National planning reform will deliver critical projects faster: industry

“This is a timely and mature approach, as the current situation of overlapping laws and approval bodies for nationally significant projects has been a costly impediment to the delivery of infrastructure,” IPA chairman Mark Birrell said.
“This agreement means that projects supported by the Commonwealth will now benefit from an integrated process which includes all statutory approvals.
“The appointment of one coordinator responsible for each critical project will mean these major projects will have a champion within government to ensure their timely delivery.
“The current, complex system with multiple approvals has seen key projects like major freight lines, port expansions and road projects needlessly suffer from delays of up to three years.
“An integrated approach still allows for appropriate and rigorous assessments of projects, but also means that it can be done without unnecessary delays.
“The Australian infrastructure sector has been working with governments toward appropriate policy reforms and we therefore welcome [the] reforms.”
Birrell said COAG’s agreement that it will also work toward a seamless approval process for other projects outside of Infrastructure Australia (IA) and the stimulus packages will be very important to future productivity.
“The business community will keenly monitor action in this area,” he said.
“It’s a national priority that Australia continues to move toward an integrated and highly functional system of approvals which allows Australia to give greater certainty around the delivery of nationally significant projects.
“The ability to efficiently construct and commission the right infrastructure across the transport, utilities and social infrastructure sectors will be the key to Australia’s economic recovery and growth.
“Co-operative reform of planning frameworks is an important step to achieving this outcome.”