Australia shifts towards public transport boost under Turnbull

Canberra

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's government wants to boost funding for road and rail public transport infrastructure on the fringes of Australia's major cities to attract housing-development projects.

"Land prices in the outer suburbs of Sydney or Melbourne are sufficiently high and have accelerated enough over recent years to be able to support funding of major transport infrastructure projects," Assistant Minister for Cities Angus Taylor said on Sunday. "If we're to make major investments in transport infrastructure, it's right and proper that we can have an expectation that there are major new housing developments" in those areas, he said.