Today’s commitment by the Turnbull Government to deliver ‘UK City Deals’ is a welcome development.
The Turnbull Government’s Cities Minister, Angus Taylor made the commitment to deliver ‘City Deals’ at the Green Cities Conference.
“City Deals are a real innovation in policy. They break down the barriers between federal, state and local government – and make all of them partners in economic growth”, said Ken Morrison, Chief Executive of the Property Council.
“A City Deal is a contract between a region and the Federal Government to deliver infrastructure and to tie incentive payments to economic benchmarks.
“All too often, planning and infrastructure are not linked together and we don’t get growth – or we get the infrastructure, but it’s too late. We need an integrated approach to help our cities grow and prosper. UK City Deals are a successful model.
“City Deals represent a national competition approach to the development of our cities.
Mr Morrison said the Turnbull Government was giving every indication it wanted to make cities a central plan of economic policy.
“Australia’s cities contain over 75 per cent of the population and they generate 80 per cent of our GDP. The functioning and liveability of our cities is vital to our productivity as a nation. We need a national approach.
“City Deals are not about ‘value capture’, they are about ‘value creation’ – and we need more policy that is focusing on unlocking our cities rather than taxing them.
“It is very pleasing that we have a bi-partisan approach to the importance of cities. Today’s announcement is a tangible policy to help our cities grow.
“This is an important development and we are looking forward to working with Minister Taylor on this vital economic measure.”