Infrastructure debacle

Australia has doubled the amount it spends on infrastructure, but poor governance has made it hard for everyday Australians to notice the benefits, experts say.

Key points:

• Transport audit predicts major city car travel times to increase by 20 per cent over 15 years
• Average 90 per cent increase in demand for public transport in capital cities
• Australia has doubled the amount spent on infrastructure to about $500 billion in the past decade

A transport audit conducted last year by Infrastructure Australia predicted major city car travel times would increase by at least 20 per cent over the next 15 years, and could double along the most congested routes.

The audit said there would be an average 90 per cent increase in demand for public transport in capital cities, leading to what it called an increase in "crush loadings" at peak hour.

But the head of the Better Infrastructure Initiative at Sydney University, Garry Bowditch, said for the past decade in Australia there had been a radical, if stealthy, transformation in government spending.

"Most Australians will be surprised to know we've doubled the amount of infrastructure spending to about $500 billion in the last decade," he said.

"So we've done the revolution, and I think most of us are saying, 'well, where are the benefits?'

"A lot of people have the pleasure of paying $30 or $40 a day on tolls for the opportunity to either sit in traffic jams or travel well under the speed limit."

Mr Bowditch said the problem was how governments decided which projects they would fund.

"There's been very poor governance within the infrastructure regime — that's been across the board, across all political parties," he said.

"They've seen the role of the infrastructure as very much one that's stimulating the economy, pursuing pet projects, and having very little accountability for the money they spend."