The Morrison Government’s response to the Building Up & Moving Out report, a whopping 20 months after it was tabled, shows they have no strategic plan for Australia’s infrastructure.
- The Building Up & Moving Out report provided important, bipartisan recommendations, widely supported by stakeholders to building a proper policy framework for developing Australia’s cities. The report contains 37 recommendations, including two very important recommendations where the Morrison Government has not done much but “agree-in-principle”:Developing integrated master plans for States and Territories, regions and communities which link vertically across different levels of government; and horizontally, providing infrastructure, housing, employment and services within a coherent integrated framework.
- Developing systems of urban planning which promotes: accessibility and liveability, promoting health and quality of life, economic, social and environmental sustainability, high quality natural and built environments and access to employment.
One thing is clear within their vague “agree-in-principle” responses to these important recommendations; the Abbott Turnbull Morrison Government has failed to reform infrastructure governance in Australia.
Detail is not Morrison or Tudge’s forte – they are addicted to spin over substance.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack is scrambling by writing to local councils to fast track projects, the truth is, if they were across the detail, the working partnerships would be in place and they would not have to shop for shovel ready productive projects.
Instead the City Deals have been described as slow and a patch work, rather than City shaping projects, and the Urban Congestion Fund with nuclear level rorting has no transparency.
If the Coalition had paid closer attention to this report, we would be in a much better position to provide the stimulus to repair the economy during the coronavirus pandemic.
THURSDAY, 14 MAY 2020
With Andrew Giles MP, SHADOW MINISTER FOR CITIES AND URBAN INFRASTRUCTURE