Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Capricornia for her question. The Commonwealth is engaging in infrastructure development after 12 years of neglect. We have already had three meetings of the COAG infrastructure working group, which is working through issues between the Commonwealth and the states to make sure that we get greater harmonisation of regulation to improve efficiency and productivity. For the first time, however, we are not just working between the Commonwealth and the states; we are engaging directly with the private sector to ensure there is national coordination of infrastructure. That is why we have established Infrastructure Australia, which I am pleased to report will have its first meeting this Wednesday here in Canberra.

The council will be chaired by Sir Rod Eddington, who brings broad experience from the aviation, resources, energy and finance sectors. The advisory council’s inaugural members bring a wealth of experience from planning, financing and regulation through to the construction and maintenance of infrastructure. The inaugural members include Ms Heather Ridout, the Chief Executive of the Australian Industry Group—

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