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Business View Oceania - October/November 2017
ue add for the Western Sydney region.
Alongside these flagship rail and avia-
tion projects, we are expecting to invest
$9 billion on land transport infrastruc-
ture projects this financial year alone.
There are more than 1,000 projects cur-
rently underway around the country –
transformative projects such as West-
Connex in Sydney and the Toowoomba
Second Range Crossing in Queensland,
as well as major upgrades to the Pacific
Highway in NSW and the Bruce Highway
in Queensland.
These are just a few of the big-ticket in-
frastructure projects we are busy deliv-
ering – but with opportunity also comes
challenges, and one of the key issues
in Australia’s infrastructure investment
landscape is to align planning and invest-
ment across three levels of government.
While each level of government has dif-
ferent areas of responsibility, the federal
government takes the national approach
and is the largest single funder, while
State, territory and local governments
build, own and operate the majority of
road and rail assets.
We believe the Government cannot, and
should not, fund all infrastructure pro-
jects – rather, we want to see the cost of
transport projects shared between those
who benefit most and the broader Aus-
tralian community.
Right now, we are investigating a more
collaborative decision-making process to
ensure projects and policy settings sup-
port national and regional priorities, and
deliver a more effective transport system.
This includes using the Common-
wealth’s balance sheet position to ap-
ply more innovative funding and financ-
ing measures rather than grant funding.
One example of this innovative approach
is the concessional loan provided by the
Federal Government to the Sunshine
Coast Council to expand the Sunshine
Coast Airport. The Federal Government
financial support will deliver the infra-
structure needed to remove constraints
to growth in passenger numbers, desti-
nation and freight capacity.
This early engagement approach will
help Infrastructure Australia to maintain
its project pipeline and maintain a Priori-
ty List, both of which assist industry and
investor decision making.
We are also looking for greater contri-
butions from the private sector to fund
and deliver high-quality infrastructure
and greater use of innovate financing.
Making our roads safer is also a par-
ticular passion of mine, with good rea-
son. After decades of consistent reduc-
tions in road deaths, we are now seeing
an increase across most jurisdictions.
In 2016, road crashes killed 1,300 peo-
ple, an almost 8 per cent increase com-
pared to the previous year, while serious
injuries have been increasing for several
years.
While road safety is primarily a state is-
sue I am making it a national conversa-