Labor is putting pressure on Barnaby Joyce to end Coalition infrastructure cuts and start approving key Queensland projects, most particularly Brisbane's Cross River Rail.
Joyce was this month appointed transport and infrastructure minister in a cabinet reshuffle and it's taken little time for his Labor counterpart, Anthony Albanese, to highlight the government's recent infrastructure track record.
Speaking in Brisbane on Friday, Mr Albanese said the Coalition had cut a combined $8 billion of infrastructure spending nationwide from their four budget-night announcements since coming to power.
He said it was "outrageous" that of those cuts $1 billion had been underspent from announcements assigned to Queensland projects.
"What that means is a billion dollars that could have already been put into the Cross River Rail project or a billion dollars to make improvements for the Bruce Highway," Mr Albanese said in Brisbane.
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"Barnaby Joyce must step up.
"The test for him over coming months is to show that investment is there in the 2018 budget."
The Turnbull government has so far refused to fund the $5.4 billion Cross River Rail project, which would deliver a second rail crossing over the Brisbane River.
The state Labor government, re-elected last month with a parliamentary majority, has said it will go it alone on the long-mooted project, which was a major election issue.
Mr Albanese said the "overwhelming" support from southeast Queensland voters for the Palszczuk government showed it was time for the Commonwealth to fund Cross River Rail.
He also said road improvements had been sadly lacking under the Coalition, compared to when Labor tipped $6.7 billion into the Bruce Highway in north Queensland during its six years in office.
With a rise in the national road toll this year following years of decline, Mr Albanese said it was crucial for road safety that more is spent on major highways.
He demanded Mr Joyce convene a ministerial council including state ministers and Labor to address the problem.
