“Infrastructure Australia’s ground-breaking new report, ‘Corridor Protection’, demonstrates the significant benefits from reserving land for future infrastructure use,” Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott said today.

“Australia is in urgent need of good infrastructure planning to create more liveable communities and support future economic growth.

“This report demonstrates that if governments have the foresight to plan ahead and reserve corridors for future infrastructure use, they can realise huge savings when those infrastructure projects are ultimately rolled out.

“It is often better to keep our options open, so projects that might not be viable today may still be delivered over time. Doing nothing can result in the emergence of insurmountable restrictions or increased costs.

“The Business Council urges our political leaders to work together to identify transport, employment and housing growth corridors and maintain strict policies that reserve them for future use.

“This report continues to demonstrate the value that Infrastructure Australia provides as an independent adviser to government.

“We hope this report will be given priority by all governments and that its findings will be endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments.”

In November 2016, the Business Council released its Competitive Project Approvals report. This report proposed a best practice model for all jurisdictions to adopt to ensure major projects were not unnecessarily delayed.