Federal Minister for Major Projects, Paul Fletcher, outlines the importance of Australia's very first Infrastructure Plan which aims to provide an investment roadmap for the next 15 years.
There is no area of public policy where it is more important to plan for the future than in delivering the infrastructure that Australia needs.
Lead times on major infrastructure projects are long; the capital sums involved are huge; and the stakes are very high.
Infrastructure is key to so many other outcomes which governments seek—economic productivity and efficiency; the liveability and economic capacity of our cities; and of course the safety of our citizens.
It sets out an 'Infrastructure Priority List' of 93 potential projects around the country at different stages of development—and offers an extensive set of recommendations about reforms to improve the delivery of infrastructure nation-wide. It draws on the results of an Infrastructure Audit undertaken last year.
Australia's population growth will not proceed in isolation. It is likely to be accompanied by major structural changes in Australia's economy—particularly in our cities, but also in our regions.
As we continue to grow, it will be important to maintain and improve urban liveability and productivity—particularly if our cities are to remain some of the world's most attractive places to live and work. This will demand new approaches to infrastructure roll-out, for example in configuring infrastructure to best support digital and other knowledge-intensive industries.
But changes in our regions will also be significant. The services industry is also now the highest employer in our regions, with 54 per cent of regional employees being in services industries.
The federal government is currently investing in over 1,000 infrastructure projects as part of our $50 billion worth of commitments. In 2016-17, the Commonwealth Government's infrastructure investments will total $9.8 billion—a record infrastructure investment in a single year.
We are reaping the benefits of the projects we committed to in the 2014-15 Budget, and those we accelerated as part of a response to economic pressures.
However, infrastructure demands constant renewal—and an important step towards future development is the Infrastructure Priority List. Over the longer term, the most effective way to prioritise will be through establishing markets for the provision of infrastructure services—such as road services.
We can prioritise projects but there is also the challenge of dealing with competing budget pressures.
This is why a cooperative State-Federal approach to planning is necessary and why we will propose a new National Governance Framework to COAG to improve the quality and transparency of infrastructure decision-making.
We are issuing a set of funding and financing principles that will illuminate our approach to innovative financing arrangements.
Over the next few months I plan to engage with the states and industry to hear their views as the Commonwealth develops its strategy in this area.
The private sector is already a major contributor to infrastructure investment—accounting for 75 per cent of investment in engineering construction activity in the September 2015 quarter.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Paul Fletcher is the Minister for Major Projects, Territories, and Local Government. He entered Federal Parliament in December 2009 as the Member for Bradfield and has been a member of the Liberal Party since he was 16 years of age.
In 2009, his book about broadband, Wired Brown Land was published by UNSW Press. He has dual first class honours degrees in law and economics from The University of Sydney and an MBA from Columbia University in New York where he was a Fulbright Scholar.