Latest news with #InfrastructureAustralia
Sky News AU
6 days ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Education 'disaster' to blame for flagging productivity, as experts urge Albanese government to address skills crisis
Industry experts have blamed a "disaster" in Australia's education system for the nation's worsening skills crisis and flagging productivity. Ahead of the Albanese government's economic roundtable, Sky News Business Now hosted a panel of leaders across business and industry to offer insight into issues plaguing Australia's economy. Engineers Australia CEO, and former Infrastructure Australia boss, Romilly Madew told the Shadow Economic Roundtable the nation's productivity crisis had its roots in the education system and had been worsened by red tape affecting a key sector. When you look at engineering, for instance, we've plateaued the number of students studying engineering and 62 per cent of our engineers are now born overseas and if you look the whole economic performance and infrastructure pipeline, what do you need? You need engineers," she said. Ms Madew explained the shortage of engineers was exacerbated by a clumsy registration process, with each state and territory employing its own method. Engineers must be registered in each state and territory in which they wish to work. Responding to Ms Madew, former Business Council of Australia president and Transfield chair, Tony Shepherd argued Australia had failed to keep pace "with the rest of the world" when it came to education. "I think my colleague here is right, we really do need to lift the game in terms of our engineering and science and what have you," he said. "If you look at the results in mathematics in all of our school plans, disaster. "Australia has not kept pace with the rest of the world. They start with their education system (and) it goes right through to training." The latest NAPLAN test results showed one in three students across years three, five, seven, and nine were falling behind benchmarks in reading, spelling, writing, and numeracy. Education Minister Jason Clare said the results indicated there was "more work to do" to address standards and prevent children falling behind. Ms Madew agreed, arguing the government should raise investment and focus on encouraging more Australians to pursue careers in STEM fields. "When we look at the importance of maths and science and schools, there's an opportunity there," she said. "That's where the government should be leaning in to support a lift in productivity in engineering and STEM. "We're going to have an increase of 12 per cent requirement of STEM in the coming years, but where's the pipeline coming from?" The government has maintained addressing the skills crisis will form a key part of discussions during its economic roundtable. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has also been keen to talk up previous investments in training, such as fee-free TAFE, in order to demonstrate a commitment to combatting shortages in skilled labour.
Sky News AU
07-07-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
State braces for 54,700-worker shortage as Olympic Games construction threatens to overwhelm infrastructure pipeline
Queensland is on a collision course with a critical workforce crisis, with fresh figures revealing the state will fall short by more than 50,000 construction workers just as it begins the mammoth effort to build venues for the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games. As early as March 2026, when construction is expected to ramp up significantly, the shortfall is forecast to hit 54,700 workers, posing serious questions about the delivery of the broader $117 billion public infrastructure pipeline. Infrastructure Australia's most recent data shows that Queensland needs 83,300 workers to meet demand but has just 42,200 available - a staggering gap of 41,100 roles yet to be filled. Deputy Premier and Infrastructure Minister Jarrod Bleijie said the state is 'pulling all infrastructure levers' and banking on productivity reforms to help manage the demand surge. 'With a laser-like focus on productivity reforms and the biggest infrastructure capital budget in our history, the LNP is pulling all infrastructure levers available,' Mr Bleijie said, according to The Courier Mail. The data, based on committed projects through to 2028, paints a challenging picture. Only a few trades, including electricians, plumbers, carpenters and architects, are so far avoiding the vacancy crisis. By 2026, specific areas of concern include a 17,000-worker shortfall in concreting, 10,000 general construction and labourer vacancies, along with significant gaps in structural steel erectors and civil engineers. The last time Queensland had enough construction workers to meet demand was March 2021. Andrew Chapman, CEO of the Queensland Major Contractors Association, suggested even modest improvements in site operations could make a meaningful difference. 'If we are able to improve productivity through different delivery approaches, like use of technology, better industrial relations practices on site including flexible RDO schedule in line with the project schedule, managing hot weather impacts better than 28 degrees and work stops … then that peak demand will come down to something that is more manageable,' he said. Construction Skills Queensland (CSQ) projects the state will need up to 156,000 construction workers at the height of activity in 2026–27. That same year, Queensland is expected to be 50,000 workers short - mirroring Infrastructure Australia's warnings. CSQ has urged the state to take a longer-term view, pushing for stronger apprenticeship pathways and initiatives to improve retention, as dropout rates continue to undermine the pipeline of future tradies. Paul Bidwell, chief executive of Master Builders Queensland, said the Olympics may serve as a drawcard for workers but warned it wouldn't be enough to plug the annual gap of 18,000 workers over the next eight years.
