Start the Change

NSW Shadow Treasurer, Mike Baird on Budget Day 2010

Does the Liberal Party have any policy on providing facilities for people to commute to work?

The Labor Government has announced its third bike plan since 1996 with a ten year time frame and totally inadequate funding. The first two bike plans sank without a trace and almost no implemented improvements. So, can we hope that a Liberal or Coalition government might have the vision to fund proper facilities with a realistic budget, say 1% of road funding (which is only half what would be fair considering cyclists make up almost 2% of commuter traffic, more than the number of people on Sydney Ferries each day)?

I would like to know exactly what has been spent by the various utilities on maintenance and new infrastructure - electricity, water, and roads especially. The poor citizen of this State has contributed many many millions to these utilities, yet apart from the essentials we see nothing new, just band-aids on old infrastructure.

Where has the profits gone - if they have gone to the State Government, what has been done with the month.

One of the main causes of the electricity price hike is the millions of dollars being taken from the electricity wholesalers each year by the State Government since the privatisation of the electricity authorities.

This means that the infrastructure is not upgradedby the authorities as they do not have the funds left and the Govermemnt gets the money instead.

Then the public is being asked to pay for the infrastructure again!

We need to speak up now to stop this corruption continuing!

The NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act was came into force more than 30 years ago.[1]

Since then it has become dysfunctional.  The system does not provide the certainty that communities deserve, and our economy needs. Most other Australian states have modernised their planning laws while ours have stagnated.

In recent years more and more approvals have been taken out of community view and decided by politicians – a recipe for collapse of public confidence in the system, and a blow to our reputation as a good place to invest.

The NSW Liberal & National Parties are committed to returning local planning powers to local communities (through their councils). We believe that local residents – through councils – are best placed to make local planning decisions affecting their suburbs. After all, it is local residents – not Macquarie Street planners – who have to live with the results of these planning decisions.

We will scrap ‘Part 3A’ – one of the wide-ranging powers NSW Labor has given its Planning Minister to override local communities, and a factor that ICAC noted had contributed to corruption risks in the planning process.

The NSW Liberals & Nationals will commence an overhaul of the planning system soon after March 2011. 

We will remove the politics from planning decisions.  Our review will:

• - ensure our planning system centres on merit and the public interest, and re-empowers local communities on local planning issues;
• - create a system that enjoys public support – with a state government that respects people;
• - create a system that is modern, takes into account sustainability, gives certainty to investors and makes NSW competitive again, including a reserve power for genuinely state significant developments;

• - deliver certainty about planning rules and decision making processes that are made transparently and in a timely way; and

The review will be conducted by an independent expert panel, with the aim of enacting legislation around the middle of our first term.

One of the main drivers of the cost of buying a home – or business premises, is the cost of government-mandated infrastructure levies in growth or infill areas.

Levies on housing or employment land developers are based on the cost decided by the government, and can result in costs exceeding $180,000 per hectare[1] – which are passed onto home buyers and business.

Government costings for roads, utilities or social infrastructure, that form the basis of these levies, are generally not transparent.

As a result of the high cost of these levies, housing and employment investment is redirected to cities like Melbourne and Brisbane which offer more competitive and lower cost land.

The NSW Liberals & Nationals will make NSW competitive again.

Our plan to help reduce the costs of housing and employment land will:

• - inject transparency and require disclosure of the way government levies are formulated - to force discipline on infrastructure costs;
• - commit to consider proposals that offer better ways of delivering infrastructure that maintains or exceeds appropriate standards, delivers results and represents value for money; and

• - convene a Roundtable (including representatives of peak infrastructure and housing bodies, suppliers of utility infrastructure and services and local government) to assess where contestability can be most effectively applied.

Labor complacency has led to NSW becoming uncompetitive – and a costly place to live, work, employ and raise a family.

The NSW Liberals & Nationals will start the change to attract people, investment and jobs back to NSW – both our city and our regions – with choices in housing and lifestyle that meet peoples’ aspirations and goals.

The NSW Liberal & Nationals will start constructing a world-class conference and exhibition facility in our first term of Government.

In 2007 the NSW Government commissioned a review of Sydney’s convention and exhibition facilities, which found that NSW needed greater capacity in the Sydney CBD to host major conventions. It is estimated that under-provision of convention and exhibition facilities will cost Sydney $477 million in economic activity and 3,037 jobs each year.[1]

To ensure the project starts quickly the NSW Liberals & Nationals will start the procurement process from Opposition.

We will commission an independent professional Feasibility Study, to be overseen by an Expert Panel with requisite experience in the delivery of infrastructure, and the tourism industry.

When the study is complete, the private sector will be invited to start preparing submissions before March 2011 for an accelerated Expression of Interest process we intend to commence after the election.

The Feasibility Study, which is supported by peak infrastructure and tourism bodies, will identify:

• - the best location for a new or expanded facility;
• - make recommendations on the size and facilities required;
• - develop a funding model for the convention centre, including the potential for private investment and private public private partnerships; and
• - identify the benefits to the NSW economy from the new facility including models to ensure that regional NSW benefits from the infrastructure.

The panel will also develop a target list of international conferences and events that could be attracted to the new convention centre.

The policy will help grow visitor and convention market traffic into Sydney, from which point, visitors are well placed to travel onto other NSW regional tourism attractions.  Investing in this long overdue infrastructure will boost the NSW economy and help achieve the growth and the competitive edge we need.

Infrastructure is central to driving economic growth, yet NSW is facing an infrastructure crisis. Whether it is roads, rail, hospitals, schools or utilities, people in NSW are entitled to better.

NSW Liberals & Nationals will establish Infrastructure NSW to ensure infrastructure is delivered according to need, on time and on budget, and remove political interests from infrastructure decisions.

Infrastructure NSW is built on the successful Infrastructure Australia, Partnerships UK and Partnerships Victoria models and will:

• - be overseen by an expert board, and independent Chair; with a highly qualified professional CEO (who is also the NSW Co-ordinator General), and executive staff drawn from the very best of the public and private sectors; and
• - ensure infrastructure is delivered on the basis of need, expert advice and world best practice – not the political demands of marginal seats or a looming election.

Infrastructure NSW will:

• - be accountable to the Premier;
• - maximise NSW’s funding opportunities from Infrastructure Australia.

• - prepare a 20-year State Infrastructure Strategy (SIS), detailed 5 year Infrastructure Plans funded in Budget forward estimates, and sectoral State Infrastructure Strategy Statements for approval by the Premier and Cabinet Infrastructure Committee.  The SIS will be tabled in Parliament and debated;
• - advise on project procurement, contractual arrangements, best practice, delivery and funding modes and create a project pipeline; and

The lack of a long-term strategic plan for infrastructure is the greatest infrastructure problem facing NSW. Without a clear, long-term strategy to address emerging bottlenecks, the impact of population growth and changes in land use and employment patterns, poor decisions will inevitably be made.

We will encourage the best ideas and solutions from the private sector, and a greater level of private sector investment and participation in projects, with rigorous planning and costing to deliver the highest standards of public value – and confidence to investors and the community.

The NSW Liberals & Nationals stand firmly against any more Labor cuts to rural and regional hospitals and other health services, NSW Opposition Leader Barry O’Farrell, NSW Nationals Leader Andrew Stoner and Shadow Minister for Health Jillian Skinner said today.