Accounting for the social benefits of regional transport development
19 April 2023 | 1 min read
Infrastructure
Kapil Kulkarni
No Content Set
Exception:
Website.Models.ViewModels.Components.General.Banners.BannerComponentVm
Services
Technical services and consulting solutions for clients in the property, energy, transport, water, resources, defence and government sectors.
Advisory and management consulting
Communications, creative and digital
Design and development
Environment
Exploration and development
Health, safety and risk
Laboratories
Oceans and coastal
Planning and approvals
Project and program management
Training
Water services
Advisory and management consulting
RPS advisory and management consulting services for businesses and projects, including economics, due diligence, transaction advisory, ESG and more.
Communications, creative and digital
Communications, creative and digital solutions for governments and businesses including community engagement, design, research, data and software development.
Design and development
Technical and consulting services for buildings, infrastructure and cities including architecture, engineering, surveying, landscape architecture and urban design.
Environment
Environmental consulting solutions for responsible, resilient and sustainable development including impact assessment, ecology and contamination management.
Exploration and development
Technical services for energy projects including seismic operations, drilling and wellsite geology, reservoir management, independent reporting and more.
Health, safety and risk
From safety case development to emergency response strategy, discover services and expertise to reduce your risk profile and keep people safe.
Laboratories
Scientific analysis services for AgroScience, food safety, workplace exposure, environmental analysis and contaminants of concern in Europe and the UK.
Oceans and coastal
RPS technical solutions for marine infrastructure and offshore development including coastal engineering, marine biology metocean science, and emergency response.
Planning and approvals
Development strategy, planning and approval solutions for buildings, infrastructure, transport and city projects and investments.
Project and program management
Project management solutions for the most complex building, infrastructure, organisational change, and systems projects.
Training
Specialist training services, programs and accreditation for health, safety and risk, project management, and energy sector capability development.
Water services
Solutions for the water sector including quality monitoring, modelling, infrastructure design, engineering and asset management.
Sectors
World-leading technical and consulting solutions for clients in the property, energy, transport, resources, water, defence and government sectors.
Property
Energy
Transport
Defence and government services
Water
Resources
Property
Design, technical and advisory services for the property sector, including residential, commercial, retail, industrial, health, education and data centre projects.
Energy
Energy exploration, development and optimisation solutions for renewables, power and gas networks, energy storage, oil and gas and nuclear facilties.
Transport
Smart, safe and sustainable transport infrastructure development services and advice for rail, aviation, port and road clients and projects.
Defence and government services
Expertise for defence capability and infrastructure investments, security and safety projects, and information and telecommunications initatives.
Water
Discover our industry-leading strategy, design and management solutions for wastewater, groundwater, flooding, drainage and network infrastructure.
Resources
Commercial data, design advice and technical management solutions for safe and environmentally responsible resource exploration and operations.
Technical services and consulting solutions for clients in the property, energy, transport, water, resources, defence and government sectors.
Advisory and management consulting
Communications, creative and digital
RPS advisory and management consulting services for businesses and projects, including economics, due diligence, transaction advisory, ESG and more.
Project investment and finance
Explore Advisory and management consultingCommunications, creative and digital solutions for governments and businesses including community engagement, design, research, data and software development.
Creative, visualisation and immersive design
Data management, analytics and insights
Explore Communications, creative and digitalTechnical and consulting services for buildings, infrastructure and cities including architecture, engineering, surveying, landscape architecture and urban design.
Environmental consulting solutions for responsible, resilient and sustainable development including impact assessment, ecology and contamination management.
Acoustics, noise and vibration
Contaminated land and remediation
Environmental Impact Assessment
Environmental permitting and compliance
Sustainability and climate resilience
Explore EnvironmentTechnical services for energy projects including seismic operations, drilling and wellsite geology, reservoir management, independent reporting and more.
Asset and reservoir management
Drilling support and wellsite geology
Field development planning and operations
Reserves and independent reporting
Seismic operations management and support
Exploration and appraisal studies
Unitisation and equity determination
Unexploded ordnances (UXO) and Explosive remnants of war (ERW)
Explore Exploration and developmentFrom safety case development to emergency response strategy, discover services and expertise to reduce your risk profile and keep people safe.
Asbestos and hazardous materials management
Construction (design and management) principal designer
Health, safety, risk assessment and management
Explore Health, safety and riskScientific analysis services for AgroScience, food safety, workplace exposure, environmental analysis and contaminants of concern in Europe and the UK.
RPS technical solutions for marine infrastructure and offshore development including coastal engineering, marine biology metocean science, and emergency response.
Commercial fisheries advice and services
24/7 response modelling and support services
Marine life mitigation - PSOs, MMOs and PAM
Metocean, Science and Technology
Explore Oceans and coastalDevelopment strategy, planning and approval solutions for buildings, infrastructure, transport and city projects and investments.
Project management solutions for the most complex building, infrastructure, organisational change, and systems projects.
Cost management / quantity surveying
Explore Project and program managementSpecialist training services, programs and accreditation for health, safety and risk, project management, and energy sector capability development.
Capability development and training for the energy sector
Explore TrainingSolutions for the water sector including quality monitoring, modelling, infrastructure design, engineering and asset management.
