Sustainable Infrastructure – Some Thoughts on Financial Sustainability and its Implications Presentation to the Infrastructure and Transport Session of the Thriving Neighbourhoods Conference - Melbourne 13 November 2012 Stephen Alchin Executive Director, Planning

Sustainable transport requires choices to be made  Sustainable infrastructure, especially in the transport sector requires strategies and decisions around: o Which projects to develop (i.e. choices between projects) o What is done (i.e. choices within projects, e.g. in relation to scope, design, construction, etc) 2

Governments have increased funding – though fiscal consolidation foreshadows a shift 3 $M Australian Government land transport outlays to (nominal $) Blue bars show actuals. Orange bars are estimates from budget.

Challenges become greater in the longer term 4 Deficit in current terms of c.$40B per annum by 2050, excluding interest costs Similar challenges at the State/Territory level.

Implications for engineers and other professions?  Advocate for rigorous planning – hope and hubris is no substitute for rigorous, transparent planning.  Take a long view – what are the decisions we need to being taking today to maximise the prospects that Melbourne in 2060 (or 2100 will be sustainable.  Think about staging and scaling of projects  Understand the opportunity costs of your decisions.  Advocate for land use and transport integration – big projects need to be complemented by commensurate land use changes. 5