Priority list to come first

AUSTRALIA'S Labor governments have put off critical decisions on the nation's infrastructure for another 12 months.

AUSTRALIA'S Labor governments have put off critical decisions on the nation's infrastructure for another 12 months, pending an audit of needs.

The move, endorsed by the Council of Australian Governments meeting yesterday, will frustrate business and industry groups pushing for urgent action to clear bottlenecked transport links and ports.

While Kevin Rudd, the premiers and territory leaders agreed that further infrastructure reform was critical to the economy and to spur productivity, they said new body Infrastructure Australia should first develop a project priority list.

This would be predicated on a National Infrastructure Audit to be completed by the end of this year.

COAG next March would consider the Infrastructure Priority List - meaning decisions to proceed on some urgently needed projects could be delayed, angering commodity exporters, in particular.

Mining companies are angry that bottlenecks at such ports as the Dalrymple Bay coal terminal in Queensland are costing billions in lost export sales.

The establishment of Infrastructure Australia, to audit and prioritise infrastructure projects, was an election commitment by the Prime Minister.

Labor has promised to spend $15.5 billion on roads alone over five years. The priority list will also cover rail, airports and port facilities, and extend to areas such as water and energy provision.

Infrastructure Australia, headed by former British Airways boss Rod Eddington, aims to involve business more deeply in infrastructure development.

In pursuit of this, COAG yesterday agreed to develop new guidelines for public-private partnerships, which have struggled to take off in some states, especially Queensland.