SEGRA (Sustainable Economic Growth for Regional Australia) thirteenth national conference, 27-29 October 2009, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, WA [CD ROM]

Author: SEGRA (Sustainable Economic Growth for Regional Australia)

Papers presented include: Climate Change and the Green Revolution: what's in it for regional Australia -- Emissions Trading: an economic business perspective -- Sustainable Mining Futures and the Liveability of Mining Villages -- Delivering and Supporting Indigenous Participation in Regional Development -- Townsville: a regional development case study -- Infrastructure Australia and Smart Sustainable Regions.

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The right way to invest in infrastructure
by Michael Lind
from McKinsey Quarterly December 2009
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"In the current debate about how to build a durable economic recovery, it’s welcome news that infrastructure spending is gaining attention. In a December 8 speech on jobs and economic growth, President Obama called for a boost in public investment in infrastructure—beyond what his earlier stimulus package included—to modernize the US transportation and communications networks. The president’s proposal reflects a consensus among economists that investment in infrastructure is one of the most effective ways to use government spending to promote economic activity. "

Accountability and value for money: a theoretical framework for the relationship in public–private partnerships (journal article)
by Istemi Demirag and Iqbal Khadaroo
from Journal of Management and Governance, online August 2009
"There is an implicit assumption in the UK Treasury’s publications on public-private partnerships (PPP)—also more commonly known in the United Kingdom as private finance initiative (PFI)—that accountability and value for money (VFM) are related concepts. While recent academic studies on PPP/PFI (from now on as PFI) have focused on VFM, there is a notable absence of studies exploring the ‘presumed’ relationships between accountability and VFM. ...Our preliminary interviews provide us guidance in identifying some of the cultures, processes and mechanisms indicated in our model which should enable future researchers to test not only the UK Government’s claimed relationships between accountability and VFM using more specific PFI empirical data, but also a potential relationship between accountability and performance in general. "
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Affordability Report : a quarterly update on the affordability of housing [online]

Authors: HIA Economics Group; Commonwealth Bank

"Report on housing affordability for first home buyers. Contains analysis for each state and territory, excluding NT but including non-metro areas. Report contains:
* Affordability indices for all states and territories (except NT), metro and regional
* National median incomes and minimum repayments for a median priced home
* A rolling 6 quarters of original house price data for - Established dwellings, Detached Houses;- Established Dwellings, Units;- Established Dwellings, Total; and - New Dwellings, Total."

Joint venturing [book]

Author: Paul W. Beamish

"The key purpose of the book is to demonstrate that joint ventures can work. They require however an open mind, and the willingness to work through a series of questions. These relate to: testing the strategic logic; partnership and fit; shape and designs; and operating the JV." - cover.

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Building an efficient national roads system (journal article)
by Max Lay
from ATSE Focus August/September 2009
"We tend to forget how permanent roads are and how ongoing are the benefits and disbenefits that they createRoads are an integral part of our nation's infrastructure. British colonisation in 1788 brought with it the requirement that every piece of subdivided land had to have land access via a public right-of-way. The land was often grudgingly given and was rarely part of any grander transport plan. Thus, almost from the beginning, governments have had to step in and impose a grander vision beyond the farm-to-market needs of individual land owners.
Another major problem has been our inability to control, let alone predict, future land use. State governments need to be much better in the way in which they match land-use controls with economic and social strategies at one extreme and transport plans at the other.Thus, road planning must allow for a range of future scenarios, as today's assumptions and passionately held views are quite likely to be proved wrong. To avoid past parochialism, planning for any new road system must also be done at a level above the immediate region affected by the planning."

Infrastructure needs multi-layered partnerships and robust coordination (journal article)
by Mike Mrdak and Mike Taylor
from ATSE Focus, August/September 2009
"Infrastructure needs multi-layered partnerships and robust coordination
The domestic freight task has doubled in size over the past 20 years, with growth averaging 3.5 per cent a year. This trend is likely to continue into the futureGetting our resources to market efficiently and seamlessly will be a key to Australia's global competitiveness in the 21st century. Productivity of our supply chains will come not just from investment in our rail lines, road and ports, but, just as importantly, planning, regulatory and governance reforms, and innovation to remove current restrictions and avoid bottlenecks building up in the future.The challenge for infrastructure and transport is to ensure that capacity constraints to growth of exports that have occurred in the past are not repeated."

