Australian state government road funding policies in the 1970s and 1980s

SUMMARY

Australian road funding in the 1970s and 1980s has been characterised by conflict between federal and state governments over control of spending. This has influenced both total funds made available and spending priorities between national, arterial and local roads. Having the constitutional responsibility for roads, state governments have refused to discuss priorities with the Commonwealth, have not stated policies, have given the Australian government as little public acknowledgement as possible, have spent money on markedly different priorities, and yet are changing their means of determining priorities to reflect changing community wishes. Interestingly, at neither state nor federal level is there evidence of pursuance of a single, dominant policy objective.