Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Infrastructure and Transport) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak on this report of the House of Representatives inquiry into the use of intelligent communications technology in the delivery of infrastructure. One of the great things about living in the 21st century is that technology is always marching forward. When it comes to infrastructure, we must never lose sight of what technology offers. Not so long ago, if you wanted to drive across the Sydney Harbour Bridge you had to stop and pay the toll. New technology has removed this need. It is all done by computers. Of course, there is also a differential toll, which is one way of having an impact on urban congestion—if you go outside of peak hours, you pay less.

In the same way, recent years have seen the development of smart infrastructure that allows for more efficient use of our road system and our train lines. Use of cameras and smart signalling devices allows us to monitor traffic flows and, for example, change the direction of travel in individual lanes according to the time of day and the flow of traffic. We can change the speed limit. This is critical in terms of managing traffic flows and easing traffic congestion. That is why the former Labor government created the Managed Motorways Program in 2011. Some of the projects under Managed Motorways had a cost-benefit analysis of greater than 10:1. It is a pity that the current government cut it in 2014 in places like the Monash Freeway and then 18 months later announced its reinstitution as a new idea and a new initiative—quite extraordinary!

Labor is supportive of the report's general recommendations, which encourage the department to support greater use of smart infrastructure. It is important, because smart infrastructure not only allows us to build new infrastructure that is in line with world's best practice but also provides us with the option of not building new infrastructure if we can use smart infrastructure technology to improve the efficiency of an existing road or train line. That is absolutely critical in a nation like Australia, with its vast distances across our wonderful continent, that continues to suffer from an infrastructure deficit. Because public funding is scarce, we need to wring the full value out of every dollar. That is the best way we can lift productivity. We did that in government, and we are promoting this from opposition.

The report highlights what we have been observing for many years. As the committee chair notes:

The more evidence that was received about the role of smart ICT in infrastructure, the more the committee recognised the possibilities inherent in new technologies and systems.

And the tabling of this report could not be more timely, because just last Thursday evening I addressed the Sydney Institute, and there I announced that as part of adding to Labor's comprehensive plan for cities we would ask Infrastructure Australia to, when it considered proposals for funding, not just look at value for money but look at whether smart infrastructure had been included in the proposal, as well as the sustainability features of any proposal being put forward. I want to give a couple of examples of why this is necessary. I have mentioned the Managed Motorways program before. It was created in 2011. As an example, investment of just the funding on the Monash Freeway in Melbourne would return $10.50 in public benefit for every dollar invested. The Managed Motorways program upgrade of Melbourne's Westgate Freeway, which commenced in 2012, delivered $14 of benefit for every dollar invested. And of course the former, Labor, government also invested in the creation of the University of Wollongong's $62 million SMART Infrastructure Facility that I opened late in 2011. It is unfortunate that the government marginalised Infrastructure Australia and cut the Managed Motorways program, because it was one of the very strong elements of the Infrastructure Australia priority list.

But it is not just roads. The Australian Rail Track Corporation is working on its Advanced Train Management System to provide significantly upgraded capabilities to the rail industry through smarter signalling. That replaces trackside signalling with in-locomotive displays to drivers. It provides precise location of trains, both front and rear. It provides new digital network control centres, each capable of controlling all traffic on the ARTC national network. It provides a backup capability in the event of failure at one control centre so that the whole system does not break down. It provides enforcement of authorities on each locomotive if a train is at risk of exceeding its authority. And it provides switch settings and automatic route clearances. ATMS will improve rail network capacity, operational flexibility, train service availability, transit times, rail safety and system reliability. Labor invested in this program to make sure it delivered.

But it is also in the area of water, as I spoke about at the Sydney Institute, where I gave examples such as Yarra Valley Water, which services 1.7 million people and 50,000 businesses throughout Melbourne. It has partnered with IBM to use data analytics, maximising their asset performance while improving customer service. Yarra Valley Water has also implemented new smart technology called TaKaDu Software. This software identifies bursts, leaks and meter failures and also provides geolocations for these events. It monitors and analyses the state of and changes in the water and sewerage system in real time, using a combination of tuned algorithms, historical analysis and live system data, to identify deviations from predicted system behaviour. By using this software, Yarra Valley Water saved $930,000 and 1.05 billion litres of water in the last financial year. Queensland Urban Utilities also uses this technology. The software not only reduces costs but also minimises the disruption experienced by the community. When it comes to energy, the application of smart meters, which can make an enormous difference to energy usage by making sure that appliances are turned on and operate at times of lower demand, therefore lowering the energy that is required during peak times, can take real pressure off the system and can make a big difference.

As I said at the start of my contribution, the role of technology in the 21st century provides such enormous opportunities to improve existing national infrastructure and ensure that new projects are state-of-the-art. We should make sure that smart infrastructure is included in any new proposal, because it is cheaper than going back and retrofitting that technology after the event. This applies in road and rail infrastructure but also in water, energy and other infrastructure needs. I congratulate the committee on having the initiative to undertake this inquiry—but it does require the government to act. It requires the government to support the Managed Motorways program, from which it cut funding in 2014. It requires smart infrastructure to be seen as an essential component of our economic productivity and for all infrastructure to be as efficient as it should be, which is in the interests of corporations, but, at the end of the day, this is about the consumers. This is about the national economic interest. I commend the report to the House.

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