Provision of data should be a requirement benchmarking data and data for all major infrastructure projects funded acquisition. by the Australian Government and other It was noted that legislative governments; amendments to reform Infrastructure Australia (IA) should not be Infrastructure Australia had restricted from publishing information on overtaken that evaluated projects unless commercial harm recommendation and IA is could result. expected to publish its reviews of infrastructure projects. Productivity Commission Inquiry: Regulation of Australian Agriculture 2016 The Inquiry examined ways to encourage private financing and funding for major infrastructure projects and investigated costs, competitiveness and productivity in the public infrastructure sector. Key findings related to freight and supply Key recommendations Australian chains Government response Competitiveness in the agricultural sector is Increasing the number of routes The Australian critically dependent on efficient and gazetted for heavy vehicle access, with Government has transport systems, particularly the provision for road users to propose and not yet responded road transport system; assess routes for gazettal as heavy to the Inquiry. vehicle routes; Efficient heavy vehicle selection and use is hindered by complex regulation relating to Requiring access permits only in dimensions and weight restrictions on local certain cases where there are risks to roads. While there have been improvements safety or infrastructure management; in this area, inefficiencies remain; Improving the efficiency of road Direct road user charging for selected roads infrastructure investment and use would encourage investment in roads with the through direct road user charging on greatest net community benefit; selected roads, the creation of road funds and the hypothecation of The poor state of some rail infrastructure revenues to incentivise the efficient imposes costs on producers, and results in supply of roads; pressure on alternative road networks. Road pricing reform will help address pricing Requirements for moving oversize distortions between road and rail networks; agricultural machinery should be proportionate to the risks involved, with Efficient ports are crucial for primary producers greater use of exemptions and privatisation of major ports can give – extended validity for permits; efficiency gains; As a matter of priority, the Australian Current barriers to entry to Australian ports for Government should amend coastal foreign vessels should be removed to increase shipping laws to substantially reduce competition and reduce prices. barriers to entry for foreign vessels, to improve competition in coastal shipping services.
Provision of data should be a requirement for all major infrastructure projects funded by the Australian Government and other governments; Infrastructure Australia (IA) should not be restricted from publishing information on evaluated projects unless commercial harm could result. benchmarking data and data acquisition. It was noted that legislative amendments to reform Infrastructure Australia had overtaken that recommendation and IA is expected to publish its reviews of infrastructure projects. Productivity Commission Inquiry: Regulation of Australian Agriculture 2016 The Inquiry examined ways to encourage private financing and funding for major infrastructure projects and investigated costs, competitiveness and productivity in the public infrastructure sector. Key findings related to freight and supply chains Key recommendations Australian Government response Competitiveness in the agricultural sector is critically dependent on efficient and transport systems, particularly the road transport system; Efficient heavy vehicle selection and use is hindered by complex regulation relating to dimensions and weight restrictions on local roads. While there have been improvements in this area, inefficiencies remain; Direct road user charging for selected roads would encourage investment in roads with the greatest net community benefit; The poor state of some rail infrastructure imposes costs on producers, and results in pressure on alternative road networks. Road pricing reform will help address pricing distortions between road and rail networks; Efficient ports are crucial for primary producers – privatisation of major ports can give efficiency gains; Current barriers to entry to Australian ports for foreign vessels should be removed to increase competition and reduce prices. Increasing the number of routes gazetted for heavy vehicle access, with provision for road users to propose and assess routes for gazettal as heavy vehicle routes; Requiring access permits only in certain cases where there are risks to safety or infrastructure management; Improving the efficiency of road infrastructure investment and use through direct road user charging on selected roads, the creation of road funds and the hypothecation of revenues to incentivise the efficient supply of roads; Requirements for moving oversize agricultural machinery should be proportionate to the risks involved, with greater use of exemptions and extended validity for permits; As a matter of priority, the Australian Government should amend coastal shipping laws to substantially reduce barriers to entry for foreign vessels, to improve competition in coastal shipping services. The Australian Government has not yet responded to the Inquiry.
Supporting_Paper_No6_Policy_Reviews.docx