Rob Dossor
The bulk of Commonwealth infrastructure expenditure is by
way of payments to the states. The 2015–16 Budget allocates $6.8 billion
towards infrastructure expenditure in 2015–16.[1] This is almost $2 billion
higher than the estimated amount spent on infrastructure in 2014–15, but $1.2
billion less than was allocated for 2015–16 last year.[2]
These figures are outlined below.
Total payments to the states for infrastructure
|
$ millions
|
2014–15
|
2015–16
|
2016–17
|
2017–18
|
Total
|
|
2015–16 Budget
totals
|
4900.8 |
6823.2 |
9244.7 |
7436.0 |
28404.7
|
|
2014–15 Budget
totals
|
5702.9 |
8021.8 |
9107.8 |
5674.2 |
28506.7
|
|
Differences
|
-802.1
|
-1198.6
|
136.9
|
1761.8
|
|
While there is an underspend in 2014–15 and less than
expected allocation in 2015–16, the four years to 2017–18 of the two budgets
have broadly similar allocations. In other words, while the total expenditure
is similar, a substantial amount is pushed out over the forward estimates.
The underspend in 2014–15 would have been significantly
higher if it were not for the $500 million committed in the week before the
budget to Western Australia for nine infrastructure projects as compensation
for the GST revenue shortfall in 2014–15.[3] Without this compensation
measure the underspend would total $1.3 billion.
The lower than expected expenditure in 2014–15 was likely
affected by the three state elections that occurred in the period. Asset
privatisation played a major role in the defeat of the Newman government in
Queensland, while asset recycling (under the Asset Recycling Initiative)[4]
was a key election issue in the recent NSW election.[5]
These concerns may have pushed back Queensland and NSW infrastructure investment
plans.
Infrastructure was also a key issue in the Victorian
election. The 2014–15 Budget allowed for spending of $1.5 billion over the
forward estimates for Melbourne’s East West link.[6]
The East West Link was committed to by the Napthine Victorian government prior
to the election, despite a cost benefit ratio (which was released after the
election by the incoming Andrews government) of between 0.45 and 0.84, meaning that
the project was expected to have a negative return.[7]
On election the new government halted further work on the project before
reaching an in-principle agreement with the project contract holders to cancel
the project in April 2015.[8] The Budget includes as
savings (over the forward estimates) the $1.5 billion previously allocated for
the project. However, it also includes a commitment of $3 billion (as a
contingent liability) to any Victorian government which proceeds with it.[9]
The Victorian government has ruled out returning the $1.5 billion.[10]
During the 2013 election campaign the Coalition made a
commitment that Infrastructure Australia would assess any infrastructure
project worth more than $100 million, as well as calculate and publish the net
present value for projects that were added to the priority list.[11]
While the East West Link appears on Infrastructure Australia’s most recently
available priority list, no net present value, or cost benefit analysis was
made publicly available prior to the Commonwealth committed funding.[12]
In addition, since December 2013 no priority list has been released and
Infrastructure Australia has only made two assessments available—for the Sydney
WestConnex and the Melbourne City Link projects.[13]
In the Budget few new infrastructure projects receive
funding. While a number of major road projects are outlined as part of the
Budget, most were announced in the 2014–15 Budget, including the Bruce Highway
in Queensland, the Western Highway in Victoria and the WestConnex in NSW.[14]
Most of the projects that appear new are the projects associated with the WA
concession payment, which are funded in 2014–15 and were announced separately.[15]
Two new infrastructure items that were announced in the
Budget, the Developing Northern Australia package and the Stronger Communities
program, are dealt with elsewhere in this Budget Review.
The infrastructure measures in the Budget have attracted some
negative comment. Marion Terrill of the Grattan Institute has observed that
both major infrastructure announcements (the East West Link measures and the WA
GST compensation measure) appear to serve political goals.[16]
Ross Gittins, of the Sydney Morning Herald, rated the Government’s failure to
increase spending on infrastructure to offset the declining effectiveness of
interest rate cuts as the biggest ‘miss’ in the Budget.[17]
Alan Kohler of The Australian, said ‘The Abbott government’s efforts on
infrastructure have been pathetic, especially with the 10-year bond rate at 3
per cent ...’[18]
These are important issues as the scale of money is vast and
infrastructure investment has the real potential to stimulate the economy, even
if more debt were taken on to fund productive projects.[19]
[1].
