Henry Pike (Bowman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Infrastructure Australia Amendment (Independent Review) Bill 2023. As the title suggests, the bill aims to amend the Infrastructure Australia Act 2008 following an independent review of Infrastructure Australia, commissioned by the current minister and released in December last year. Consistent with the independent review, the bill provides a new object for the act, namely for Infrastructure Australia to be the government's independent advisor on nationally significant infrastructure investment planning and project prioritisation. The bill amends the Infrastructure Australia Act 2008 to repeal many current functions of Infrastructure Australia, and creates a series of alternative new functions, including: to conduct audits or assessments of nationally significant infrastructure; to determine adequacy and need; to conduct or endorse evaluations of infrastructure projects; to develop targeted infrastructure lists and plans; and to provide advice on nationally significant infrastructure matters.

The bill, though quite controversially, replaces the current 12-member Infrastructure Australia board with three commissioners appointed by the minister, comprising a chief commissioner and two other commissioners. The governance structure proposed by the government in this bill represents a distortion of one of three governance recommendations suggested by the independent review, including preserving the status quo with a corporate board rather than commissioners. There can be no doubt that the new governance model concocted by this government will make Infrastructure Australia far less independent. It seems strange this decision is coming from this government, as I think Infrastructure Australia and its independence is one of the key achievements that the Prime Minister can actually lay claim to during his time as infrastructure minister.

By coming up with this new governance structure, largely off their own bat and without corresponding recommendation from the independent review despite the name of the bill, the government will be recasting IA as an entity that does the government's bidding. Consider the implication of these changes on the independence of Infrastructure Australia: all three commissioners will be directly appointed by the minister and answerable to the minister; the commissioners must have regard to government policy; and the commissioners must evaluate all proposals submitted by the government without exception. Beyond the scope of this bill, the government requires the commissioners to form an advisory council of senior officials from PM&C, the Department of Treasury, the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communication and the Arts, and not one private sector seat at the table. As the advisory council is referenced nowhere in the bill, its composition, guidelines and functions are all off the radar as far as this parliament is concerned. Add to that the complete loss of independence and the consequential loss of critical industry expertise, stripped from the board, no requirement that commissioners with expertise and experience be appointed, and what could possibly go wrong?

Taken together, these are very significant changes that effectively repurpose and restructure Infrastructure Australia as an almost entirely new entity in all but name. It should be noted the 2021 ALP national platform did vaguely reference the possibility of some realignment of Infrastructure Australia under Labor, in declaring that Infrastructure Australia would be charged with identifying the long-term strategic pipeline approach to be the centre of a Labor government's investment and decision-making process. In fairness, Labor did flag a review of Infrastructure Australia as a pre-election commitment. Unfortunately, that's where the fairness largely ends, because Labor did not at any time flag the wholesale redefinition or dumbing down of Infrastructure Australia by changing its governance structure, revoking its principal purpose and replacing its many functions. There was no pre-election commitment from Labor to transform Infrastructure Australia into something else with the same name. There was never any suggestion that a reformed Infrastructure Australia would be much closer to government, less independent and less authoritative. And it should not be imagined or conceived that it was. In essence, these changes will bring Infrastructure Australia back into the political fray.

Given that Infrastructure Australia was established in 2008 by the Rudd government and, more significantly, that it's design, form and function were the responsibility of the then Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government—our current Prime Minister—

See this speech in context