Urban Development Institute of Australia (UDIA) National is encouraged by the announcement by The Hon Catherine King MP on the re-invigoration of Infrastructure Australia and we congratulate Government on expanding the IA remit to social infrastructure, to ensure Australia gets the housing communities it needs under Federal infrastructure strategies.
“We are pleased that Government has listened to industry and UDIA National on harnessing IA more completely in the process of city building, to ensure the Federal Government gets the best possible value for money. We are also keen to see IA become more active across national planning and supporting consistent assessment of infrastructure priorities,” said Maxwell Shifman, UDIA National President.
In today’s announcement by the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, it was encouraging to see social infrastructure (which typically can include affordable and social housing), will be considered in IA’s analysis. This dovetails into UDIA National’s core ask that housing and community development be considered as part of IA’s remit.
This should also involve Federal Government infrastructure spend being tied to actual plans for cities and regional landscapes so there is a clear identifiable objective that can be monitored and measured. We are keen to see IA taking a more active role in ensuring housing is fully considered in determining viable infrastructure plans.
“We look forward to working with Government and IA to ensure we have integrated and transparent infrastructure plans that work,” Mr Shifman said.
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Media: Deanna Lane |National Media & Communications Manager | 0416 295 898 | media@udia.com.au www.udia.com.au