Infrastructure must get ahead of the game - improving our productivity is essential
airCargo #236 archive stories
Tuesday, 28 April 2015
FOR the first time, Infrastructure Australia will identify priorities before governments have made their decisions, according to Infrastructure minister and deputy prime minister Warren Truss.
Speaking at the Australian Logistics Council’s annual dinner, Truss said: “It was one of our key stated goals for reform of Infrastructure Australia that it gets ahead of the game.”
Quoting his departmental infrastructure secretary Mike Mrdak, Truss said: “There is also a need not just to focus on the dollars to be spent but also to accurately convey the impact of the problems we are trying to fix and the benefits of fixing those problems and pinch points.”
This was raised during the annual dialogue held earlier this year between the council and department. Truss said the 2015 discussion focused on deregulatory opportunities, current priorities of IA and – crucially for air cargo – better integration of the freight system across different transport modes.
The minister noted his department’s Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport & Regional Economics had pointed to an 80 per cent rise in Australia’s freight task over the next 15 years and a 300 per cent rise by 2050.
The federal government’s A$5 billion asset recycling initiative would, claimed Truss “show how mature assets can continue to serve the public while providing an impetus to the next generation of infrastructure projects”.
He pointed to the soon-to-be-released IA audit of nationally significant infrastructure. A recent addition to this work has been a review of the inter-generational report published early last month by the federal treasurer. The review will ensure the audit takes into account the impact projected population statistics will have on infrastructure assets.
This audit will be open for submissions before work proceeds much further on IA’s 15-year plan of infrastructure priorities. Truss commented that recent experiences across jurisdictions show that when communities are properly informed on infrastructure plans, it is possible to gain broad public support.
“I think we are starting to get there on long-vexed projects like the Western Sydney Airport, making sure the public know what is planned and giving them their say.
“And as we all know, public support is critical to getting the job done - especially in a very tight fiscal environment.”
Truss pointed out that “as the longest and largest mining boom in Australian history tapers off, we can no longer rely on increasing terms of trade to sustain our economic growth. The boom helped to fund an unprecedented level of government and private spending on new infrastructure.
“This record sustained level of investment has meant thousands of kilometres of new and upgraded roads and railways, new and expanded airports, seaports, hospitals and schools, better water infrastructure and vast new communication networks.”
These were investments in Australia’s future that would continue to pay dividends for decades to come, he said. But while infrastructure investments had grown substantially for many years, productivity had languished in recent times, the minister warned.
“Over the decade to 2013, total factor productivity essentially flat-lined and actually fell in 2013 - the worst performance of 15 countries compared by the Productivity Commission,” Truss noted.
“We have relied on rising export prices for too long. Now, more than ever, we need to be firmly focused on growing our national productivity.
“Without reforms to our economic settings, Australia risks falling behind in the world market.” Australia had to do more with less, he said bluntly, refocusing its attention on maintaining and upgrading existing transport infrastructure.
“We will need to look more closely at the micro economic reforms and regulations needed to underpin productivity growth.”
One of the government’s election commitments had been a promise to reduce red tape costs to business by A$1 billion annually.
The target was achieved in the first year and is looking even better for this, he claimed.
However, said Truss, there was no intention of slowing down on “game-changing long-term projects” like the Western Sydney Airport and inter-modal hubs.
What is Infrastructure Australia and why? REBORN last year as a statutory authority, Infrastructure Australia (IA) covers all forms of transport and logistics including airports and air cargo. While road, rail and maritime transport tend to get more focus from the body and from the infrastructure sector generally, this is also important to air cargo in terms of inter-modal supply paths and the essential factor of airport road access.
It was reconstituted following the proclamation of the Infrastructure Australia Amendment Bill 2014.
IA’s first fully-fledged ceo Philip Davies has this month taken up his new duties.
He replaces John Fitzgerald, who played a key role in establishing the new format, initially as interim infrastructure coordinator and then from April last year as acting ceo. IA board members have been drawn from business, professions and academia, with both public and private sector backgrounds.
Some have hands-on experience in air transport.
First major tasks for IA are completion of the comprehensive audit of existing national infrastructure and the development of a 15-year national infrastructure plan.
The plan will cover Australia’s current and future infrastructure needs, means of financing and delivering infrastructure, and ideas for better planning and use of infrastructure networks.
Davies comes from a strong infrastructure sector background, in Australia and internationally.
“This is an exciting opportunity, working closely with our state and territory colleagues, to shape the long term plan for Australia’s infrastructure,” he said on appointment. “We can develop the evidence base to support the investment priorities for nationally significant infrastructure.”
