Chairman’s Forward
In September, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia hosted its signature conference Partnerships, which has evolved over the past 18 years into an important annual milestone for the infrastructure sector.
Partnerships is a conversation – at the highest levels of our industry – about where we’re at and where we’re heading.
I am delighted to present the latest iteration of Future Building, which reflects this conversation taking place among respected political, public service, and business leaders about navigating the opportunities and challenges ahead. These challenges and opportunities were well canvassed by each of our experts on the day of the conference, and have been captured in this publication.
Leading this conversation was the Treasurer of Victoria, the Hon. Tim Pallas MP, who opened the conference with an update on the state economy and launched a new procurement approach to expedite the delivery of infrastructure projects in Victoria. This set the scene for many prominent voices to weigh in on some of the industry’s key issues.
In an update from his 2022 oration, Australia’s former Chief Scientist, Dr Alan Finkel AC, reflected on the progress of Australia’s energy transition to date, and the key enablers and barriers to success.
Respected industry leaders Jim Miller, Clare Savage, Michael Brennan and Joanne Spillane took a temperature check on the broader sector as it continues to balance a huge pipeline of infrastructure commitments in a fiscally constrained market.
Then-Victorian Deputy Premier, Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, and Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop the Hon. Jacinta Allan MP highlighted the work underway to transform Melbourne into a global city, as well as the challenges ahead as infrastructure investment seeks to solve the twin challenges of population growth, and housing supply and affordability. The focus on our host state continued into a panel discussion on the Victorian major projects pipeline by the leaders working together to deliver it – Joe Barr, Kevin Devlin and Cressida Wall.
The ‘In conversation’ sessions with EnergyAustralia’s Mark Collette and Transurban’s Scott Charlton delved into some of the industry’s biggest talking points through a private sector lens, and each leader’s respective experiences at the helms of their businesses. Meanwhile, Macquarie Capital’s Tim Joyce presented global economy and markets trends, and the staggering opportunity for infrastructure investors that is the energy transition.
This year’s Partnerships conference also boldly delved into artificial intelligence, with leaders at the forefront of this technology at ANZ, John Holland and Microsoft cutting through the noise and imparting real insights on its practical applications in the infrastructure space.
You are most welcome to revisit the conversations from Partnerships 2023. I hope this will provide some food for thought in your professional lives as you go about solving the many challenges, and seizing the opportunities presented in the following pages.
