22 March 2006

Failure to act on recent agreements aimed at improved infrastructure planning and development will cost Australia $10 billion a year in lost economic growth, according to a Business Council of Australia report released today.

The report, which examines the outcomes of the February Council of Australia Governments (COAG) meeting, reveals COAG made significant progress in agreeing to revamp infrastructure policies.

The report highlights that the comprehensive program of agreed action by federal, state and territory governments needs to be undertaken by the end of 2007 before the benefits of better infrastructure planning and development in key areas such as rail, road, energy and water can flow through to the economy.

Infrastructure Reform - Time for Action (news release)

Benchmarking the Progress of Infrastructure Reform: Challenges, Milestones and Outcomes