On the web: www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au
Infrastructure must get ahead of the game - improving our productivity is essential
airCargo #236 archive stories
Tuesday, 28 April 2015
FOR the first time, Infrastructure Australia will identify priorities before governments have made their decisions, according to Infrastructure minister and deputy prime minister Warren Truss.
Speaking at the Australian Logistics Council’s annual dinner, Truss said: “It was one of our key stated goals for reform of Infrastructure Australia that it gets ahead of the game.”
Quoting his departmental infrastructure secretary Mike Mrdak, Truss said: “There is also a need not just to focus on the dollars to be spent but also to accurately convey the impact of the problems we are trying to fix and the benefits of fixing those problems and pinch points.”
This was raised during the annual dialogue held earlier this year between the council and department. Truss said the 2015 discussion focused on deregulatory opportunities, current priorities of IA and – crucially for air cargo – better integration of the freight system across different transport modes.
The minister noted his department’s Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport & Regional Economics had pointed to an 80 per cent rise in Australia’s freight task over the next 15 years and a 300 per cent rise by 2050.
The federal government’s A$5 billion asset recycling initiative would, claimed Truss “show how mature assets can continue to serve the public while providing an impetus to the next generation of infrastructure projects”.
He pointed to the soon-to-be-released IA audit of nationally significant infrastructure. A recent addition to this work has been a review of the inter-generational report published early last month by the federal treasurer. The review will ensure the audit takes into account the impact projected population statistics will have on infrastructure assets.
This audit will be open for submissions before work proceeds much further on IA’s 15-year plan of infrastructure priorities. Truss commented that recent experiences across jurisdictions show that when communities are properly informed on infrastructure plans, it is possible to gain broad public support.
“I think we are starting to get there on long-vexed projects like the Western Sydney Airport, making sure the public know what is planned and giving them their say.
“And as we all know, public support is critical to getting the job done - especially in a very tight fiscal environment.”
Truss pointed out that “as the longest and largest mining boom in Australian history tapers off, we can no longer rely on increasing terms of trade to sustain our economic growth. The boom helped to fund an unprecedented level of government and private spending on new infrastructure.
“This record sustained level of investment has meant thousands of kilometres of new and upgraded roads and railways, new and expanded airports, seaports, hospitals and schools, better water infrastructure and vast new communication networks.”
These were investments in Australia’s future that would continue to pay dividends for decades to come, he said. But while infrastructure investments had grown substantially for many years, productivity had languished in recent times, the minister warned.
“Over the decade to 2013, total factor productivity essentially flat-lined and actually fell in 2013 - the worst performance of 15 countries compared by the Productivity Commission,” Truss noted.
“We have relied on rising export prices for too long. Now, more than ever, we need to be firmly focused on growing our national productivity.
“Without reforms to our economic settings, Australia risks falling behind in the world market.” Australia had to do more with less, he said bluntly, refocusing its attention on maintaining and upgrading existing transport infrastructure.
“We will need to look more closely at the micro economic reforms and regulations needed to underpin productivity growth.”
One of the government’s election commitments had been a promise to reduce red tape costs to business by A$1 billion annually.
The target was achieved in the first year and is looking even better for this, he claimed.
However, said Truss, there was no intention of slowing down on “game-changing long-term projects” like the Western Sydney Airport and inter-modal hubs.
What is Infrastructure Australia and why? REBORN last year as a statutory authority, Infrastructure Australia (IA) covers all forms of transport and logistics including airports and air cargo. While road, rail and maritime transport tend to get more focus from the body and from the infrastructure sector generally, this is also important to air cargo in terms of inter-modal supply paths and the essential factor of airport road access.
It was reconstituted following the proclamation of the Infrastructure Australia Amendment Bill 2014.
IA’s first fully-fledged ceo Philip Davies has this month taken up his new duties.
He replaces John Fitzgerald, who played a key role in establishing the new format, initially as interim infrastructure coordinator and then from April last year as acting ceo. IA board members have been drawn from business, professions and academia, with both public and private sector backgrounds.
Some have hands-on experience in air transport.
First major tasks for IA are completion of the comprehensive audit of existing national infrastructure and the development of a 15-year national infrastructure plan.
The plan will cover Australia’s current and future infrastructure needs, means of financing and delivering infrastructure, and ideas for better planning and use of infrastructure networks.
Davies comes from a strong infrastructure sector background, in Australia and internationally.
“This is an exciting opportunity, working closely with our state and territory colleagues, to shape the long term plan for Australia’s infrastructure,” he said on appointment. “We can develop the evidence base to support the investment priorities for nationally significant infrastructure.”
The minister noted his department’s Bureau of Infrastructure, Transport & Regional Economics had pointed to an 80 per cent rise in Australia’s freight task over the next 15 years and a 300 per cent rise by 2050.
