Australia’s deadly highway to hell to get major upgrade as Albo launches election cash splash

The Prime Minister will mark the start of the election year with a campaign-style blitz, kicking off with a record infrastructure promise for a major Australian trunk road.

Anthony Albanese is expected to announce $7.2 billion in funding to modernize the Bruce Highway, which stretches almost 1,700km between Brisbane and Cairns.

The pledge followed a rise in fatal crashes on the infamous highway, which has been called one of Australia’s most dangerous roads.

In 2024, Queenslanders suffered their worst year for road fatalities in fifteen years, with 302 fatalities, 41 of which occurred on the Bruce Highway.

The infamous highway also claimed three lives in as many days of the new year.

A 55-year-old man was killed when his car left the road 45 minutes west of Bundaberg on January 1.

The second fatality occurred on January 3, when two men were killed and a child was rushed to hospital after a head-on collision southbound on the 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 Greyhound bus was heading to Townsville when it collided with a 4WD towing a caravan in Gumlu, in the Whitsundays region of Queensland, on June 30.

Nearly half of the Bruce Highway failed to meet basic safety ratings, with only 10 percent of the stretch of road rated as extremely safe.

Only 10 percent of the Bruce Highway was rated four or five stars under the Australian Road Assessment Program, while 45.2 percent received two out of five stars and 44.1 percent received three stars.

According to Infrastructure Minister Catherine King, Albanese’s $7.2 billion commitment is the largest investment any government has ever made in rehabilitating this stretch of road.

“This investment will actually drive improvements in road safety and productivity on what is the largest arterial road all the way through Queensland,” Ms King told the ABC on Monday.

Three people were killed in the first three days of 2025 in crashes on the Bruce Highway (pictured two men killed on January 3 after a head-on collision on Bruce Highway)

The Bruce Highway was also the scene of the horror bus crash that killed three women and injured 27 passengers (pictured)

‘If you have grade separations, if you have barriers, if you eliminate some dangerous corners, that really reduces the risk to road safety.

‘This funding will cover 80 per cent of the $9 billion needed to upgrade the highway 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 Koning.

Mr Albanese will announce the pledge in Gympie, north of the Sunshine Coast, before continuing his journey to far north Queensland.

With the election just around the corner, the Prime Minister is also expected to tour the Northern Territory and Western Australia later this week, jumping among sharp voters with a clear proposal.

“The election is a choice between building Australia’s future or setting Australia back,” Albanese said.

The cost of living continues to undermine the government’s favorable position, with the December Newspoll showing two-party support falling to 50-50, while Labor continues to lose key demographics.

In this latest round of messages, Mr Albanese will promise to pave the way for the future and take the pressure off families, with investments in infrastructure, healthcare, childcare and housing.

But his government will need help from the Reserve Bank and inflation figures if it wants to convince voters.

Anthony Albanese (pictured) is expected to announce $7.2 billion in funding to modernize the Bruce Highway

Although the federal elections have not yet been called, they are expected to take place before May 17.

However, there are only two options for the central bank to cut cash rates before this date – and provide much-needed cost-of-living relief.

Mortgage holders and the government hope a weaker consumer price index would strengthen the case for a rate cut at the Reserve Bank’s first meeting of the year in February.

While the Consumer Price Index for November – which will be published on Wednesday – will contain important details, the RBA typically places more emphasis on the comprehensive quarterly publication, which will be released later in January.

Regardless, Treasurer Jim Chalmers remained confident the figures would show the government had made progress.

“The monthly numbers may jump around, but anything with a two in front of it in this week’s data will show that inflation is far less than half of what we inherited from the Liberals,” he said.

“Inflation was higher and rising under the Liberals, but is much lower and falling under Labor.”

A 2.8 percent increase in the consumer price index in September marked a return to the Reserve Bank’s target range of two to three percent for the first time in years.

Market expectations for headline inflation are between 2.1 percent and 2.7 percent in the period through November, but monthly figures are volatile.