Water quality modelling and monitoring
Water and wastewater network modelling and asset management
Water and wastewater infrastructure design
Explore Water services
World-leading technical and consulting solutions for clients in the property, energy, transport, resources, water, defence and government sectors.
Design, technical and advisory services for the property sector, including residential, commercial, retail, industrial, health, education and data centre projects.
Energy exploration, development and optimisation solutions for renewables, power and gas networks, energy storage, oil and gas and nuclear facilties.
Smart, safe and sustainable transport infrastructure development services and advice for rail, aviation, port and road clients and projects.
Expertise for defence capability and infrastructure investments, security and safety projects, and information and telecommunications initatives.
Information and telecommunications
Explore Defence and government servicesDiscover our industry-leading strategy, design and management solutions for wastewater, groundwater, flooding, drainage and network infrastructure.
UK and Ireland regulated water asset management
Explore WaterCommercial data, design advice and technical management solutions for safe and environmentally responsible resource exploration and operations.
We define, design and manage projects that create shared value to a complex, urbanising and resource-scarce world.
Brilliant minds finding solutions to complex problems, made easy to understand. Making complex easy.
Asia Pacific
Australia
For those who work in the infrastructure space, discussion abounds about what the Budget means for the project pipeline that stretches ahead of us. And usually it’s a conversation about ‘what’s in, what’s out?’
The Federal Government has pitched this Budget as ‘solid and sensible…[and] suited to the times we are in and the conditions we confront.’
The subtext is clear. Economic conditions are shifting and that will certainly mean change for project funding and prioritisation.
It’s easy to get caught up in the negative portents of programs cut and a foot coming off the investment accelerator, but it’s important to look at the bigger picture. There are opportunities on the horizon for infrastructure, even if the headwinds are a little stronger than we’ve been used to.
Here are my thoughts on the positives that the infrastructure sector can draw from the latest Budget.
The Budget Overview notes that:
‘Australia is facing acute housing pressures and too many Australians do not have access to affordable housing. At the same time Australia has a low level of institutional housing investment and the world’s third largest pool of capital in our superannuation system which is hungry for investments that will deliver stable returns over the long term.’
In response to the growing issue of housing accessibility, the Government is establishing a new National Housing Accord to address the shortage and deliver new affordable homes. A target of ‘one million new, well-located homes [is] to be delivered over 5 years from mid-2024 as capacity constraints are expected to ease’.
One million homes is a lot. And housing can’t be built in isolation. Huge investment will need to be made in complementary infrastructure assets to support this growth, both close to the homes themselves and further afield across our energy, transport, water and telecommunications networks.
A commitment to strong investment in housing is a good sign.
We’ve been living through the age of the transport ‘mega project’ in recent years. Australian capitals have seen the positive impacts through projects that are literally transforming the form and function of our cities like Sydney Metro, Cross River Rail, and the Metro Tunnel Project.
The Budget makes commitments for transport infrastructure projects worth $120 billion over the next ten years, including major funding investments for the Western Sydney Roads Package ($300 million), upgrades to the Bruce Highway in Queensland ($586.4 million), and planning for a high-speed rail connection between Sydney and Newcastle ($500 million) to name just a few.
The Budget signals that there is no stop to transport, but it also points to some important shifts in focus. Significant commitments are being made to social infrastructure, like the $50 million allocated for a TAFE Technology Fund to modernise facilities, or the $270.8 million assigned for improvements to public schools via the Schools Upgrade Fund.
Clean energy is also high on the priority list with the Government committing to major investments in the transmission infrastructure needed to meet renewable energy targets.
Nearly $2 billion is being devoted to the Powering the Regions Fund, $300 million has been set aside for community batteries and solar bank projects, while Rewiring the Nation will:
‘Use $20 billion of low-cost finance to make much-needed upgrades to our outdated electricity grid. This includes investing in Marinus Link to connect Tasmania's Battery of the Nation pumped hydro and renewables to the East Coast transmission network.’
In the same way that the Budget Overview points to an untapped well of capital that could be used to address the housing crisis, there are also big opportunities to accelerate clean energy infrastructure by unlocking super fund capital and other private equity.
These types of funding commitments in the Budget, combined with legislative changes that are adding more investment certainty to emerging renewable asset classes like offshore wind are a good signal for investors, and for our infrastructure pipeline, too.
A final positive that stuck out for me is the focus on addressing workforce shortages and building capacity in priority sectors.
Labour is a huge problem facing our industry and gender equity is an ongoing issue. The Budget has allocated funding for skills development and signalled that it will create an Australian Skills Guarantee under which ‘one in 10 workers on major federally funded projects must be an apprentice, trainee or paid cadet, with specific targets for women.’
It’s a longer play, sure. But if COVID-19 taught us one thing, it’s that the infrastructure sector is both resilient, and vitally important. Infrastructure was the lever we pulled to keep our economic wheels turning in a pandemic. To keep up the pipeline pace, we absolutely need to invest in the people that will deliver it.
While the headlines might be less than positive right now, reading between the lines of this year’s Budget just shows that infrastructure will continue to play a leading role in Australia’s wealth and prosperity into 2023, and beyond.
Arthur Stamatoudis
Executive Director - Advisory
Executive Director - Advisory