Australia

AUSTRALIA'S major cities risk heading towards a low amenity, low liveability future unless all levels of government, business and the community work together to rethink and refresh how we plan, build and manage our urban areas, according to a new research project.

THE Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) says affordable housing supply is a critical issue for governments – but so too is ensuring Australians have good access to meaningful employment, good social services and facilities, and quality environments.

FOLLOWING an upwardly revised increase of 17.2 per cent in January, the total number of new dwellings approved in February decreased by 6.2 per cent, in seasonally adjusted terms, according to the latest figures released last week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

AUSTRALIA'S independent infrastructure advisor, Infrastructure Australia, has identified over $55 billion worth of nation-shaping projects in its latest Infrastructure Priority List, with an additional $25 billion of projects now off the list and under delivery across the country.

AN independent review will look at the interaction between environmental law and the agriculture sector to ensure positive environmental and economic outcomes are achieved, the Australian Government announced last week.

THE Planning Institute of Australia has described the Reserve Bank of Australia's recent research linking high housing prices with planning regulations as misleading and yet another attempt to shore up the popular misconception that removing land use controls will solve housing affordability.

BUILDING an extra 50,000 homes a year for a decade could leave Australian house prices 5 to 20 per cent lower than they would be otherwise, and stem rising public anxiety about housing affordability, according to a new report released last week by the Grattan Institute.

PROPOSALS for improvements to train services between Sydney and Newcastle, upgrades to rail infrastructure between Brisbane and Moreton Bay and the Sunshine Coast, and high-speed rail between Melbourne and Shepparton have been selected to receive funding for business cases under the Australian's Government's $20 million Faster Rail Prospectus.

FOLLOWING a revised decrease of 20.6 per cent in December, the total number of new dwellings approved in January increased by 17.1 per cent, in seasonally adjusted terms, according to the latest figures released last week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

THE Australian Government has reached an agreement with the New South Wales and Victorian governments to take full ownership of Snowy Hydro Limited in a deal that will deliver more than $6 billion in Commonwealth funds for investments in infrastructure across both states.

FEDERAL Minister for Regional Development, Territories and Local Government, John McVeigh, last week released the program guidelines and called for applications for the Australian Government's $272.2 million Regional Growth Fund.

A NEW report from Infrastructure Australia is calling for the Federal Government to have a greater leadership role in securing the global competitiveness of the nation's largest cities.