Rudd in a hurry on infrastructure review

Kevin Rudd says the creation of a new body to co-ordinate improvements to Australia’s creaking infrastructure is high on his list of priorities for the first sitting of Parliament in February.

The new body, to be called Infrastructure Australia, will be instructed to complete a review of Australia’s infrastructure needs within 12 months. It will then co-ordinate work to make improvements in the areas of highest need.

Five business leaders will sit on the governing board of the body along with representatives of state and federal governments.

Infrastructure Australia will also work towards cutting red tape and developing consistent development guidelines between the states to make investment in infrastructure more attractive to the private sector.

Rudd says the body will work to remove infrastructure bottlenecks, a key measure needed to improve Australia’s economic capacity.