The “50-year plan” was unveiled in a report to the Council of Australian Governments this week.
The plan recommends the establishment of a single national infrastructure fund and a move away from the grant funding of infrastructure to a system that encourages private investment.
The sale or long-term leasing of government infrastructure assets and the reinvestment of the proceeds in new infrastructure is also recommended.
Industry Funds Management, a consortium including AustralianSuper, Cbus, HESTA and HOSTPLUS, assumed ownership of Port Botany in Sydney and Port Kembla in Wollongong recently, via a $5.07 billion transaction with the NSW government.
ISN acting chief executive Matt Linden said the National Infrastructure Plan would help “connect the pool of superannuation assets with Australia’s future infrastructure requirements”.
“With public sector balance sheets constrained, it is vital we embrace new thinking to facilitate super fund investment in quality projects,” Mr Linden said.
Industry super funds are expecting to invest $15 billion in infrastructure assets over the next five years, he added.
“Industry super funds’ infrastructure assets have proven to be excellent investments for members with returns averaging more than 12 per cent per annum over the last 18 years, with one third the volatility of shares,” said Mr Linden.
ICAA chief executive Lee White also welcomed the plan and the establishment of a single infrastructure fund, but emphasised the need for greater investment from the private sector.
“Everyone agrees the amount needed to close the infrastructure deficit is in the hundreds of billions of dollars and Infrastructure Australia is right to suggest that this gap cannot be closed on government funding alone,” said Mr White.
Past public-private partnerships must be scrutinised in order to learn from their successes and mistakes, he added.
“Implementing more user-pays funding arrangements is also an option if that means we can deliver more infrastructure that boosts our productivity as a nation,” said Mr White.
