As in NZ, the differences between the major political parties in Australia have been more on emphasis rather than substance, and building transport infrastructure isn't controversial except when it comes to the conflicting expectations of cities versus the countryside. Australia's geography, with a few scattered large cities and not a lot in between, has made building good interstate infrastructure quite expensive in relative terms, but steady progress has been made particularly in the last decade - notably the building of the standard gauge railway from Alice Springs to Darwin and upgrading main roads such as the Pacific Highway between Sydney and Brisbane which is now a lot better than it was 10 years ago.
The incoming Abbott government says it wants to spend more on roads, which sounds like Steven Joyce in NZ, but there is little denying that there are lots of areas where this is needed. We hope that the simultaneous improving of railways won't be neglected.
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