1.27 The Building Australia Fund is one of the three nation building funds announced as part of the 2008-09 Federal Budget (the other funds being the Health and Hospitals Fund and the Education Investment Fund).58 The three nation building funds were established through the Nation‐building Funds Act 2008 (the Nation‐building Funds Act).
1.28 On 13 May 2008, the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government announced that it would allocate an initial $20 billion to the Building Australia Fund.59 The Government has indicated that allocations from the Building Australia Fund will be guided by Infrastructure Australia's national Audit and Infrastructure Priority List.60
1.29 The Building Australia Fund consists of the Building Australia Fund Special Account61 and investments of the Building Australia Fund. The Nation‐building Funds Act provides for the crediting and debiting of amounts to the Building Australia Fund Special Account. Credits are to be made in accordance with Sections 14 to 17 of the Nation‐building Funds Act. Amounts are debited from the Building Australia Fund Special Account in accordance with its purposes, as defined in the Nation‐building Funds Act. The main purposes of the Building Australia Fund Special Account62 are to make payments in relation to the creation or development of transport infrastructure, communications infrastructure, energy infrastructure or water infrastructure and to make payments in relation to eligible national broadband network matters.
1.30 The Finance Minister must authorise any payments to be made from the Building Australia Fund Special Account in relation to the above purposes. For the Finance Minister to authorise a payment to be made from the Building Australia Fund Special Account for these purposes, the Finance Minister must receive a recommendation from the relevant Minister.63 For eligible national broadband matters, the Communications Minister may make a recommendation without obtaining advice from Infrastructure Australia. For the remaining payments that may be made from the Building Australia Fund Special Account, the relevant Minister is required to obtain advice from Infrastructure Australia prior to making a recommendation to the Finance Minister. Sections 116 to 119 of the Nation‐building Funds Act provide that when providing advice to the relevant Minister, Infrastructure Australia must apply the Building Australia Fund evaluation criteria.
1.31 Section 120 provides for the Infrastructure Minister to formulate the Building Australia Fund evaluation criteria. The Building Australia Fund criteria are as follows:
• the extent to which projects address national infrastructure priorities;
• the extent to which proposals are well justified with evidence and data;
• the extent of efficiency and co‐investment; and
• the extent to which efficient planning and implementation has occurred.64
1.32 The Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government wrote to the Chair of the Infrastructure Australia Council in November 2008 requesting that Infrastructure Australia's advice on the outcome of the application of the interim Building Australia Fund evaluation criteria be provided to Government, together with the Interim Priority List.65 He also advised that there was scope, where appropriate, for project proposals to be assessed as conditionally meeting the criteria if Infrastructure Australia considered the criteria would be met prior to funding commencing.
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58 The Hon Wayne Swan MP (Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia), 2008-09 Budget-Delivering our commitments to the future, Media Release, 13 May 2008.
59 The Hon Anthony Albanese MP (Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government), $20 billion for nation-building projects, Media Release, 13 May 2008.
60 The Hon Anthony Albanese MP (Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government), $20 billion for nation-building projects, Media Release, 13 May 2008.
61 Established through Section 13 of the Nation-building Funds Act.
62 As outlined in Section 18 of the Nation-building Funds Act.
63 For transport infrastructure, this is the Infrastructure Minister. For communications infrastructure and in relation to national broadband network matters, this is the Communications Minister. For Energy infrastructure, this is the Energy Minister and for water infrastructure this is the Water Minister.
64 Under Section 120 of the Nation-building Funds Act, the Infrastructure Minister was to formulate Building Australia Fund evaluation criteria to be applied by Infrastructure Australia. These were to be in force at all times after 1 January 2009. 'Interim' Building Australia Fund evaluation criteria were originally published on the Infrastructure Australia website, and subsequently replaced by 'final' evaluation criteria during 2009. Sections 9-12 of Schedule 3 of the Nation-building Funds (Consequential Amendments) Act 2008 provided that if, before 1 January 2009, interim Building Australia Fund evaluation criteria were published on a Commonwealth website and if, before 1 January 2009 Infrastructure Australia had advised the relevant Minister that a payment satisfied the relevant interim Building Australia Fund evaluation criteria, the Nation-building Funds Act had effect as if Infrastructure Australia had advised the relevant Minister under Sections 116-119 of this Act. The final Building Australia Fund Evaluation Criteria legislative instrument was registered on 22 December 2008 and tabled in Parliament on 3 February 2009.
65 The interim and final evaluation criteria were the same.