The budget figures in this article have been taken from the following
document unless otherwise sourced: Australian Government, Federal
Financial Relations: budget paper no. 3: 2015–16, 2015.
[2].
Australian Government, Federal
Financial Relations: budget paper no. 3: 2014–15, 2014, p. 60.
[3].
T Abbott (Prime Minister), W Truss (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister
for Infrastructure and Regional Development) and M Cormann (Minister for
Finance), ‘Commonwealth
support for infrastructure projects in Western Australia’, media Release, 6
May 2015, p. 1.
[4].
The purpose of the asset recycling initiative is to stimulate
infrastructure investment by encouraging states, through an incentive payment,
to ‘unlock’ funds by selling assets and reinvesting the proceeds in new
infrastructure. R Dossor, ‘Infrastructure
Growth Package – Asset Recycling Fund’, Budget Review 2014–15,
Parliamentary Library, Canberra, May 2015.
[5].
P Hudson, ‘Hockey
faces trying time at meeting of Treasurers’, The Australian, 6 April
2015.
[6].
Australian Government, Budget
measures: budget paper no. 2, 2014–15, 2014, p. 175.
[7].
J Gordon, ‘Analysis:
Why the East West Link proved such a hard sell’, The Age, 15
December 2015.
[8].
‘East
West Link: Taxpayers hit with $339 million bill as Government strikes deal to
scrap East West Link’, ABC News, 15 April 2015.
[9].
Australian Government, Budget
measures: budget paper no. 2, 2015–16, 2015, p. 133.
[10].
R Baxendale and R Wallace, ‘Andrews
rules out the return of $1.5bn’, The Australian, 14 May 2015.
[11].
Liberal Party of Australia and the Nationals, The
Coalition’s policy to deliver the infrastructure for the 21st century ,
Coalition policy document, Election 2013, p. 2.
[12].
Infrastructure Australia (IA), ‘Infrastructure
Priority List Update – December 2013’, IA website.
[13].
Infrastructure Australia, ‘Project
Assessments’, IA website.
[14].
W Truss (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and
Regional Development) and J Briggs (Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and
Regional Development), ‘Building
our Future: world-class infrastructure for a stronger Australia’, Budget
2015, media release, 12 May 2015.
[15].
T Abbott, W Truss and M Cormann, ‘Commonwealth support for infrastructure
projects in Western Australia’, op. cit.
[16].
M Terrill, ‘Budget
infrastructure spending serves mainly political goals’, The Conversation,
13 May 2015.
[17].
R Gittins, ‘The
hits and misses, and why there is still no free lunch’, Sydney Morning
Herald, 14 May 2015.
[18].
A Kohler, ‘A
lame effort full of flaws and dodged responsibility, and a dirty little secret’,
The Australian, 14 May 2015.
[19].
M Terrill, op. cit., and M Maiden, ‘Shorten
must bite bullet on infrastructure’, The Age, 14 May 2015.
All online articles accessed May 2015.
For copyright reasons some linked items are only available to members of Parliament.
© Commonwealth of Australia
Creative Commons
With the exception of the Commonwealth Coat of Arms, and to the extent that copyright subsists in a third party, this publication, its logo and front page design are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia licence.
In essence, you are free to copy and communicate this work in its current form for all non-commercial purposes, as long as you attribute the work to the author and abide by the other licence terms. The work cannot be adapted or modified in any way. Content from this publication should be attributed in the following way: Author(s), Title of publication, Series Name and No, Publisher, Date.
To the extent that copyright subsists in third party quotes it remains with the original owner and permission may be required to reuse the material.
Inquiries regarding the licence and any use of the publication are welcome to webmanager@aph.gov.au.
This work has been prepared to support the work of the Australian Parliament using information available at the time of production. The views expressed do not reflect an official position of the Parliamentary Library, nor do they constitute professional legal opinion.
Any concerns or complaints should be directed to the Parliamentary Librarian. Parliamentary Library staff are available to discuss the contents of publications with Senators and Members and their staff. To access this service, clients may contact the author or the Library‘s Central Entry Point for referral.