Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visits female builders working on a site near Brisbane. Picture: Glenn Hunt

The crossover came ahead of another major road announcement today from Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, who will promise $200 million for an Ipswich Motorway upgrade a day after pledging to pump $168 million into fixing the nightmare M1/Gateway merge.

The Prime Minister pledged a $250,000 mentoring program to encourage more women into the state’s booming construction sector. Picture: Glenn HuntSource:AAP

Mr Shorten will match a $200 million Palaszczuk Government commitment to widen the stretch between Rocklea and Darra from four to six lanes as Malcolm Turnbull hinted he would be making his own infrastructure announcements soon enough.

The Prime Minister toured an Eagleby building site yesterday with Employment Minister Michaelia Cash to announce a $250,000 mentoring program to encourage more women into the state’s booming construction sector.

Under Labor, a new southern service road connection from Rocklea industrial precinct to the Oxley commercial and retail areas and seven new bridges would be built to deal with the notorious stretch already identified by Infrastructure Australia as a national priority.

“This important project will boost the capacity of the Ipswich Motorway from four lanes to six between Granard and Oxley Roads, reducing travelling times for 85,000 motorists who use it each day, including 12,000 trucks hauling freight,” Mr Shorten told The Courier-Mail.

“Labor committed to this upgrade in 2013. But the incoming Turnbull-Abbott Government has failed to advance the project.”

The pledge comes after a two-day visit to Queensland by Mr Shorten, in which he flagged a combined $368 million for roads through grant funding.

The M1/Gateway pledge will bring to $210 million a pool of joint funding with the state for the project.

Labor leader Bill Shorten at the University of Queensland Solar Research Facility at Gatton west of Brisbane. Mr Shorten has announced Labor's climate change policy, a pledge of 50 per cent renewable energy by 2030. Picture: Dave HuntSource:AAP

Mr Shorten has also spruiked Labor’s support for Cross River Rail – to be financed by a planned $10 billion “infrastructure bank” through direct public financing and leveraging the billions in superannuation funds – and $100 million in grant funding for the Townsville stadium.

Mr Turnbull hinted he will match works for the M1/Gateway merge, describing it as a “very high priority” as he stood alongside Forde MP Bert van Manen, who is fighting to retain his swinging seat that borders the freeway bottleneck.

It is understood the MP has already presented the Government with a business case for the upgrade, along with roadworks on the Gold Coast to cope with the Commonwealth Games.

“There is no stronger advocate of the action on the M1 than this man here – Bert van Manen,” Mr Turnbull said.

Labor’s M1/Gateway pledge The pledge comes after a two-day visit to Queensland by Mr Shorten, in which he flagged a combined $368 million for roads through grant funding. Picture: Adam HeadSource:News Corp Australia

“It is very high on the Infrastructure Australia priority list. It is being looked at very carefully and we’ll have more to say about it in the weeks ahead.”

Meanwhile, Mr Shorten unveiled Labor’s new climate change policy in Gatton, vowing not to introduce a carbon tax in wording that was immediately seized upon by the Liberals.

The party machine churned out online advertising mirroring his words alongside former PM Julia Gillard’s infamous pledge not to do the same while Mr Turnbull argued power and cost of living prices would rise.

“The Labor Party is not going to introduce a carbon tax, nor a fixed price on carbon pollution,” Mr Shorten said at the University of Queensland solar facility.

The plan focuses on reducing land clearing, introducing emissions standards for vehicles and moving away from coal-fired power.

An emissions trading scheme would be implemented in two phases – with the first requiring heavy polluters to offset any emissions above a set cap. From 2020, an ongoing scheme would be in place – with the details sorted after Labor won office.

Environment spokesman Mark Butler said more than 50 business leaders had been consulted over the plan.