Infrastructure Partnerships Australia speech in Sydney

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Thank you very much for that introduction.

As always, I begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the lands on which we meet – the Gadigal of the Eora nation.

I pay my respects to Elders past, present and emerging, along with all other First Nations people who are joining us today.

One of the great joys of my role is that I have the opportunity to travel the length and breadth of this nation, visiting big cities, small towns, and road and rail in between them all.

In those travels, I get to see the lands and the waters that Indigenous Australians have cared for and protected for countless generations.

That enduring connection is something we recognise today and every day.

I also recognise the distinguished guests we have here today:

Daniel Mookhey, the NSW Treasurer, who I understand spoke to you this morning,
Rob Stokes, the former NSW Minister for Infrastructure, Cities and Active Transport and current member of the Albanese Government’s Urban Policy Forum,
And Sir Rod Eddington AO, the Chairman of Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, along with Adrian Dwyer (CEO) and the rest of the IPA team.

I would like to thank Infrastructure Partnerships Australia for inviting me to speak at today’s event.

I have had the pleasure of addressing Infrastructure Partnerships events like this for quite a few years – both in opposition and in government.

In preparation for today’s event, I had a look back at my speech to you all in 2021 – the last time I addressed you before the election that saw us enter government.

Back then, I criticised what I saw as a grab bag of different promises more focused on the political cycle than on taking advantage of the unique role the commonwealth can and should play as a large infrastructure investor.

Back then, I called for a targeted, planned and coordinated approach to infrastructure investment in this nation.

In 2021, I promised to you that an Albanese Labor Government would take infrastructure investment seriously.

That we would refocus Infrastructure Australia, that we would work with our colleagues in the states and territories to refresh the infrastructure investment pipeline, and that we would outline a clear set of principles that would guide our investment in projects across the country.

Three years on, we have delivered on those commitments.

Our reforms

The first of our major reforms passed Parliament last year, when we restored Infrastructure Australia to its role as the Commonwealth’s principal infrastructure adviser.

We redefined IA’s mandate and refined the products the organisation delivers to better serve the needs of government. This includes not only a more targeted Infrastructure Priority List, but independent advice across other sectors as well, including energy, housing and communications.

These reforms were realised through the most recent budget, which was, somewhat remarkably, the first in which IA’s advice played a formal role.

Recently, I was pleased to appoint Mr Tim Reardon as Chief Commissioner, and Ms Clare Gardiner-Barnes and Dr Gillian Miles as the Commissioners of Infrastructure Australia for five-year terms.

These three commissioners bring a wealth of experience across public and private sectors and will significantly strengthen Infrastructure Australia’s capability in transport, engineering, regional experience, strategic oversight, leadership and complex projects.

I would also like to thank Ms Gabrielle Trainor AO, for her contribution while acting to support the transition to the new governance arrangements – and as Acting Chair of the Infrastructure Australia Board before that.

After reforming IA, we did the hard work of sitting down with our state and territory colleagues through our Independent Strategic Review of all the Commonwealth’s investments.

This review was a landmark step in ensuring that the Commonwealth’s land transport infrastructure pipeline is sustainable and fit for purpose.

It was about addressing financial pressures on the pipeline, easing the pressures on inflation, understanding capacity constraints and ensuring that when we committed to a project, we could deliver it.

The review found $33 billion worth of known cost blowouts, and it found that without significant changes, the Commonwealth would be unable to commit to any new projects for ten years.

While these findings were not unexpected, they were of course not easy reading for any government.

They meant that we had to take difficult decisions and ensure the pipeline of investment for the Commonwealth better reflected delivery capabilities.

It is with those lessons in mind that I issued the first ever Commonwealth Infrastructure Policy Statement.

This statement recognises the unique position of the Commonwealth as an investor in nationally significant infrastructure, together with states and territories. It positions the Australian Government is not just a source of funding for projects, but an instigator of change and social improvement through what we chose to invest in.

This Statement commits the Government to focusing on delivering nationally-significant infrastructure projects. Nationally-significant means those projects which have a clear role for the Commonwealth and which deliver on the three Policy priorities for our investments:

Productivity, including building resilience into our freight network;
Liveability,
Sustainability; and,

The Infrastructure Policy Statement also outlines clearly that the government’s preference is for 50/50 funding, splitting the cost of projects equally with our state delivery partners. This means that both levels of government carry an equal share of both the benefits and the risks, particularly when it comes to scoping projects to minimise unexpected cost escalations.

