Infrastructure Minister Catherine King's planned review of federally funded road and rail projects is unlikely to include the M1 Motorway extension and other major transport investments in the Hunter.
Ms King announced the review on Monday, saying the previous government had left a long list of land transport projects without adequate funding or resources.
She said some of these projects on the "clogged" infrastructure pipeline had few public benefits and had caused delays and overruns in "important, nation-building projects".
The 90-day review will examine projects which were not Labor election commitments and have not started construction.
Ms King's office would not specify which projects were up for review but reiterated that the investigation would not include Labor election commitments or projects which had started construction.
Transport for NSW has awarded construction contracts for the $2.1 million M1 extension to Raymond Terrace, though work has not started.
The federal government is providing $1.68 billion for the project, which includes widening the Hexham straight from four lanes to six.
The planned upgrade of Mandalong Road at Morisset and the New England Highway bypass at Muswellbrook were both Labor election commitments and would appear quarantined from the review.
Transport for NSW has short-listed tenders for the $700 million Singleton bypass, where some preliminary work has started.
The Albanese government said on Monday that it remained committed to a 10-year, $120 billion infrastructure pipeline but it would be "irresponsible" not to address the nation's trillion-dollar debt and assess whether all 800 projects in its Infrastructure Investment Program were priorities.
"A properly functioning infrastructure investment pipeline means projects can be delivered with more confidence about timeframes and budgets," Ms King said.
"Easing the pressure on the construction sector will help drive inflation lower and deliver more predictable investment and delivery outcomes from governments.
"Importantly for industry, projects under construction will proceed, and we have committed to maintain significant infrastructure investment for the medium term."
At a media conference in Ballarat, Ms King accused the Nationals of using the infrastructure pipeline to pork-barrel in regional electorates.
"We will work over the next 90 days with states and territories on what projects need extra money, what projects need to be cancelled because they're not able to be delivered, what projects need to have a longer time frame in order to be delivered," she said.
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