In its mid-year update,the agency added 12 projects to its priority list,including the $1.8 billion M12 motorway that would link the Nancy Bird-Walton airport to the western Sydney road network,two Perth suburban rail proposals and a string of road projects in suburban and regional Queensland.
It also included an upgrade of the AIS in Canberra,where at least 15 of the 30 facilities are more than 30 years old and"not fit for purpose". A proposal to halve the size of the institute is already on the table,with land sold off to help fund an upgrade of the remaining facilities.
The Reserve Bank hasurged governments to increase spending on infrastructure to help the economy out of the recession. The Morrison government has already increasedfunding for local councils to spend on small-scale projects while signalling it will engage in a major expansion of infrastructure expenditure in its October budget.
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IA chief executive Romilly Madew said every meeting of the agency's board was now"live"as they vetted proposals that could get underway following the COVID-19 pandemic.
"The priority list is a critical tool in recovery as it directs investment to the infrastructure projects that will kick-start economic growth and have the greatest returns for all Australians,"she said."We want to highlight the most recent priority proposals at a time when our infrastructure investment needs to progress quickly,without jeopardising the quality of those investments."
The agency now has 155 projects worth more than $64 billion on its priority list. The M12,the only"high-priority"project added,has a benefit-cost ratio of 1.8 and is expected to be built within the next five years.