In its latest move, Infrastructure Victoria has outlined 50 key priorities across housing, energy, transport, health, social infrastructure, and environmental aspects within its preliminary 30-year infrastructure strategy.

Highlighting potential for substantial savings in infrastructure spending, Infrastructure Victoria emphasises the significance of long-term planning, increased utilisation of digital technologies, and enhanced management of existing infrastructure by the Victorian Government.

Dr Jonathan Spear, the Chief Executive of Infrastructure Victoria, highlights the critical need for the government to strategically allocate investments to cater to the most essential infrastructure requirements of Victorians.

He said, "Investing in new infrastructure is one way of building a more productive economy, and more will be needed as Victoria grows. But there is also lots the government can do to make better use of what it already has."

The draft strategy advocates for strategies such as promoting public transport through reduced off-peak fares and optimising delivery schedules for enhanced efficiency (draft recommendations 13 and 42). Additionally, it stresses the prioritisation of funding for infrastructure maintenance and upgrades to leverage the state's $400 billion asset base (draft recommendation 37).

Infrastructure Victoria underscores the importance of improved planning and sequencing of infrastructure projects for a timely access to facilities and services at reduced costs. “Victorian Government agencies can do more to share their plans with each other, and with local governments and industry,” Dr Spear remarked, “this helps identify opportunities to pool funding or streamline delivery. It also means infrastructure can cost less in the long term.”

Moreover, the draft strategy recommends the formulation of 15- to 20-year sector plans by infrastructure-owning departments, aligning with demographic projections and other factors (draft recommendation 35). Dr Spear notes that “this will help shape Victoria’s cities and help the government plan and sequence the infrastructure needed to support growth”.

Infrastructure Victoria also suggests integrating digital technologies to help with cost efficiencies. For instance, modern traffic control systems are proposed to enhance traffic flow (draft recommendation 40), while building information modelling is suggested to reduce cost overruns in major infrastructure and housing projects (draft recommendation 39).

Looking ahead, Infrastructure Victoria advocates for proactive planning for anticipated future infrastructure needs to reduce project costs, mitigate land use conflicts, and enhance overall planning efficacy.

The draft strategy proposes government consideration of business cases for expanding water desalination capacity, reconfiguring the City Loop, and planning the Melbourne Metro 2 rail project. It also advocates for detailed planning of a future Bay West port, the outer metropolitan road and rail corridor, and the connection of the western intermodal freight terminal. Furthermore, it suggests conducting thorough assessments for extending metro trains to Kalkallo and Clyde (draft recommendation 43), delivering new trains to Melton (draft recommendation 11), as well as a new train station for Altona North. 

By collaborating with the Federal Government and employing existing government land more efficiently, Infrastructure Victoria believes that the Victorian Government can execute the draft strategy's 43 recommendations with an estimated cost of approximately $55 billion. This includes a yearly infrastructure spending averaging around $5 billion for the next decade. The draft strategy outlines seven potential future choices to be considered post-2030, achievable at an estimated cost of approximately $10 billion.

Only 27 out of 43 draft strategy recommendations require direct capital investment from the Victorian Government, with a focus on upgrading or replacing inefficient infrastructure rather than large-scale projects. The remaining 16 recommendations call for policy adjustments, legislative reforms, and improved planning, according to Infrastructure Victoria. 

Implementing these suggestions is expected to reduce government infrastructure costs over the next three decades and could yield benefits worth $155 billion for Victorians in the next ten years, as stated by Dr Spear. 

The 30-year infrastructure strategy of Infrastructure Victoria offers a practical framework for policies, reforms, and projects that can enhance communities, the economy, and the environment in the long term. 

Independently developed by a team of engineers, economists, land use planners, technical experts and social researchers, the draft recommendations are informed by data and input from over 18,500 Victorians. 

Infrastructure Victoria updates this strategy every three to five years, incorporating feedback from stakeholders and technical assessments. Upon finalisation, the strategy will be presented in the Victorian Parliament for consideration by all parties, with a mandatory response from the government. 

Dr Spear said, “We want to know: have we missed any big infrastructure challenge or opportunity? Or is there other evidence you would like us to know that might change a recommendation for the final strategy?”.

Infrastructure Victoria invites feedback from organisations and the community on the draft strategy until Monday 28 April 2025. 

 

Source: Infrastructure Magazine

Image Source: Infrastructure Victoria 

 

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