Cities and population minister Alan Tudge has announced a four-point plan to bust congestion in major cities, which would include strict visa conditions requiring some new migrants to stay away from major cities for their first few years in the country.
In a speech to the Menzies Research Centre in Melbourne on October 10, Tudge asserted it was “a fact of life that as cities become larger they get more congested”.
He also pointed to Government figures showing net overseas migration represented 60 percent of population growth over the last decade.
“There was a step change increase in population growth from 2007 under the Rudd Government, almost entirely driven by lifting the immigration rate,” he said.
“As an immigration nation, we have had periods of rapid growth since European settlement, but our current growth rate has only been surpassed by a brief period in the 1920s … and during the ‘populate or perish’ period immediately following World War II.”
Tudge said net overseas migration has contributed 64 percent of population growth in Melbourne over the last year, and 84 percent in Sydney.
He said these points more than justified Morrison’s decision to create a joint cities and population portfolio as part of his first Ministry in August.
Tudge also looked to quash the notion that city growth could be managed by more infrastructure spending alone.
“There was insufficient infrastructure built in the early 2000s, particularly in Melbourne and Sydney, to cater for forecast growth, let alone the actual growth,” he said.
“All government expenditure on infrastructure has increased markedly—greatly assisted by the federal Coalition in the last five years—but as the chart [below] shows, it has typically lagged population growth by a few years.
“When the population has already grown before the infrastructure is put in place, the cost of building the roads and rail escalates. Consequently, we get fewer miles built from our infrastructure buck.”
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The solution now offered by Scott Morrison’s new ‘congestion-busting’ minister comes in four parts.
The first is already announced: A $75 billion, ten-year spending program on road and rail projects in major cities.
The second is for more spending to address ‘local congestion pinch-points’ – smaller projects to cut down on the number of local bottlenecks that often delay commuters on the first or last mile of their trip.
“Third,” Tudge explained, “we aim to ease the population pressure off the three big cities and more rapidly grow the smaller states and regions.
“One of the ways we can do this is through directing new migrants to smaller states or regions. Matching the skills of new migrants with the skill shortages in rural and regional Australia will be key to the success of this approach.
“We are working on measures to have more new arrivals go to the smaller states and regions and require them to be there for at least a few years. In that time, the evidence suggests that many will make it their home for the long term.”
Tudge said fast-rail solutions being investigated along the east coast would potentially link cities to regional areas with faster, more reliable connections.
The fourth and final element of the Government’s plan is to develop a “population planning framework”.
“One of the challenges of our federation is that the primary population levers are set at the federal level, while the states have the primary responsibility for implementing the transport infrastructure and government services to cater for the growth,” Tudge said.
“We need a better planning framework that can better join the two together. This will involve engagement with the states on a more regular and systemic basis to determine population objectives for each region and better aligning federal and state infrastructure expenditure to support these objectives.”
Albanese says focus should stay on transport investment
Shadow cities and infrastructure minister Anthony Albanese questioned the four-point plan, saying the Coalition had a poor track record funding public transport projects, which are the real solution to busting congestion.
“I find it somewhat ironic that [the Coalition] … has discovered the issue of urban congestion,” Albanese said.
“When it came into office, [it] cut funding for the Brisbane Cross River Rail Project which it still refuses to fund; for Melbourne Metro, which it still refuses to fund; and hasn’t funded any public transport projects in Sydney of any significance,” Albanese said.
“We’re still waiting for a funding announcement about Western Sydney Rail through Badgerys Creek.
“What we know is that the key to dealing with urban congestion is public transport.”
Labor is suggesting a bipartisan approach to congestion management.
“Establish a bipartisan committee of experts, which are agreed on by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition. Six people we have suggested, but we’re flexible about that, with a chairperson, an eminent person, who can have a debate free of politics,” Albanese said.
“The offer remains open to Scott Morrison to show some maturity as the Prime Minister. And I think that would be welcomed by the Australian public.”