One of the games in the Game of Mates is the Public-Private-Partnership. PPP projects such as Citylink in Melbourne and the Cross City Tunnel in Sydney are financed and built by private consortiums with high, ongoing returns guaranteed by the government. In terms of how we pay for infrastructure, PPPs are essentially an accounting trick. […]
A great way to bury an unwelcome government report is to release it into the alcoholic haze of a hot Australian Christmas. Infrastructure Australia’s Capturing Value paper is too important to suffer this fate: who pays for the infrastructure we need is a matter of first importance. Australia’s excessive reliance on labour taxes means wage-earners […]
Australia has a problem: we can’t build roads, rail and schools as fast as population is growing with current government financing methods. Failing to keep up with our current needs – let alone investing for an uncertain future – puts the living standards of everyone at risk. We and our ancestors worked very hard to […]
The Australian Football League has bought the Docklands Stadium freehold asset that cost $460m to build in 2000 from the Andrews ALP Victorian government for $200m – allegedly to assist “tenant clubs struggling under onerous deals to play at the roofed venue.” In nine years time they were set to get it for just $30 […]
The next rail crossing to be removed by the Victorian Government’s Level Crossing Removal Authority is at Grange Road, Alphington. It is asking locals whether they would prefer a sky bridge over or a concrete trench under. The good residents of Alphington are being presented with very bad options. The best solution is a cut […]
Victorian taxpayers were kicked in the teeth yesterday by Public Transport Minister Jacinta Allen, who announced city landholders would not have to contribute to the $10.9 billion Metro Rail project, though they will enjoy substantial and certain land prices rises from its construction without lifting a finger. Improving access and speed to the city for […]
by Dr Gavin Putland reposted from grputland.com If you want to expand your business, you probably need to hire people. But you can’t hire them unless they can afford to pay for housing within commuting distance of your business premises, out of wages that you can afford to pay them. If that condition is not […]
Melbourne Domain Sunday went into shock and horror over the impact a proposed elevated rail would have on the selling prices of adjoining Carnegie properties. Area agents say the value of houses backing onto the rail line from Carnegie to Hughesdale could be slashed by up to $200,000, and “the impact on homes with a […]
Over the weekend, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull delighting Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk by announcing a federal contribution of $95 million for the Gold Coast light rail project. Journalists have leapt on this new policy stance, different from the previous PM Tony Abbott who point-blank refused to fund public transport, and called for roads, roads, roads. […]
The Andrews government is capping local governments rate rises to CPI after fifteen years of six per cent rises in a low inflation environment. Minister for Local Government Natalie Hutchins’ Fair Go Rates System, administered by the Essential Services Commission, will crack the whip over naughty spendthrift councils. The ESC has released its draft report […]
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
