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Thank you for the opportunity to comment on this important issue. The Property Council of Australia (Victorian Division) is committed to the creation of a vibrant and prosperous state and believes that the provision of key infrastructure requirements is essential to the long term development of Melbourne as a capital city and Victoria as a regional economy in the Asia-Pacific region.
The key to success in public-private partnerships is to “allocate risk appropriately and build a real partnership between the government and business”1 and outlined below are some areas the Property Council believes should be looked at for more efficient and better-managed,
true public-private partnerships.
The Property Council supports the Victorian Government’s Infrastructure Investment Policy,
Partnerships Victoria, launched in June 2000,
which provides a detailed policy for infrastructure investment in Victoria, spelling out the relationship of private investment in public facilities.
However, the Property Council has concerns that individuals and/or companies with infrastructure proposals may be reluctant to raise their proposals, as there appears no formal process to ensure that their idea is protected or gives them the opportunity to become the sole bidder on the project within
Partnerships Victoria.
The Property Council encourages the Government to benchmark its new policy, not only against other States in Australia, but also international best practice to ensure it is consistent with their infrastructure investment guidelines.
The benchmarking project may highlight areas for improvement, possible inconsistencies within Victoria’s own policy, and provide a status report on how progressive and/or in need of refinement the new policy is, thus insuring that Victoria continues to attract infrastructure investment.
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[1] Australian Financial Review – editorial 18th February 2002
