Peter Taylor

Recent Speaker

Chief Executive Engineers Australia

November 24, 2010

2010 Infrastructure report card

Peter Taylor is the Chief Executive of Engineers Australia, which is the peak body for engineering practitioners in Australia with more than 85,000 members.

Good infrastructure is the key to Australian productivity growth. It underpins the delivery of essential services and is crucial to the development of our country. It is critical to our high standard of living and international competitiveness.

For more than two decades, Engineers Australia has been warning governments that the maintenance of existing infrastructure had been sorely neglected and that there was insufficient investment in new infrastructure.

In 1999 and 2001, Engineers Australia backed-up its concerns with targeted investigations and published its first Australian Infrastructure Report Cards. These were independent assessments of our key infrastructure at a National level.

From 2003 to 2005, Engineers Australia turned attention to whole-of-life costs and performance of infrastructure at state and territory level, with a separate report for each and then a consolidated view for Australia.

As expected, the reports found that some states and territories did better than others. But generally, most infrastructure was assessed as only adequate for its purpose with major changes required.
 
The reports have drawn focus by government, industry and the media and have generated productive community discussion. Since the release of the reports, there have been some encouraging changes in the way state and territory governments approach infrastructure planning.

At a national level, there has been the establishment of Infrastructure Australia, which played such an important part in the Government’s response to the global financial crisis, and for developing a strategic blueprint for our nation's future infrastructure planning and implementation.

The latest round of Engineers Australia’s independent reviews of key infrastructure in each state and territory is now completed.

The updated analysis, ratings and views for the future, the Engineers Australia 2010 Australia Infrastructure Report Card, will be released at the address by Peter Taylor to National Press Club.