Project Delivery Panel Project Delivery Panel
Chair: Brendan Lyon, Chief Executive, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia Panellists: Roger Black, Project Director, Projects Queensland, Queensland Treasury and Trade; Rodd Staples, Project Director, North West Rail Link, Transport for NSW; Paul Goldsmith, Project Director, WestConnex, Sydney Motorways Project Office, Roads and Maritime Services; Ken Mathers, Chief Executive Officer, Linking Melbourne Authority
The need for closer collaboration and coordination between and across governments formed a central theme of the Project Delivery Panel at Partnerships 2013. Brendan Lyon: This panel invites project directors who are investing more than $30 billion in current projects to talk about the opportunities that might exist for better coordination and national leadership. Can I ask each of you just to give a little summary of what it is you’re actually directing in terms of project investments? Ken Mathers: The entire East West Link is 18 kilometres long, and runs across the top of Melbourne’s CBD, going from the end of the Eastern Freeway across to CityLink, and ultimately right across to the Western Ring Road. This is a project that is going to respond to the ever-increasing traffic demand in Melbourne, and particularly the freight industry. The state government has made it clear that its highest priority is the eastern section, running from the end of the Eastern Freeway at Hoddle Street across to
CityLink, and we are currently embarking upon the procurement of that stage. Concurrent with that, we are doing the detailed planning for that part of the project, and also the adjoining section that runs down to the Port. The Linking Melbourne Authority, under the previous government, had undertaken the planning for the western part of the project, but this government has the eastern end as its highest priority. The eastern end is a massive project, somewhere between $6 billion and $8 billion. It is 9.6 kilometres long overall, and that includes twin three-lane tunnels, each 4.4 kilometres long. This project is going to be delivered and financed under an availability Public Private Partnership (PPP) model, and there will be significant contributions to the capital cost of the project by the Victorian Government, both during construction and at the end continued on page 58
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futurebuilding
Volume 4 Number 1
