Since both the major parties are very keen on public private partnerships for transport infrastructure I take it that everyone is well aware of their mixed record of success in Australia and that both parties are equipped with ideas for how to avoid the well-known pitfalls in these schemes. Take for example the debacle of the Cross-City Tunnel in Sydney which resulted in the bankruptcy of the consortium running the tunnel and significantly increased costs for the taxpayer. (For want of a better link, Wikipedia)
Many of these projects are expensive to use and consequently underutilised since commercial imperatives typically require projects to make money over a fairly short period. The state can afford to take a much longer view of infrastructure needs.
Such a long view should these days take into account the likely high price of petrol in the future, I'd much rather we were talking about public transport rather than new roads.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
I agree, but sadly both National, and to a lesser extent Labour, seem fixated on more roads as the 'answer' to our transport needs.
At least Labour made a sound strategic move by buying back the rail. I believe that in the decades to come this will be seen as a very wise move indeed, that is unless it isn't flogged off again.
Post a Comment