Portfolio — 20 August 2026

The Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Ms King, advanced two distinct policy threads across 19–20 August 2026: the passage of media-sector bargaining legislation through a media release on 20 August, and the delivery of major road infrastructure upgrades in Victoria and New South Wales, with the latter detailed in both a media release and a Question Time contribution to the House on 19 August [TA-260820-infras-349cd4d2ad45:m00AMR] [TA-260820-infras-a81eb13426f9:m00AMR] [TA-260819-house-e023dad986e7:s181].

Both streams reinforced a portfolio approach pairing national policy reform with targeted regional infrastructure investment under Commonwealth-state funding partnerships.

**Media sector reform**

The Minister announced the passage of the News Bargaining Incentive and the News Journalism Payments scheme, which require digital platforms providing significant social media or search services to negotiate commercial deals with at least eight news businesses or otherwise return funds to the news sector [TA-260820-infras-349cd4d2ad45:m00AMR]. The scheme establishes a bargaining framework linking platform participation to news content compensation, with a minimum threshold of eight participating news businesses to avoid a fallback payment mechanism [TA-260820-infras-349cd4d2ad45:m00AMR].

**Regional road infrastructure**

The Minister confirmed the completion of major works at the Henderson Road and Ferntree Gully Road intersection in Knoxfield, delivering a new left-turn slip lane, extended right-turn lanes, bicycle-priority crossings, an upgraded bus stop, improved drainage and safety barriers under a $14.26 million Commonwealth commitment [TA-260820-infras-a81eb13426f9:m00AMR].

The project represents a completed delivery milestone for the portfolio's road safety and congestion management agenda.

In Question Time on 19 August, the Minister announced a $100 million federal commitment, matched by New South Wales, to reconstruct Mitchell's Causeway with a new bridge deck above the 194-year-old Convict Bridge on the Great Western Highway at Victoria Pass [TA-260819-house-e023dad986e7:s181]. She said the project will add an eastbound passing lane to improve traffic flow for trucks and other vehicles, with work on restoring existing lanes already under way and the new bridge deck expected to be completed and the highway reopened by mid-2027 [TA-260819-house-e023dad986e7:s181].

**Synthesis**

Across both streams, the portfolio demonstrated a consistent pattern of pairing national policy reforms with targeted regional infrastructure upgrades, each underpinned by Commonwealth funding and collaborative arrangements with state governments. The Knoxfield intersection and Mitchell's Causeway projects illustrate a federal-state cost-sharing model for road infrastructure, with the Knoxfield project delivered and the Mitchell's Causeway project entering its construction phase.

The media bargaining announcement extends the portfolio's activity beyond physical infrastructure into digital platform regulation. The two-day window shows the Minister operating across both legislative reform and on-the-ground project delivery, with each announcement carrying specific funding commitments and measurable delivery outcomes.