Trading Big Australian for LittleBig Australian ellimb?
I had collected too many impulse buys for a time when cash is king.
But beingcashed up probably means there is no way the price will let go of $1.70 level
...but that is good too
Regards the West story below, NRW is one of the major enablers of and/or tenderers for many of the important WA infrastructure works mentioned below, and thus a conduit for crucial employment - not just in WA but the Eastern States too.
- And it is all Australian, as you just reminded me .
The nine infrastructure projects vital to WA’s recovery
Meilin ChewThe West Australian Wednesday, 8 July 2020 2:00AM
Nicole Lockwood, chair of West Port, says a significant amount of private investment in WA was what set it apart from other States and Territories. Credit: Ross Swanborough/The West Australian
A list of big-ticket infrastructure projects — creating more than 20,000 jobs during construction — will be critical to WA’s economic recovery after COVID-19.
The pandemic-induced economic uncertainty has resulted in the need for “long-term integrated infrastructure planning”, according to Nicole Lockwood, independent chair of the Westport Taskforce. “At a time like this, that long-term lens and the ability to bring the whole system together is critical,” she said.
“Infrastructure is an enabler for a range of different outcomes, one of the opportunities we have at the moment is to look at how all those pieces will fit together.”
Ms Lockwood, who heads the group providing guidance to the State Government on Perth’s long-term infrastructure needs, said the pandemic had revealed interesting insights into behaviour.
“A lot of the time when we think about infrastructure we just think about capacity and creating more,” she said.
“But when you look at what happened, the changes we needed to make in terms of access to workplaces and schools meant that (overnight) we’ve changed the way we use our transport infrastructure.” Fortescue Metals Group’s Iron Bridge project.
Ms Lockwood said the significant amount of private investment in WA was what set it apart from other States and Territories.
“If you look at our economy, a large amount of the infrastructure that is delivered in this State is actually by the private sector,” she said.
“So one of the challenges is understanding what the investment landscape is for those operators, and to make sure we’re working collaboratively with them.”
Civil Contractors Federation WA chief executive Andy Graham said the infrastructure lever was one the Government could pull “quickly and effectively”.
“Government is a major procurer of infrastructure projects,” he said. “Public sector works amount to many billions of dollars a year, and so they create jobs while they’re being constructed and they boost economic activity through the beneficial structure afterwards.”
Mr Graham said WA’s most significant infrastructure projects, in terms of the COVID-19 economic response, included the Bunbury Outer Ring Road project and the Tonkin Gap project. There will be more works to ease congestion on Tonkin Highway. Credit: Peta North/Supplied
The $852 million Bunbury Outer Ring Road — among six WA road projects to be fast-tracked to help with the economic recovery — is a 27km section of highway connecting Forrest Highway to Bussell Highway. It is slated to be the biggest project to date in the South West, creating 4500 jobs during construction.
Albany will also get a new $175m ring road.
Works on the Tonkin Gap project, aimed at fixing the bottleneck and congestion problems on the Tonkin Highway near Perth Airport, start in September, and will support 3000 jobs during construction.
Other notable works in WA’s pipeline include the Swan River crossing in Fremantle, which is expected to generate 1400 jobs; the Mitchell Freeway Extension, from Hester Avenue to Romeo Road, which is expected to create 1200 jobs and the Great Eastern Highway Bypass interchanges, which is set to generate another 1200 jobs. The Mitchell Freeway will continue to be upgraded in the far northern suburbs. Credit: Justin Benson-Cooper/The Sunday Times
In the mining and resources sector, the combination of BHP’s $5.2 billion South Flank iron ore project in the Pilbara, Fortescue Metals Group’s Eliwana Mine and Iron Bridge projects, and Rio Tinto’s Robe Valley, Koodaideri and Western Turner projects, are supporting about 10,000 jobs combined.
“Anything that can be done to fast-track projects will be critical because we’re all aware there’s an impending cliff with JobKeeper and JobSeeker expected to finish in September,” Mr Graham said.
“So all these projects were already happening, but even being able to fast-track them a few months will help with closing that gap.
“Undertaking projects of this scale is creating jobs, and it sends a strong message that the State is looking forward.” Mining projects will play a big part in the State’s recovery from COVID-19. Credit: Bloomberg
Federal Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure Alan Tudge, pictured right, said the national focus was on projects that could start, or be accelerated, immediately.
“For some of the really mega projects, we want the approvals processes in essence to be halved, from what would be an average of four years to one to two years,” he said.
“Some of that will be in terms of environmental approvals, whereby we don’t want to reduce the standards, but we can certainly do that more urgently.”
Mr Tudge said it was largely the States that ultimately decided what would be built. “Even if the Federal Government is willing to fund 100 per cent of the project, we can’t get it built unless the State Government agrees to build it,” he said. BHP’s South Flank iron ore handling plant project in the Pilbara.
Mr Graham said the ramping up of large-scale WA infrastructure projects, combined with June’s homebuilding incentives, including $20,000 grants to homebuyers, could result in capacity constraint in the civil construction sector over the next 12 months.
“In past booms we were able to look overseas and bring in skilled people, that’s not an option right now, so we’ll have to use whatever skills are available in WA, so there will be a bit of a capacity issue over the next 12 to 24 months,” he said.
“It’ll really test the industry’s capacity, so with the Government we’re looking at how we can fast-track people into the industry.”
Mr Graham said the acceleration of projects would result in a jobs boom in the construction industry, with “every skilled construction worker” set to be gainfully employed in the next year or so.
“It’s a matter of trying to find ways to get West Australians who might be displaced due to COVID-19 ... we need to try and find some effective ways to tap into that resource and get those people skilled up in construction work.”
(20min delay)