NewsBite

Infrastructure

Today

Some major wind farms moved into construction last year.

$9b rebound in renewables projects keeps 2030 in sight

The December quarter extended a rebound in commitments to new clean energy projects, but the pace has to be maintained for another six years to meet 2030 targets.

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith

Yesterday

Telstra’s Vicki Brady says the AI revolution needs the right infrastructure.

Telstra mulls putting its $200m data centre business on the block

The telecoms giant has asked investment banks for their best ideas on what to do with the assets amid heightened demand for AI-adjacent infrastructure.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

This Month

FIRB exemptions for new wind and solar farms are also taking longer.

FIRB go-slow on China approvals hindering capital flows

Closer scrutiny of Chinese investment in Australia’s energy transition is also slowing the development of new wind and solar farms, lawyers say.

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith and Ryan Cropp
ProTen is among Australia’s top chicken producers.

Cockfight! Roc battles rivals for Aware’s $1b-plus chicken farmer

The bidder mix suggests property-rich poultry players have been engulfed by the ever-expanding boundaries of “core-plus infrastructure” in Australian M&A.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
IFM Investors has pursued a bigger stake in Naturgy, the Spanish utilities giant, with limited success.

IFM faces barrage of bad press as it moves on Spanish energy utility

The asset manager backed by Australia’s biggest superannuation funds wants more of a say on Naturgy’s board, upsetting some of the company’s other investors.

  • Hans van Leeuwen
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Suburban Rail Loop.

No way old-school Labor would have approved rail loop: ex-insider

Former Victorian Labor MP Tony Lupton is dismayed about the current government’s commitment to the $100 billion Suburban Rail Loop despite soaring state debt.

  • Gus McCubbing
London calling… IFM Investors CEO David Neal on one of his regular trips to the UK.

IFM lands British pension giant as its first overseas shareholder

Nest will take a significant stake in the fund manager that, so far, has been owned by Australia’s largest superannuation funds and manages $230 billion.

  • Hans van Leeuwen

January

David Abbey says he has had a gutful of the Victorian Labor Party.

Why Jacinta Allan should not take this Melbourne suburb for granted

David Abbey is a life-long Labor voter but he’s ready – almost – to turn against the premier. Peter Dutton will be closely watching two Victorian byelections.

  • Gus McCubbing

After 3½ years of bickering, it’s crunch time for Brisbane Olympics

Amid competing plans and multibillion-dollar price tags, the premier will now decide on the Olympic stadium – with implications for cricket, the AFL and beyond.

  • James Hall and Zoe Samios
NextDC chief executive Craig Scroggie says DeepSeek, or other more efficient AI models would still ultimately use the same amount of power overall.

DeepSeek dents outlook for AI-fuelled power boom

NextDC’s CEO says data centre power use will not fall after US energy stocks were smashed by expectations DeepSeek will pierce AI-fuelled electricity demand.

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith and Paul Smith
The CEFC has evolved into a taxpayer funded green bank.

As CEFC billions roll in, the green bank faces a political test

Extra funds of $2 billion for the Clean Energy Finance Corporation invite questions over its future, as the opposition’s Ted O’Brien says “the whole thing is absurd”.

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith
The transition to EVs threatens to blow a $50 billion a year hole in the federal budget bottomline.

Stalled EV tax threatens budget black hole

Officials designing a replacement tax to accommodate a rise in electric cars say the process has stalled. Dealers are also worried about new emissions rules.

  • Ronald Mizen and Simon Evans
Offshore wind is well established in Denmark but remains in its infancy in Australia.

WA minister splits with Canberra on offshore wind

WA energy minister Reece Whitby said offshore wind may be better suited to the west coast after several developers dropped plans for WA projects, opening up a divide with his federal counterpart

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith and Tom Rabe
Room to move - and watch: The Australian Open has a large pool of flexible space to use for events and uses separate to the actual tennis matches.

What the Australian Open can teach Brisbane 2032

Like grand slam tennis, the biggest challenge the Olympics faces is to attract people who may not even care for the sports themselves. But that needs space.

  • Michael Bleby
 Shemara Wikramanayake, Rob Scott, Alexis George, Damien Nicks, Leah Weckert, Anthony Miller.

Top CEOs reveal 17 ways to make Australia great again

The executives were asked to think big picture about the risks and opportunities we’re not sufficiently considering. Here are their ideas for a better nation.

  • James Thomson
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Much of the CEFC funding in 2025 would go to clean generation and large transmission projects.

Labor pumps $2b into green bank despite Trump’s fossil fuel push

The first extra funding for the country’s green bank since it was set up in 2012 contrasts with the pullback on clean energy under Trump 2.0.

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith

Tech giants’ AI megadeal shows us Trump’s new playbook

OpenAI, Softbank and Oracle probably would have made their big AI investment anyway. But in Donald Trump, they see a change in attitude and a bias for action.

  • James Thomson
The CPKC Stadium, home to the Kansas City Current, under construction ahead of opening day in Kansas City, Missouri, US, on Wednesday, March 6, 2024. This weekend, players will take the field for their season opener in a brand-new, $117 million stadium that its backers say is the world’s first for a women’s professional sports team.

World’s first stadium designed for women’s sports takes the field

The CPKC Stadium in Kansas gives one team a permanent base while providing inspiration for other women’s clubs in an increasingly expensive era of stadium development.

  • Mark Byrnes
US President Donald Trump speaks while signing executive orders in the Oval Office of the White House.

Trump White House promises ‘massive’ infrastructure announcement

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the news would “prove that the world knows that America is back”.

  • Nandita Bose and Doina Chiacu
Drilling at the Golden Beach gas project off the Victorian coast.

Vic gas squeeze opens up $1b storage opportunity

A gas storage project off Victoria’s coast has grown by 50 per cent amid a flood of demand from customers looking to stave off the risk of winter shortages.

  • Angela Macdonald-Smith

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/infrastructure-hqi