A LABOR government would make the Inland Rail a "reality for Australia", Labor candidate for the seat of Parkes, Kate Stewart says.
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Ms Stewart said she had already talked to Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Anthony Albanese, about the project, which would see a rail link built from Brisbane to Melbourne through the Parkes electorate. She said Mr Albanese indicated to her it was a high priority for the party.
"Naturally with a project as big and important as this our Shadow Minister for Infrastructure, Anthony Albanese, has frequently spoken about making sure that Inland Rail becomes a reality for Australia," Ms Stewart said.
"And the first thing Anthony said to me after hearing of my preselection was 'Inland Rail', followed by discussion reiterating Labor's long-term commitment to this project."
Late last week Parkes MP Mark Coulton said he was hopeful there would be funding for the project in Tuesday's budget that will be delivered by Treasurer Scott Morrison. He said he would like to see the corridor of land that the rail system would be built on purchased.
Mr Albanese said the Coalition government had one last opportunity to put some money towards the project after promising to fast track its construction at the 2013 election.
"Despite the promise, the Coalition has not allocated a single dollar beyond the $900 million invested by the former Labor government," Mr Albanese said.
"We've had plenty of talk from the government, but not a cent of actual investment."
Mr Albanese seized on comments by former Nationals leader John Anderson, who chaired the Inland Rail Implementation Group, earlier this month when he said the project needed to be properly funded or dumped.
Ms Stewart said on Tuesday she was sceptical there would be anything for the Parkes electorate in Tuesday's budget. She said the Nationals had failed to show enough interest in the Inland Rail to get work started.
"While we are pleased that the Nationals broadly support the policy, we obviously remain extremely disappointed that it took them almost 100 years to get on board with the policy and that they continue to do nothing practical about implementing the policy," she said.
