The Infrastructure Australia Priority List provides the investment roadmap to support a growing nation, but also evidence all levels of government need to do more to drive the momentum to deliver these important projects.

Property Council of Australia Chief Executive Ken Morrison said Infrastructure Australia’s objective and clear-eyed approach to the nation’s longer-term infrastructure needs provided invaluable guidance for government and industry in planning and building for the future.

“The report notes that Australia’s population will increase by 11.8 million people over the next thirty years, which is the equivalent of adding two more cities the size of Melbourne and Sydney,” Morrison said.

“This report provides a clear-eyed report card of how ready we are to build the infrastructure projects our growing cities need, and it’s clear that there is a lot more work to do.

“While the good news is that $25 billion worth of projects are off the list and under construction, there is a lot more planning needed across every city and a lot more investment to be found.

“The report identifies 24 projects as ‘high priority initiatives’ which the project definition and business cases have yet to be done and are therefore years away from starting. A further 60 ‘priority initiatives’ are also identified.

“Prioritising the projects to support this growth and contribute to our national economic productivity and competitiveness while also sustaining our quality of life is an essential part of good planning for the future.

“Infrastructure Australia does a great job putting the brain power behind thinking about our future infrastructure needs, but it’s up to the Commonwealth and state and territory governments to actually fund and deliver the priority projects which have been identified,” Morrison said.

The IA Priority List has identified $55 billion worth of potential nation-building projects with a strong focus on cities and public transport. It also highlights a number of projects to improve connectivity between capitals and neighbouring cities.

The new IA Priority List includes 96 major infrastructure projects of strategic merit, but only 10 projects have graduated off the list since 2017 as they move into the construction phase.

“This underscores the need for Australian governments to commit to action on delivering our future infrastructure so that we can support a growing Australia,” Mr Morrison said.

“How we plan and build for the future matters for all Australians, so it’s also great to see initiatives such as the interactive online version of the Infrastructure Priority List which includes a detailed view of projects and initiatives around Australia.”

Click here to download Infrastructure Australia's Infrastrucutre Priority List.

Read more about infrastructure in Australia:

Infrastructure Australia report says planning now essential to preserve quality of life in major cities

$18 billion worth of infrastructure investment for Brisbane

Mining and infrastructure to create South Australian property gold in 2018