Page 2174 - Week 06 - Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Unfortunately—and I must say it is, of course, unfortunate—last-minute typographical errors were not detected when the infrastructure plan was publicly released. That was indeed unfortunate and, of course, embarrassing—an embarrassing oversight by my department but one that was quickly corrected. That issue aside, the feedback from the release of the infrastructure plan has been overwhelmingly positive, except, of course, by the opposition. But then again we would expect that. Apart from the Liberal Party, key stakeholders such as the Property Council and the MBA have welcomed its release and have indicated their interest in working with the government on future updates. And we are keen to work with them.
The infrastructure plan is a living document. It will be updated each year and it will be further developed, not just with new information but as new issues and priorities emerge over time and as agency and whole-of-government strategic planning is further developed. Future iterations will be informed by agency-level service planning and strategic asset management as well as other factors such as climate change vulnerability assessments, for both existing and new infrastructure. The government also wants to make sure that a wide range of stakeholders, including the community sector as well as the building and property sectors, continue to have an opportunity to contribute.
For the 2011 infrastructure plan, two roundtables have been scheduled into the annual cycle of infrastructure planning and review. The development of a rolling infrastructure plan will, as I said, be an iterative process, as it should be. Each year it must respond to the government’s budgetary parameters, to give one obvious point of impact.
Nor is the plan just a static wish list, frozen in time. The 2010 plan details further work to be carried out within the infrastructure framework over the next 12 months, including ensuring that strategic asset management plans are developed and/or updated by all agencies, ensuring that service delivery plans are developed and updated by all agencies and deciding upon the next suite of infrastructure initiatives through the 2011-12 budget process, taking into account the government’s priorities as outlined in the 2010 infrastructure plan. The government has also committed to examine other factors such as climate change vulnerability, both for existing and for new infrastructure.
The views of industry and the community will continue to play an important role in the development of future infrastructure plans, with industry and community roundtables to be held every six months. The government is also preparing to run a community conversation on wider, long-term issues for our city and its urban form.
In 2010-11, across-government service planning will be progressed and the results fed into the infrastructure planning cycle. Given the extent of this work, it is expected that this will be achieved incrementally over a two-year period.
Infrastructure projects are currently selected for funding through a budget process built on detailed cost-benefit analysis, taking into account issues such as whether proposals increase the productivity capacity of the economy, reduce future social, economic and environmental costs and/or provide for growth in the economy to gain
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video