The links, or lack of them, between long-term infrastructure strategies and project funding and delivery decisions should be more clearly established and communicated to affected communities throughout a project.
" Transparent, accessible information should be provided consistently across the project lifecycle. "
Information about whole-of-life costs, including when the asset is operational, should form part of project decision-making and public engagement. This might include aligning the project with national population forecasts and articulating the asset's relationship with other planned projects.
Openly sharing planning materials and business cases would lead to more rigorous decision-making, resulting in infrastructure projects that more effectively meet community needs.121
It would also mediate the tendency for governments to announce fixed costs and timelines for large, risky projects without adequate community consultation and planning.122 This practice exposes the government and taxpayers to risk, including:
• limiting commercial flexibility
• influencing competitive processes to prioritise a dollar goal, not a scope outcome
• locking in scope and budget ahead of detailed planning
• increasing the risk that scope changes will be misrepresented as cost overruns.