The emergence of infrastructure planning and the engineering profession as key policy issues in the ACT election campaign is a welcome development, according to Engineers Australia.
Engineers Australia’s General Manager, Sydney and Canberra Divisions, Greg Ewing said the ACT’s rapidly growing population and transport bottlenecks mean it’s extremely important to have adequate policies and plans for the future in place.
“Engineers Australia supports comprehensive infrastructure planning and coordination for the medium and long-term,” Mr Ewing said.
“Doing this dramatically improves outcomes with much less capital expense and therefore, the entire ACT community will benefit from it.
“Infrastructure planning should be carried out in a holistic way which goes beyond the political cycle and partisan politics.”
Mr Ewing’s comments come following a pledge from the Canberra Liberals to develop an ACT Infrastructure Plan, establish an Engineers’ Panel, establish the position of Chief Engineer and employ more government engineers if the Liberals are successful at next month’s election.
“Having a Chief Engineer, together with a dedicated engineers panel would provide government with a real focal point, as well as help solve problems in the design phase of major projects.
“They are good ideas that other governments around Australia have either implemented or are considering introducing,” Mr Ewing said.
“A Chief Engineer must have a high level of independence from political and commercial interests.”
The ACT Election Infrastructure Forum, which was convened by Engineers Australia recently in partnership with the Master Builders Association of the ACT, was a highly successful event and the organisation would like to recognise the Minister for Planning and Land Management, Mr Mick Gentleman MLA, and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Urban Services, Transport, Planning and Infrastructure, Mr Alistair Coe MLA, for participating.
Image: stock image.