News Room Archive
Infrastructure: Roadmap for Reform
A selection of quotations included in reportage of the launch of the BCA paper, Infrastructure: Roadmap for Reform, on 4 October 2007.
The Business Council of Australia has urged the major political parties to adopt sweeping infrastructure reforms, including far greater private sector involvement in urban water supply and transport, as part of a pre-election package designed to boost economic growth by $20 billion a year. The leading business body wants the parties to urgently implement a four-year blueprint of reform for the freight, broadband, transport, water and electricity sectors to deal with an 'infrastructure-constrained economy' it says is plagued by poor policy and planning arrangements.
From ‘Business puts $20bn reform case’ by Annabel Hepworth, The Australian Financial Review, 4 October 2007, p. 5.
The BCA will today launch ... a paper that calls for national markets for electricity, water and transport. A key plank of the proposed changes is to improve Commonwealth–state relations with the introduction of clearly identified responsibilities across all levels of government. “Success requires a well-functioning federal system, which we do not currently have,” said BCA president Michael Chaney. “(The Council of Australian Governments) meets infrequently, there is little current focus on timelines for concrete outcomes and there is insufficient emphasis on outcomes.”
From ‘Business Council Calls for Bipartisan Plan to Improve National Infrastructure’ by Mathew Murphy, The Age, 4 October 2007, p. 3.
BCA president Michael Chaney said success would depend on two key factors – effectively functioning federal–state relations and a regular independent review process. The roadmap built on foundation strategies identified by the BCA in April. Effective national infrastructure markets and national regulation. Plus market-based prices, public investment processes, effective competition, private ownership and pro-investment regulation. The roadmap highlighted a detailed way forward in sectors including electricity, urban and rural water, transport and broadband. And identified a series of key outcomes required to meet future growth.
From ‘BCA Roadmap May Be Worth Reading’ by Terry McCrann, Herald Sun, 4 October 2007, p. 77.
The BCA is calling for national markets for freight and passenger transport, water and electricity. It wants the complete elimination of regulatory impediments to investment in providing electricity, water and urban and freight transport including ports. It calls for a national framework to co-ordinate investment in infrastructure to meet future needs and a focus on developing a quality broadband system with comprehensive access for businesses and households.
From ‘BCA Calls for Co-ordinated Infrastructure’ by Patricia Karvelas, The Australian, 4 October 2007, p. 20.
Mr Chaney said Australia’s approach to infrastructure had been “piecemeal” and he called on both federal Liberal and Labor to resist political pork-barrelling in an election-year and to lay out a long-term vision for Australia's infrastructure needs. “The problems with our infrastructure are well known, and include poor governance and planning arrangements and poor policy choices,” Mr Chaney said.
From ‘Business Urges Long-Term Vision to Invest in Nation’ by Shane Wright, The West Australian, 4 October 2007, p. 4.
[BCA Policy Director] Maria Tarrant said yesterday even the major Australian cities were guilty of “silo” planning with different government departments planning in isolation. “The lack of co-ordination is putting serious brakes on economic growth,” she said. The BCA has pushed infrastructure reform before but its latest roadmap calls specifically for a new model of federal and state relations. And it asks that the Productivity Commission be used to regularly monitor work being done and its effectiveness.
From ‘Lifestyle at Risk, Says BCA’ by Gerard McManus, Herald Sun, 4 October 2007, p. 79.
Australia’s standard of living would stop rising and then drop unless governments got serious about a co-ordinated approach to infrastructure, the Business Council of Australia has warned. The failure of federal and state governments to tackle shortcomings in a united way in port bottlenecks, transport, power, water and communications would cut into growth, tax revenue and jobs, the BCA said.
From ‘Australia “planning for a fall”’ by Gerard McManus, The Courier-Mail, 4 October 2007, p. 70.
The continued failure of federal and state governments to tackle shortcomings in a united way in Australia’s port bottlenecks, transport, power, water and communications would cut into growth, tax revenues and jobs, the Business Council of Australia has warned. But the BCA’s newest “roadmap” has stopped short of calling for a new Federal Ministry for Infrastructure suggesting existing structures such as the Council of Australian Governments be revamped and held more regularly than once a year to overcome some of the most intractable road blocks to economic growth.
From ‘Infrastructure Vital for Lifestyle’ by Gerard McManus, The Advertiser, 4 October 2007, p. 1.
The Business Council of Australia has unveiled an infrastructure plan calling for major spending on transport, energy and water infrastructure over the next decade. On water, the report says the key step is to change the ownership and structure of the urban water industry so there can be no repeat of the performance of the past 20 years. It says the changes would mean water restrictions would be “rare events” in the future. “The key role of governments in the future should be to regulate, not to be responsible for supply,” it says.
From ‘Splitting SA Water “Would End Crisis” ’ by Greg Kelton, The Advertiser, 5 October 2007, p. 24.
Launching the Business Council of Australia’s (BCA) proposal for infrastructure reforms, BCA president Michael Chaney says the economy has expanded beyond the capacity of its current infrastructure. “Infrastructure such as ports, road and rail transport, water, energy, and fast, accessible broadband are the building blocks for future growth but without proper planning for renewal they can quickly become serious stumbling blocks to prosperity,” he said.
From ‘Business Wants Action from Government on Infrastructure’, Australian Associated Press, 4 October 2007.