The Andrews Labor Government has today announced the make-up of the board of Infrastructure , the independent body which will take the politics out of infrastructure planning.
Infrastructure expert Jim Miller has been appointed as the inaugural Chair of Infrastructure Victoria. Mr Miller was an Executive Director at Macquarie Capital from 1994-2015. Mr Miller has extensive experience in the infrastructure sector, having worked in the areas of regulated assets, transport, energy, utilities and resources and social infrastructure. He is currently the Deputy Chair of Infrastructure Partnerships Australia.
Maria Wilton joins the board as Deputy Chair of Infrastructure Victoria. Maria is the Managing Director of Franklin Templeton Investments Australia, a director of the Financial Services Council of Australia and the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
The current President and Vice Chancellor of Monash University Professor Margaret Gardner and former CEO of Westpac New Zealand and the Bank of Melbourne Ann Sherry will also join Infrastructure Victoria as members of the board.
The Board will also include the Secretaries of the Department of Premier and Cabinet, the Department of Treasury and Finance and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning. These statutory members will ensure Infrastructure Victoria is able to coordinate infrastructure planning with the public service and its agencies.
The new independent body will ensure that Victoria’s immediate and long-term infrastructure needs are identified and prioritised based on objective, transparent analysis and evidence.
Infrastructure Victoria will be required to publicly release a 30-year Infrastructure Strategy detailing short, medium and long-term needs and priorities. The Government will be required to develop a five-year Infrastructure Plan outlining its priority projects and funding commitments, and Infrastructure Victoria will assess the Government’s progress against this plan.
The expert body will also independently assess the economic, environmental and social merits of major projects, and publish research on a range of infrastructure issues.
Infrastructure Victoria will give our communities and the private sector greater certainty about the state’s infrastructure needs, and the Labor Government’s strong plan to meet them.
Quotes attributable to Premier Daniel Andrews
“Governments come and go, but our long-term infrastructure priorities always remain.”
“That’s why we’ve appointed a board to give us clear, expert advice that is independent of politics and focussed on our state’s priorities.”
Quotes attributable to Special Minister of State, Gavin Jennings
“We welcome Jim Miller and the other board members to Infrastructure Victoria, our new expert body. Jim and the other board members come with great experience and will provide the needed leadership for this new body.”
“They will help take the politics out of infrastructure and ensure that our state gets the projects that we need.”
Reviewed 19 August 2020