor’s mining tax revenue. But they were then abandoned by the Coalition because the mining tax failed to raise sufficient funds.

However, on Wednesday, Infrastructure Minister Warren Truss announced the government’s change of heart, saying it would go ahead with the projects.

“We were making it clear that if you have a tax that doesn't raise money and you're spending money from it, then you can't go ahead with those projects unless you can find an alternative way of funding them,” Truss told ABC’s AM radio program.

“Now we're doing it on budget because we know that an important part of recovery from Labor's mess is for us to undertake productive infrastructure.”

In New South Wales, the federal government will provide almost $220 million to four major projects. These include:

• $80 million for road safety improvements and a 3km realignment at Bolivia Hill near Tenterfield;
• $42 million for building two northbound and two southbound climbing lanes at Mount Ousley Road between Bulli Tops and the Picton Road interchange;
• $51.9 million for the Tourle Street Bridge duplication at Newcastle Port (Kooragang Island); and
• $45 million for building a level crossing at Scone to address congestion.

Western Australia will receive more than $480 million to fund two major projects, including:

• $307.8 million for the Great Northern Highway upgrade between Muchea and Wubin, which will include realignment work, road widening, the provision of additional overtaking lanes and intersection upgrades; and
• $174 million for the North West Coastal Highway upgrade between Minilya and Barradale, which will include bridge upgrades, strengthening of the pavement and widening of the road.

Queensland will receive $210 million for the Cape York regional package, which will upgrade road infrastructure in northern Queensland, including the road between Mapoon and Weipa, the connection between Aurukun and the Peninsula Development Road and the Jardine River Bridge.

Upgrades to the Seisia Wharf and improvements to the raw water pipeline from Bamaga to Seisia are also included in the package.

Finally, South Australia will receive $85 million to fund the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytatjara Lands project, which will upgrade 21km of the APY Lands road network, as well as the main access road between the Stuart Highway and Pukatja.

The funding announcement precedes yesterday’s release of the government’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook, which projected $123 billion worth of budget deficits over the next four years.