KEY POINTS:
The Australian federal Government will spend A$45.6 million ($56 million) on a bid to bring the soccer World Cup to Australia in 2018.
The Government will work in partnership with the Football Federation Australia (FFA) and state and territory Governments in a united approach to building the strongest bid possible for the 2018 event, they said.
The FFA will formally lodge the Australian bid by the end of 2010 with a decision regarding who will host the 2018 World Cup expected to be made in 2011.
