A couple of weeks ago, Labor leader Anthony Albanese paid a visit to Gilmore, during which he urged the federal government to get cracking with infrastructure project funding, particularly on the Princes Highway south of Jervis Bay Road.
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With the global and domestic headwinds, he said fast-tracking infrastructure was one way to stimulate the economy so we don't slide into recession.
His call has been echoed by Master Builders Australia, which said the need to fast-track the rollout of infrastructure projects had new urgency.
Chief economist of Master Builders Australia Shane Garrett said a June quarter slump had taken engineering construction activity to its lowest level in a decade.
With new housing approvals and sales still in the doldrums of the property downturn, he said engineering construction could be a lifeline for the entire construction sector but would require all levels of government to put infrastructure on the front burner.
Mr Garrett pointed to the 5.1 per cent reduction in residential building activity during the June 2019 quarter and the 6.6 per cent drop in commercial building work over the same period.
This economic assessment lends weight to Mr Albanese's call for funding to be made available for known black spots along the highway.
In NSW, where the June quarter downturn was the lowest of the states and territories at -1.9 per cent (Western Australia was the only state to record positive growth at +1.4 per cent), the NSW government has committed almost $1 billion to upgrade the Princes Highway and before the federal election the Coalition pledged $500 million.
At the Shoalhaven Business Awards last Friday night, Kiama MP Gareth Ward also called on Canberra to increase its road funding. It's a plea he has made repeatedly but with the economy showing alarming signs of sluggishness, one hopes Canberra is actually listening.
While the FIX IT NOW campaign has primarily focused on the safety dividend of upgrading the highway, the economic case grows stronger by the day.
The Reserve Bank is close to exhausting its power to stimulate the economy, with interest rates set so low there is little more room to move.
That leaves the stimulus ball in the federal government's court.
