A moment in history.

That’s how the general manager of the Outback Way, Helen Lewis described Labor’s $678 million budget commitment to the Outback Way project.

The funding honours the promise made by former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce in February.

The additional funding will see the sealing of the 2800km stretch of road between Winton in Qld, Alice Springs in the NT and Laverton in WA completed, creating ‘the Longest Short Cut’ and the third trans-Australian Highway.

It’s a billion-dollar project, first pitched in 1997, and Helen Lewis says it’s a game changer for transport, indigenous communities and tourism in the outback.