Building new roads, ports and bridges and providing better public transport must be at the heart of lifting the performance of the economy, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says.
He will tell a Committee of Economic Development of Australia conference that by 2025 an extra five million Australians will be living in cities and millions more in regional Australia that depend on the cities for services.
"It's up to the commonwealth to use its fiscal horsepower to work with the states to make our cities more liveable, more sustainable and more productive, and to connect them better with our regions," Mr Shorten will tell the conference in Canberra on Tuesday.
He says the most effective way of unlocking cities and engaging in the regions is to invest in infrastructure.
Traffic congestion will cost the economy $53 billion by the end of the next decade, and while most new jobs are within 10km of the nation's CBDs, most of the population growth is occurring in outer suburbs, more than 20kms out.
In fact, nine out of 10 people spend more than 90 minutes a day travelling to and from work.
"Do we want to be a country ... where parents are never home in time to kick a ball in the backyard, help out with the homework or share a family meal?" Mr Shorten says.
He says infrastructure means new roads and public transport, new ports and bridges, better social housing, smart energy grids, efficient irrigation projects and the best digital infrastructure.
Too many major new projects have been delayed by political bickering.
"Every day of inaction dents confidence, which in turn erodes trust," he says.
A Labor government would boost the powers of Infrastructure Australia that would put it at the centre of decision making, like the Reserve Bank is to monetary policy.
"Our model will replace petty, narrow, short-term politics with certainty, confidence, transparency and rigour," the Labor leader says.
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