Victorian government axes independent infrastructure advisory body

Victoria's Premier Ben Carroll is pivoting away from independent infrastructure advice by axing two key government bodies: Infrastructure Victoria and Economic Growth Victoria. This decision will lead to the elimination of up to 50 jobs and is projected to save $12 million over the next four years.

Finance Minister Enver Erdogan announced the winding up of the agencies, stating the government is focused on extracting the best value and eliminating duplication. Staff were informed of the decision on the morning of the announcement. While a former senior bureaucrat's review had previously recommended closing these agencies, the suggestion was rejected by former premier Jacinta Allan.

Infrastructure Victoria was established in 2015 by former premier Daniel Andrews with bipartisan support to depoliticize major infrastructure spending decisions. The agency provided advice on short and long-term priorities for the government. Its functions will now be absorbed by the Department of Transport and Planning.

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This is about extracting the best value and where there's opportunities to end duplication and find efficiencies, we're going to take those opportunities.

Jonathan Spear, chief executive of Infrastructure Victoria, emphasized the agency's role in providing "frank, evidence-based assessments" that have improved social, economic, and environmental outcomes for the state. He noted that Victoria was an early adopter of such a body, with other Australian jurisdictions following suit. Spear highlighted that 84 percent of the recommendations from the 2021 30-year strategy were accepted or implemented, and the 2025 recommendations aimed to reduce infrastructure costs and generate significant benefits for Victorians.

Minister Erdogan insisted that the Department of Transport and Planning is capable of providing thorough and independent advice, rejecting any suggestion that the government was scrapping Infrastructure Victoria due to dissatisfaction with its recommendations. The winding up of Infrastructure Victoria will require legislation to be passed through the state parliament.

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Our independence is unambiguous. Independence is what makes our advice worth having. It allows us to give government and parliament frank, evidence-based assessments, on getting more from the infrastructure we already have, and on what the state will need in the decades ahead.