PREMIER'S MESSAGE

A NEW DIRECTION FOR INFRASTRUCTURE IN NEW SOUTH WALES

The State Infrastructure Strategy marks a new direction for the planning and delivery of infrastructure in New South Wales.

In the 2006-07 financial year the New South Wales Government will invest almost $10 billion in infrastructure - by far the largest capital investment in our State's history. This means that the value of Government capital assets per person will be $318,000.

Over the next four years we will increase the State's capital spend by 45 per cent over the previous four years.

This record investment is about delivering infrastructure for New South Wales that sets it up to manage its projected population growth. It's also about delivering on the promise to make New South Wales 'Open for Business'.

Many of the projects in this strategy have been planned or announced previously - the new direction is about delivering, and most importantly funding our plans.

The Strategy is explicitly designed to meet the growing demand for infrastructure, which will remain at very high levels over the next decade as the population grows, the baby boomer generation ages and our suburbs and regions expand - all of which places unprecedented demands on public services.

To date, the State's infrastructure spending has been mapped out portfolio-by-portfolio as part of the four-year projections contained in each year's State Budget.

This Strategy takes a different approach, providing a 10-year plan which charts the infrastructure provision the New South Wales Government will need to make in each of the state's six broad regions - Sydney, the Central Coast, the Hunter, the Illawarra and the South East, the North Coast and Inland New South Wales.

The State Infrastructure Strategy also marks a new direction by linking the four year Budget cycle and our 25 year regional plans, the first of which - the Sydney Metropolitan Strategy - was launched last December.

Furthermore, the integrated nature of this Strategy will allow the private sector, public sector agencies, local councils and the wider community to make decisions based on the Government's priorities and timing for major infrastructure projects.

An important aspect of the State Infrastructure Strategy is the broad funding requirement it maps out to finance our ambitious infrastructure goals.

Over the life of this Strategy, the New South Wales Government will increase infrastructure funding by an average of around 4.6 per cent a year or more than $110 billion over the next decade. That funding will rely principally on budget funding and prudent increased borrowing. Public-private partnerships will be used where appropriate.

I warmly commend the State Infrastructure Strategy to the people of New South Wales.

MORRIS IEMMA
PREMIER OF NEW SOUTH WALES &
MINISTER FOR STATE DEVELOPMENT