Investment in public infrastructure has not kept up with population new data shows
13 February 2017
Engineers Australia: Recent ABS data confirms Australian governments’ investment in public infrastructure has not kept up with a booming population across Australia.
The update to Engineers Australia’s popular National Infrastructure Investment Report shows Australia’s infrastructure is largely unchanged since the 2010 Infrastructure Report Card.
The updated report, which examines current ABS data, also shows a decline in public sector infrastructure investment in the three years prior to 2015.
Australian population has increased by an average of 357,400 people compared to an average 251,200 a year before 2012. The recent growth is roughly the equivalent of the population of Canberra per year.
Another contributing factor to the state of infrastructure in Australia points to the disconnect by politicians in communicating infrastructure projects.
The updated report goes on to say politicians tend not to fully regard the effects of inflation and there is often a disconnection between existing infrastructure assets and standards describing the services that infrastructure was designed to deliver.
The second part of update breaks down infrastructure by assets including roads, bridges, railways, harbours, water, sewerage, electricity, pipelines, telecommunications, recreation, resources and heavy industry.
The new research continues to support Engineers Australia’s position that infrastructure is an investment in Australia’s future and is a key enabler of productivity growth.
With more than 60,000 engineers involved in infrastructure sectors, healthy infrastructure is an important driver in sustaining a reasonable lifestyle for all Australians.
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Source: Engineers Australia - www.engineersaustralia.org.au
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You can find the updated report in our Resources area.
You can also read out Infrastructure Position statement.
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