Respected leaders – panel discussion
L–R: Sir Rod Eddington AO, Mark Birrell, Ailie MacAdam and Michael Brennan
Respected leaders Key points • • •
Long-term thinking in infrastructure is needed despite a difficult political environment. A pipeline of evidence-based projects is critical to the long-term planning of infrastructure. It’s important to get the balance of risk allocation right.
Panellists: ► Michael Brennan, Chair, Productivity Commission ► The Hon Mark Birrell, Patron, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia; and Independent Director and Chairman, PostSuper ► Ailie MacAdam, Senior Vice President, Bechtel Corporation; and Acting President, Bechtel Infrastructure
Moderator: ► Sir Rod Eddington AO, Chairman, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia
20
Sir Rod Eddington AO (RE): Michael, perhaps we might start with you. Long-term reform and longer-term thinking are two crucial issues at the moment, and they are things that the Productivity Commission – not only under you, but also under Peter Harris and Gary Banks – has championed for a long time. Are we losing our appetite for long-term reform? If we are, what are some things we could focus on now to kickstart our desire to see long-term reform come back onto the global, national and state agenda? Michael Brennan (MBr): I’m not sure that there is any innate loss of appetite or zeal for long-term reform. I think there is a lot in what Tim Pallas says in that we had a very full and coherent agenda around economic reform in the 1980s and
futurebuilding
2459_Future Building Vol 10_2020.indd 20
4/12/19 4:49 pm
