Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is considering a radical new way of raising funds for the often-talked about national high speed railway between Melbourne and Brisbane.

Mr Turnbull wants a rail line to connect capital cities with regional centres such as Albury, Goulburn and Shepparton, in a plan that should raise their population numbers and land value.

The prime minister is floating a revolutionary financing scheme called ‘value capturing’ – or taking a cut of the increase in land value in regional centres such as Goulburn and lessening the hit to tax dollars.

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The rail line would ease traffic pressure in capital cities thanks to links such as Melbourne-Shepparton, creating a “pressure release valve” for busy cities.

According to The Australian newspaper, the rail line would eventually link Melbourne with Brisbane, and would cost between $60 billion and $114 billion.

Speaking to media on Monday morning, Bill Shorten said the new plan was another ploy to shake off his image as a “do nothing” prime minister.

The Opposition leader doubted Mr Turnbull’s ability to deliver. Photo: AAP

Mr Shorten questioned why the Liberals had “scrapped” some of the funding put aside by Labor for a high-speed rail if he really valued the project in the long term.

“This is a desperate Malcolm Turnbull clutching at straws to try and shake off the tag of being a do-nothing prime minister,” he said.

Labor’s Transport spokesman Anthony Albanese said the funding proposal was nothing new.

“The first thing Mr Turnbull could do towards the Melbourne-to-Brisbane link is to establish a High-Speed Rail Authority,” Mr Albanese said.

Mr Albanese, who already has a private member’s bill before parliament to set up the authority, will be reintroducing his legislation next week.

“You actually need a structure that will work, to do the planning work, preserve the corridor,” he told ABC radio.

“Projects needed to be built using both private investment and taxpayer dollars.
”Anyone who comes and tells you, you can do this for free, is fantasising.”

Another option being considered by the Turnbull government was to levy a so-called betterment tax on property owners, who would receive a substantial financial boost from the new transport infrastructure.

Shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen said the ideas were part of the conversation.

“If Mr Turnbull wants to put a concrete proposal on the table we’d be happy to look at it and work in a constructive fashion,” he told ABC TV.

Meanwhile, Assistant Minister for Cities Angus Taylor said betterment taxes had been used in Hong Kong, London and in part for the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

“We are not committing to high speed rail down the east coast tomorrow because there is a lot of work to be done before that would ever come to fruition,” he told 3AW Fairfax Radio.

“We are saying this new approach will open new opportunities.”

Rail spoken about for decades

A high-speed rail between major capital cities on the east coast of Australia has been talked about for decades, but the expensive project has never come close to fruition due to arguments over who should foot the massive bill between the states and Federal government.

Not only would the rail better-connect Australian and tourists on the east coast, it could help to cater for the huge project population growth in the next few decades.

The prime minister also mentioned the possibility of using the “value capture” model to help finance the ailing Melbourne Metro, or even a “betterment tax” (once used to help finance the Sydney Harbour Bridge) on property owners who would benefit from the increased access.