It means that prior to the Commonwealth putting money into construction, states need to scope and plan projects. Ensuring there is a shared understanding of project cost, its scope and its benefit is fundamental work, and work that we are now doing.

Federation Funding Agreement & Infrastructure Reforms

Now, through the new funding agreement for transport infrastructure between the Commonwealth and the states and territories, we are embedding these principles.

By way of update, I am pleased to say that South Australia, Queensland, New South Wales, Western Australia and the ACT have all signed up to the new Federation Funding Agreement Schedule for Land Transport Infrastructure Projects.

The new Agreement governs the Australian Government’s investment, in partnership with jurisdictions, in nationally significant infrastructure projects.

And, guided by the Policy Statement I just spoke about, we want to ensure the Agreement embeds infrastructure investment settings that are sustainable, well targeted and aligned to market capacity.

As part of the negotiations, we’ve been working with jurisdictions to identify opportunities to deliver wider social, economic and environmental benefits through our collective investment. This already extended to indigenous employment opportunities, and has been expanded to cover women’s workforce participation, the inclusion of recycled materials in our projects, measuring embodied carbon, road safety and supporting local businesses when we procure for our projects.

This agreement also ensures that we are properly investing in the maintenance of our highways and roads.

The previous government froze indexation of Commonwealth road maintenance funding at $350 million per year. That funding had not been increased by the previous government since 2013 – over a decade!

That means, every year since the election of the Abbott Government, road maintenance funding in this country has faced a cut in real terms.

That has finally changed this year, with us not only locking in future indexation at 2.5% per year, but back dating that reform to when the freeze was brought in, taking the total funding in the Budget to $460 million in the first year and increasing each and every year thereafter.

This is an important mechanism for states and territories to improve safety on our road networks.

Through our reforms like this, the Commonwealth is investing more money in transport infrastructure across Australia than at any point in our history – with the 10- year pipeline now sitting at over $120 billion.

And, through the 2023 calendar year, public sector expenditure on road construction was $18.8 billion – an increase of 18 per cent on the previous calendar year and the highest level of spending on roads ever achieved in Australia. We have similarly been able to deliver significant investment in rail, with $13.4 billion spent.

In the May Budget we were able to announce that the Commonwealth is now investing:

$2.75 billion for the Sunshine Coast Direct Rail in Queensland, with 19 km of new, dual-track rail line from Beerwah to Caloundra,
$5 billion into the North East Link in Melbourne that will save commuters more than half an hour on the roads and get 15,000 trucks off suburban roads each day, and;
$7.7 billion into Torrens to Darlington Project in Adelaide, helping drivers bypass 21 sets of traffic lights.

We have also been able to invest in more projects in remote and regional areas, including sealing roads to Imanpa, Emu Point and Mungkarta in the NT, and of course investing an additional $466 million in this year's Budget for projects up and down the Bruce Highway in Queensland, bringing our total investment in the Bruce Highway to over $10 billion.

And right here in Sydney, we’re getting on with major projects – including almost $1.9 billion to upgrade important road and rail infrastructure and support planning for future projects in the west of the city.

In total, the Government has now committed over $17.3 billion to deliver major road and rail projects in Western Sydney, along with the Western Sydney International Airport and Moorebank Intermodal.

These projects will reshape this city for generations to come.

Culture

Finally, I want to talk to you about productivity and culture.

Infrastructure needs to keep up with technology and new ways of working and this work will also look at how we can support innovation and improve the uptake of productivity enhancing tools.

As a government, we are doing so with a number of projects using Modern Methods of Construction, like the Metro right here in Sydney, which has adopted the use of prefabrication, or at the new Crows Nest station, which is using precast concrete beams, allowing for safer, more sustainable and cost-effective construction and easier, faster repairs should the need arise.

But, at the same time as improving our use of innovative technologies, we need to get with the times with culture and equity.

The infrastructure sector offers incredible careers that allow you to take part in projects that literally shape the nation.

But too many women do not see a place for themselves in this wonderful industry.

To have only 13% of your workforce being women can only ever hold you back – particularly in an era of skills shortages and high demand for labour.

I commend Infrastructure Partnerships Australia for their involvement in initiatives like the global Women’s Infrastructure Network, and I encourage everyone here to consider how they, or their organisation, can make their workplace and industry a more welcoming place for all Australians.

Thank you very much for your time today, it is always appreciated.