Sky News AU
07-07-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Major hurdle for 2032 Brisbane Olympics as labour shortages occur
The construction of Olympic venues is facing a major hurdle in being delivered on time for the 2032 Olympics, as labour shortages loom. According to Infrastructure Australia, there are tens of thousands of job vacancies in the construction industry now in Queensland. Construction for the venues is expected to begin in 2026. The Queensland government is adamant a productivity overhaul is what will make a difference here, as they say, it will allow infrastructure for the games to be delivered on time and budget.
ABC News
03-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Victoria's Suburban Rail Loop Minister digs in on state's $34 billion funding plan for six new train stations
The minister for Victoria's Suburban Rail Loop is adamant it will be delivered within its $34 billion budget, but has refused to discuss back-up plans or exit strategies should Canberra reject a $9 billion funding request. In an interview with Stateline, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop Harriet Shing said work was continuing daily with the Commonwealth for stage one of the rail loop known as SRL East — six train stations between Cheltenham and Box Hill. The Victorian government is contributing a third of funding of stage 1 directly, while planning to raise another third from value capture — a levy on local development around each station — and is relying on the remainder to come from the Commonwealth. The Albanese government has already provided $2.2 billion for early works as part of a 2022 election commitment. Earlier this year, advisory body Infrastructure Australia said it had low confidence in the state's ability to build SRL East within the $30-$34.5 billion budget and requested Victoria provide more detailed analysis of its plans, including an updated cost estimate and exit strategies from the project. It said without assessing these updated results the Commonwealth should not consider paying the remaining $9 billion the Victorian government is asking for. "We're continuing to deliver the information that the federal infrastructure department needs and to engage with Commonwealth ministers and of course the prime minister," Ms Shing said. She said Infrastructure Australia recommended paying $2.2 billion for the SRL East project but then counselled the Commonwealth to ask for further detail, which Victorian departments were providing. "This is a conversation for a project of enormous size and scale and complexity and of course the federal government is doing its due diligence — as it should," Ms Shing said. She dismissed the need for an updated cost estimate for SRL East, saying construction was already underway according to costings made in 2021. "The contracts that we've entered into at the moment are on track. They are within those ranges," Ms Shing said. The SRL minister remained adamant in response to repeated questions about whether the Victorian government had a back-up funding plan if the Commonwealth decided not to stump up more cash. She emphasised the principle behind the project, saying that failing to build infrastructure for future generations would exacerbate existing problems. "It's irresponsible to describe the problems of a city that is growing at this rate — we'll be the size of London by the 2050s — and not to have any long-term plan to address those challenges of congestion and unfettered growth around the outside suburbs," she said. Ms Shing would not be drawn on exit strategies for the project if funding methods — via the Commonwealth or value capture — fail. "The only people who are talking about cancelling this project are the state opposition," she said. Ms Shing said she was confident the government would be able to raise $11.8 billion it needs via value capture (approximately one third of the cost) to fund SRL East. She said the funding method had been used in other parts of Australia to finance large scale projects such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge. Ms Shing explained value capture would involve the government extracting a portion of the profits that come from housing developments built in a 600 metre radius around each of the six new train stations. "So across the SRL precincts ... there will be 70,000 new homes delivered and we will see an enormous investment in employment precincts and jobs." How the government would extract wealth out of developments around the new SRL train stations, without creating a disincentive for developers is yet to be detailed. "Planning reform is another really important part of this work." Ms Shing said details on value capture plans would be revealed in coming months. Ms Shing said the SRL project was not just about rail but a broader vision to build for Melbourne's growing population. Doing nothing would push growth further into the city's north and west, she said. "These are areas that know only too well what a lack of access to infrastructure means for them and for their quality of life and opportunity," Ms Shing said. The minister declined, or was unable, to say how many people would use the SRL East train route when it opens in 2035, though she did say 460,000 people would use the SRL line once fully completed, which is decades away. She said the number of SRL East train users would be "as many as the timetable will allow". "The objective is to get to 'turn up and go' services, which then means across those twin tunnels we'll be able to have people accessing that to the greatest density possible using signalling that allows us to have high capacity trains — so, for more passengers — across a timetable that meets that demand," Ms Shing said. "When that timetable is developed we'll be able to see how many people will be using it."
