Public-private partnership initiatives for regional development

This paper critically examines the Queensland Government's new State Infrastructure Plan and Public-Private Partnership Policy in the context of the state's unique geographic and population density characteristics, the present infrastructure deficit and regional development theory. In Queensland, the government had been extensively involved in the provision of infrastructure services as part of it's traditional commitment to a strong pro-development policy. In recent decades, particularly since the 1990s, successive governments have promoted ec·onomic growth and development across the state's disparate regions in reliance upon various strategies. Nonetheless, an infrastructure deficit in rural and regional Queensland continues to retard the state's potential development growth path. The present Government's 2001 State Infrastructure Plan and Public-Private Partnership Policy are long overdue initiatives which seek to better manage the stale's future infrastructure needs and expand supply through private sector involvement. However, the scope of private sector involvement is limited under these two related initiatives. Therefore, the potential for private sector provision of infrastructure to significantly boost economic development across rural and regional Queensland, will not be fully realised.