New Infrastructure Plan From the New Government

Australian Labor Party’s (ALP) narrow re-election in the August 2010 Federal election, the ALP will need the support of every member of the alliance. In the upper House, the Greens will soon hold the balance of power.The policies advocated by the Greens will be of particular interest with respect to matters relating to infrastructure and transport.The Greens Party has identified a number of specific principles, goals and measures with respect to sustainable planning.

It is in this context that the debate regarding the development of a high-speed rail link from Brisbane to Melbourne has been reignited, with the ALP announcing during its campaign that it would allocate $20 million to a high-level feasibility study for the development.

The Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Anthony Albanese, is currently conducting a study in conjunction with the New South Wales Government regarding the need for a second airport for Sydney and has recently indicated that high-speed rail will not solve all the issues in terms of access to Sydney.

With the increased influence of the Greens over the policy agenda, the likely outcome will be an increased emphasis on rail rather than roads as a solution for transport issues in the long term and possibly less encouragement of aviation expansion and the associated infrastructure.

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