The Prime Minister Scott Morrison and the Federal Government today made another announcement that will help support the building industry in Victoria.

A new package of $1.5 billion in funding will be given to state and territory governments to start smaller priority projects immediately. $1 billion of this will go to priority projects that, due to their smaller size, are ready to proceed. $500 million will then be reserved for road safety works across the country.  Victoria and its building industry will see its share of these $1.5 billion of works.

In addition to this the Federal Government is planning to cut red-tape and approval times for major projects-- something that all in the industry will welcome. Today the Prime Minister announced that 15 major projects are on that fast-track for approval under a bilateral model that sees the Commonwealth, states and territories work together to accelerate what is more than $72 billion of private and public investments.

The government is reaching for a 50 per cent reduction in approval times for these projects, of which nationally 66,000 direct and indirect jobs will be created sooner.

This will include projects involving the Victorian building and construction industry, like the Inland Rail from Melbourne to Brisbane, and the Marinus Link from Tasmania to Victoria.

Two weeks ago we saw HomeBuilder, and now we are seeing financial and red tape-reducing support for major infrastructure projects that will be the domain of some of the largest construction employers in the state. This is another needed measure that will assist in keeping people employed in the industry.

We will keep working with government and our members during this time to navigate the economic crisis.