Foreword I am delighted to present the latest edition of Future Building – the journal of Australia’s infrastructure sector – which presents the proceedings from the annual Partnerships infrastructure policy symposium. This year’s proceedings reflect the ‘two speed’ infrastructure market, with palpable optimism about New South Wales and Victoria, but a gloomy outlook for the other states facing leveraged public budgets and the evaporation of mining investment. This year’s programme saw a focus on short-, medium- and longer-term reforms to increase the quantum and the quality of infrastructure investment. Immediate budget and project funding reform priorities formed a focus across many presentations – noting the wide availability of finance, but the lack of well-structured cash flows to repay finance over time. Many speakers also considered how immediate solutions can be considered within a wider context of long-term structural reforms to government budgets, and to the structure of infrastructure markets themselves. Our 2015 conference saw delegates and speakers drawn from a wide cross-section of community, government and business sector stakeholders. Many of the reforms that Australia will need to drive permanent infrastructure solutions – such as privatisation of public assets, pricing reforms and others – will only be possible through an informed public debate, and support from unlikely quarters. Partnerships is an important forum to resolve the way ahead – and to deepen and widen the national infrastructure policy reform partnership toward material progress. I hope that you find this edition of Future Building of interest, and I welcome any feedback you may have.
Adrian Kloeden Chairman, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia
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Volume 6 Number 1
