Urban infrastructure investment to lift future productivity

Increased investment in infrastructure has been emphasised as an essential underpinning of future productivity and living standards according the Intergenerational Report released today,” Wilhelm Harnisch, CEO of Master Builders Australia said.

“The Intergenerational Report shows that Australia’s population will grow by 16 million people over the next 40 years. We need greater investment in high quality urban infrastructure, including roads and public transport to avoid choking our cities, and congestion negatively impacting on commerce, labour mobility and housing settlement patterns in our cities,” he said.

“More class rooms, hospital beds and roads connecting work to home will also be needed to provide more liveable and connected communities,” Wilhelm Harnisch said.

“The Intergenerational Reports projects a dramatic contraction in the tax base reinforcing the need for reforms to ensure community infrastructure can be funded and delivered for better value to taxpayers,” he said.

“There needs to be more work done to examine how the private sector, superannuation funds and government can more effectively partner to deliver vital infrastructure investment,” Wilhelm Harnisch said