Taking Cities policy up a notch
As Australia’s population ticks over to 24 million, the Prime Minister has elevated the importance of cities in the weekend’s Cabinet reshuffle.
In a move warmly welcomed by the industry, Angus Taylor (pictured) has been promoted to Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation. Malcolm Turnbull has stated that cities policy will now be led by his department.
Property Council chief executive Ken Morrison applauds the appointment of a “leader with proven experience”, which he says elevates the cities portfolio and recognises the centrality of cities to the Australian economy.
“Three quarters of our national income is generated in our cities – but all too often, local, state and federal governments have been working against each other,” Morrison says.
“This is an area that has been neglected for many years and Australia is paying for it now. Cities policy has a major impact on national productivity. By the government’s own estimates, the cost of congestion alone to our national economy is heading to $ billion a year.”
The first Infrastructure Australia audit, released in 2015, found that the cost of congestion was projected to grow to $53 billion per annum by 2031 without adequate investment.
Morrison says Taylor’s first two challenges will be communicating the release of Infrastructure Australia’s 15-Year Plan for Infrastructure and the release of the Green Paper into Cities.
“The release of the 15-Year Plan is imminent and the Green Paper should set down the firm policy markers that are needed to encourage growth and jobs,” Morrison adds.
Meanwhile, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that the nation reached the 24 million milestone on Tuesday, doubling its population since hitting 12 million in 1968.
Today, more people live in the three cities of Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane than lived in the whole nation in 1968.
Australia’s population has increased six-fold since Federation in 1901. Back then, just 37 per cent of the nation’s 3.8 million citizens lived in a capital city. Today, the proportion is 67 per cent.