The Gillard Labor Government has already delivered major reforms to the way our nation plans, finances, builds and uses the infrastructure which over time will make our economy more productive, more prosperous and more sustainable.

This fact is borne out in the inaugural Report Card from the COAG Infrastructure Working Group (IWG) which I’m releasing today.

Chaired by myself and comprising state, territory and Commonwealth officials, the IWG has this year alone:

• Achieved agreement amongst the state and territories to have a single national prequalification system for the construction industry in place by 1 January 2011;


• Finalised a national response to the review of barriers to competition and efficiency in the procurement of Public Private Partnerships (PPP) – released in June 2010;


• Published the Infrastructure Planning and Delivery: Best Practice Case Studies to encourage information sharing between jurisdictions on the delivery of PPPs;


• Worked with Infrastructure Australia on the development of the first ever national ports strategy;


• Developed National Commercial Guidelines for PPPs to encourage private sector participation in infrastructure delivery;


• Consider ways to streamline major infrastructure project approval processes;


• Begun work on strategies to encourage better utilisation and to maximise investment in existing infrastructure assets;


• Started drafting National Policy Principles and Guidelines for Alliance contracting – to be completed in 2011.

Together with our unprecedented capital works program, the IWG has quite clearly driving an ambitious agenda of regulatory reforms which will cut red tape, address the decade of underinvestment in new infrastructure, promote competition and build a seamless national economy.

I thank the members of the Infrastructure Working Group for their commitment and hard work during the course of 2010.