Bust and boom. (journal article)
from The Economist, 5/23/2009, Vol. 391 No 8632, p73-75
"This article discusses the possible effect that economic recovery could have on the price of petroleum on global markets. The medium term projections that oil prices will rise and investment in petroleum refining industries should also increase are presented as countervailing trends to the decline in the price of oil associated with the recession. Issues relating to environmental regulations and government intervention within state-run oil companies is described."

Australian Venture Capital Guide, 2009 [online]
Author: Adrian Herbert
"A complete guide to more than 200 sources of equity financing for fast growth companies. Covers private equity and venture capital, business angel networks and investment matching services, new product development assistance and infrastructure in Australia, New Zealand & PNG." - cover.

Queensland supports debt (journal article)
by John Arbouw
from Project Finance International, April 2009
"The Aspire Schools consortium has won the A$260m contract to build seven new schools in southeast Queensland and this will be the first project in Australia to use the supported debt model (SDM). About 70% of the post-construction financing requirements will be provided in the form of supported debt."
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OECD. Economic Policy Reforms going for growth, 2009 [online]

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)

"This fifth edition of Going for Growth comes at a time when OECD countries are faced with the most severe financial and economic crises in a lifetime. The still unfolding global crisis and recession have inevitably raised questions about the extent to which markets can be trusted to deliver good outcomes and whether earlier reforms have contributed to make economies more vulnerable. ... This report identifies three broad fiscal/structural reforms that could yield a “double-dividend” at present: increased spending on infrastructure; increased spending on active labour market policy, including on compulsory training courses; and reduction of personal income taxes, notably on low-income earners. In addition, product market reforms that ease entry restrictions and strengthen competition may boost demand in some cases in the short term and increase productivity in the long term."

SEGRA (Sustainable Economic Growth for Regional Australia) twelfth national conference, 18-20 August 2008, Albury, NSW [CD ROM]

Source: Sustainable Economic Growth for Regional Australia Conference

Key themes include: 'Delivering sustainable economic development', 'Showcasing innovative policy responses, actions and decision making techniques', 'Tools and models for regional development', and 'Identifying the latest trends impacting regional Australia'.

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Projects Queensland [CD ROM / journal]

Author: Queensland. Dept of Infrastructure & Planning

"Outlines 603 projects with total values of more than $30 million. The publication lists all the projects under study, committed to and under construction, as well as those that were completed between April 2007 & June 2008." - introduction.

Starring Alliance
By Louis White
from Management Today May 2008, pp. 18 - 22
"How do you successfully integrate five parent companies to work together on a series of major infrastructure projects? Louis White finds out about Trackstar Alliance who is running with the Queensland Rail South East Queensland Infrastructure Plan."

Value for Money in PFI Proposals: A Commentary on the UK Treasury Guidelines for Public Sector Comparators
By Andrew Coulson
from Public Administration Vol 86 Iss 2 June 2008, pp. 483–498
"The Private Finance Initiative (PFI), introduced to Britain in 1992, has become a major means of procuring public sector infrastructure. It involves long-term contracts whereby private sector suppliers construct and own capital assets and provide services for which they are paid on the basis of availability or use. This paper focuses on the early stages of a PFI procurement, the decision to use the PFI rather than any other form of procurement. In 2004 and 2006, the UK Treasury issued new Guidance as to how this should be done. There are two stages to this Guidance: qualitative and quantitative assessments. This paper comments on some of the key issues in the quantitative assessments: the treatment of risk, of residual and life-time costs, of tax, of rates of return and of the appropriate use of discounted flow techniques when finance is a constraint for an investing agency. "

Public investment and public-private partnerships
International Monetary Fund

"Explores the following questions: Should countries increase public investment in infrastructure? If the answer is yes, how can they do so in a fiscally responsible manner? Are public-private partnerships a viable alternative?" - publisher’s description.

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