ABC News
28-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Labor faces funding crossroads for Adelaide freight bypass ahead of state budget
It is estimated almost 500,000 trucks travel down Adelaide's South Eastern Freeway into South Australia's bustling metropolitan road network annually. Discussions about how to move this freight away from the city have swirled through communities surrounding the state's major freight routes for years. However, progress on such a concept has been harder to achieve. The potential for a bypass around Truro, a small town along the Sturt Highway which connects South Australia to Victoria, was assessed by the state government in the late 2000s. A South Australian Highway High Productivity Vehicles Freight Network Access project was then identified as a priority in 2016 by Infrastructure Australia. Momentum began to grow in 2021 when former Commonwealth and state governments committed to the project, until it was eventually canned in a federal infrastructure review in 2023, taking more than $202 million in funding off the table. Fast-forward to the recent federal election campaign and Adelaide's biggest freight thoroughfares sat in the state's most marginal electorates of Boothby and Sturt. It did not take long for a conversation to reignite, nor for a proposal for a Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass to become a cornerstone election promise, as both major parties jostled for votes. The freight bypass project is far more comprehensive than earlier proposals. The $1 billion plan promises to deliver a Truro bypass, duplication of the Swanport Bridge near Murray Bridge, and upgrades between Monarto and the Sturt Highway. And while both major parties seemed to agree the project was the way forward in starting to address the state's freight conundrum, there was one key difference. Federal Labor was willing to fork out 50 per cent of the money needed to fund the proposal, while the Coalition put a hefty 80 per cent on the table. Premier Peter Malinauskas remained tight-lipped on just how much money his government was willing to stump up, however he made it clear that he would welcome "better than a 50:50 split". "This is a national highway project, it's not a local metropolitan road, so we think that 50:50 should only be a baseline; we'd love to see it grow from there," he said in April. Two months on, Labor was emphatically returned to government, holding onto Boothby, taking hold of Sturt and recording a statewide swing of more than 5 per cent. And as the state government prepares to hand down its fourth budget — its last before the state election — SA Labor finds itself at its own crossroads. It recognises a need to build a bypass, but is it willing to commit to an equal split, or will Mr Malinauskas take the fight to Canberra to get a bigger slice of the pie? It is hard to find a more popular premier in Australia than Peter Malinauskas. He stormed to victory in 2022 with promises to fix the South Australia's hospital ramping crisis and not introduce new taxes. But despite ramping hours reaching its highest numbers ever under his watch, the premier has seized multiple opportunities to grow his popularity. From bringing the AFL Gather Round to South Australia, to the eleventh-hour rescue of the Whyalla steelworks, Mr Malinauskas has drawn a lot of attention to the state. He appeared alongside South Australian Labor senate candidates on corflutes during this year's federal election — a sign of his widespread appeal. Even former Liberal leader Peter Dutton complemented the premier at a pre-election function, calling him the "smoothest" in the country. However, the bypass challenge is shaping up a little differently for Mr Malinauskas. To see the "better" split he previously welcomed, he will need to call upon his Canberra counterparts to waive its current equal-share infrastructure funding policy. It is the same policy introduced after the review that promptly put the previous Truro bypass to rest and saw the end of 80 per cent federal contributions. The Malinauskas government has already announced it will partner 50:50 with the Commonwealth to deliver two major infrastructure projects in Adelaide, splitting a combined total of $330 million, ahead of its June budget. It remains to be seen whether a city freight bypass will follow suit. "The state government has said we will appropriately consider funding arrangements for all federal partnerships as part of our normal budget process," a SA government spokesperson said.
