The prime minister will usher in the election year with a campaign-style blitz, starting with a record infrastructure promise for a major Australian artery.
Anthony Albanese is expected to announce $7.2 billion in funding to upgrade the Bruce Highway, which runs almost 1,700 kilometers between Brisbane and Cairns.
The commitment came after a rise in fatal accidents on the famous highway, considered one of the most dangerous in Australia.
In 2024, Queenslanders suffered the worst year for road deaths in 15 years, with 302 deaths, 41 of which died on the Bruce Highway.
The famous highway also claimed three lives in the same number of days of the new year.
A 55-year-old man died when his car left the road 45 minutes west of Bundaberg on January 1.
The second fatal accident occurred on January 3 when two men were killed and a child was rushed to hospital following a southbound head-on collision on Bruce Highway near Talia Lane.
The Bruce Highway was also the scene of the horror bus crash that killed three women and injured 27 passengers in June last year.
The Bruce Highway, which stretches almost 1,700 kilometers between Brisbane and Cairns, was named one of Australia’s most dangerous roads after recording 41 deaths last year.
The Greyhound bus was traveling to Townsville when it collided with a 4×4 towing a caravan in Gumlu, in the Whitsundays region of Queensland, on June 30.
Nearly half of the Bruce Highway failed basic safety ratings, and only 10 percent of the stretch of highway was assessed as extremely safe.
Only 10 per cent of the Bruce Highway received a four or five star rating from the Australian Road Assessment Programme, while 45.2 per cent received two stars out of five and 44.1 per cent received three stars. .
Albanese’s $7.2 billion pledge is the largest investment any government has made to fix this section of highway, according to Infrastructure Minister Catherine King.
“This investment will really help improve road safety and productivity on what is the largest artery right through Queensland,” Ms King told the ABC on Monday.
Three people died in the first three days of 2025 in crashes on the Bruce Highway (pictured, two men died on January 3 after a head-on collision on the Bruce Highway)
The Bruce Highway was also the scene of the horror bus crash that killed three women and injured 27 passengers (pictured).
‘When there is grade separation, when there are barriers, when some of the dangerous curves are eliminated, that really reduces the risk to road safety.
“This funding will cover 80 per cent of the $9 billion needed to upgrade the road from a one-star safety rating to a minimum three-star rating – out of a possible five stars – and the improvements will require some contribution from the state government. .’ said Mrs. King.
Albanese will announce the pledge in Gympie, north of the Sunshine Coast, before continuing his tour to far north Queensland.
As the election approaches, the prime minister is also expected to tour the Northern Territory and Western Australia later in the week, hopping between knife-edge electorates with a clear proposal.
“The election is a choice between building Australia’s future or taking Australia backwards,” Mr Albanese said.
The cost of living has continued to erode the government’s favourability, and December’s Newspoll showed support for the two parties had fallen to 50-50 as Labor continued to lose key demographics.
In this latest round of messages, Albanese will promise to pave the way for the future and ease pressure on families, with investments in infrastructure, health, childcare and housing.
But his government will need some help from the Reserve Bank and inflation figures if it is to win over voters.
Anthony Albanese (pictured) is expected to announce $7.2 billion in funding to upgrade the Bruce Highway.
Although federal elections have not yet been called, they are expected to be held before May 17.
However, there are only two opportunities for the central bank to reduce the cash rate – and provide much-needed cost of living relief – before this date.
Mortgage holders and the government hope that a weaker consumer price index would strengthen the case for an interest cut at the Reserve Bank’s first meeting of the year in February.
While the November consumer price index, due to be released on Wednesday, will contain important details, the RBA typically places more emphasis on the full quarterly release, due to be released later in January.
Still, Treasurer Jim Chalmers remained confident the figures would show the government had made progress.
“Monthly numbers may vary, but anything with a two in front of it in this week’s data will show that inflation is much less than half of what we inherited from the Liberals,” he said.
“Inflation was higher and rising under the Liberals and is much lower and has been falling under Labour.”
A 2.8 per cent rise in the September quarter consumer price index marked a return to the Reserve Bank’s target range of two to three per cent for the first time in years.
The market expectation for headline inflation is between 2.1 percent and 2.7 percent in the year to November, however monthly figures are volatile.