Introduction

‘Public infrastructure’ is a term commonly used to describe the basic physical structures needed for the operation of a society or commercial enterprise. The traditional method of funding public infrastructure has been through public budgets. This imposes three powerful brakes upon over-investment in grandiose projects: strategic land use and transport planning; oversight by a multidisciplinary, disinterested public service; and fiscal discipline at budget time.

Public infrastructure projects make a significant contribution to the economy, both in providing essential services to urban, regional, rural and remote communities and also in generating employment. Public investment is not a dead weight on the economy. Public expenditure also has multiplier effects on employment in the rest of the economy. Appropriate infrastructure creates long-term industrial capacity, so it is essential to link infrastructure planning with contemporary industry/innovation policy.

However, shortcomings are appearing in current procedures for planning and constructing physical infrastructure. In 2013-16, Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and the Commonwealth published several benchmark reports making the case for increased investment in infrastructure. These reports contain a number of weaknesses: neglect of climate change and peak oil; closer involvement of the business sector in policy and budgeting; premature priority lists of poorly assessed favoured projects; innovative financing; and greater reliance on partnerships between the public and private sectors to bring the programs about.

This paper focusses on the infrastructure components of Queensland’s State Infrastructure Plan, and the Commonwealth’s Australian Infrastructure Plan. It argues that the reforms outlined in these documents seem likely to have the effect of breaking down that traditional model, giving the private sector privileged access to government planning (through corporate boards); priority access to public funds (through accumulating pre-budget momentum for high-profile projects); and direct access to motorists’ pockets (through user charging).