• Principles
• Infrastructure Australia
• National Infrastructure Audit
• National Infrastructure Priority List
• The Building Australia Fund
• Building Better Infrastructure
• Public Private Partnerships (PPPs)
• Leveraging Superannuation for National Infrastructure
• Australia's Infrastructure Assets
• Building Transport Capacity
• Aviation
• Maritime Transport
• Rail Transport
• Road Transport
• Urban Public Transport
• Protecting Travellers
• Maritime Safety
• Rail Safety
• Road Safety
• Urban Infrastructure: Realising the Potential of Our Cities and Towns
• Managing Our Cities for the Future
• Environmentally Sustainable Cities
• Improving Urban Transport
• Challenging Poverty and Exclusion in our Cities
• Community in Our Suburbs
• Reforming Structures and Processes
• Labor's National Housing Strategy
• Home Ownership
• National Affordable Housing Agreement
• A Comprehensive Approach to Housing Policy
• Protecting the Rights of Renters and Boarders
• Addressing and Preventing Homelessness
• Equitable Access to Modern Communications Services
• A More Competitive and Consumer Focused Regulatory Regime
• Australia Post
• Building Energy Capacity
• Safeguarding Australia's Infrastructure

Our national infrastructure—the roads, rail, ports, airports, pipes, grids, cables and broadband communication networks that criss-cross Australia—is the platform for future growth and prosperity. To build a modern, dynamic economy, Australia needs world-class infrastructure. Labor is Australia's nation building party. In government, Labor will provide national leadership to clear the infrastructure choke points that are holding back Australia's growth, and build the infrastructure for Australia's future needs. Labor will also embrace a leadership role in addressing major city infrastructure needs and the growing crisis of housing affordability.

1. Principles

1. Renewing national infrastructure requires national vision. It requires a long-term and coordinated plan from government and to address shortfalls in cooperation with the States, Territories, the private sector, and the broader community.

2. Labor's nation building approach will provide the leadership needed to ensure adequate investment is made in Australia's infrastructure, and that infrastructure priorities are delivered.

3. Labor's approach to infrastructure will embrace:

   • strategic planning that prioritises infrastructure investment and delivery based on the national interest;
   • the use of the best expertise across all levels of government, business, unions and academia; and
   • sustainable principles and solutions that provide for the needs of the present without compromising those of future generations.

4. A coordinated and cooperative, long-term infrastructure strategy between all relevant stakeholders is required to identify, prioritise and redress:

   • inadequacies in Australia's nationally significant infrastructure; and
   • regulatory, planning, tax and financial obstacles.

5. Labor recognises the need to put in place the right national institutional arrangements to assess, coordinate and plan our nationally significant infrastructure requirements.

6. Labor has a longstanding commitment to providing national leadership for Australia's infrastructure needs. Labor's policy approach since 2000 has been the establishment of a nationally led and coordinated authority to work in partnership with the States and Territories to identify and achieve the most effective outcomes for our nationally significant infrastructure.

7. Infrastructure Australia

7. Labor in government will create an independent statutory authority, Infrastructure Australia, to assist in the planning and coordination of Australia's infrastructure needs.

8. Infrastructure Australia will be charged with responsibility for developing a strategic blueprint for Australia's infrastructure needs and facilitating its implementation, in partnership with the States and Territories, local government, and the private sector.

9. Infrastructure Australia will establish policy guidelines and standardised formats to facilitate the consideration of infrastructure proposals and to expedite decision making.

10. National Infrastructure Audit

10. Up-to-date, comprehensive information is critical in understanding our national performance and standards in infrastructure. Currently, Australia has no official, up-to-date record or database on the state of the nation's economic infrastructure assets. Without a clear baseline or benchmark it's impossible to accurately assess Australia's infrastructure requirements.

11. Labor in government will undertake, through Infrastructure Australia, a National Infrastructure Audit to assess the adequacy, capacity and condition of nationally significant infrastructure assets in order to identify possible future gaps.

12. The National Infrastructure Audit, to be conducted biannually, will compile a list of what infrastructure already exists and where it's deficient or inadequate, in addition to identifying gap areas where infrastructure investment is required based on economic, demographic and population trends.

13. The National Infrastructure Audit will provide Infrastructure Australia with the comprehensive and timely information it will need to coordinate and plan Australia's infrastructure requirements.

14. National Infrastructure Priority List

14. Labor will develop a National Infrastructure Priority List, based on the findings of the National Infrastructure Audit. Without an audit and without priorities, it is impossible for government to plan future infrastructure investments and get other policy settings right.

15. The National Infrastructure Priority List will set targets in priority project areas so that it will be possible to benchmark Australia's performance in a number of key infrastructure areas against the rest of the world.

16. The Building Australia Fund

16. Labor will establish a true intergenerational fund, the Building Australia Fund, which will provide the flexibility to invest in our nation's productive capacity, including infrastructure investments. Labor believes that the income stream of the Howard Government's Future Fund should be used to enhance the productive capacity of our economy, not set aside solely to offset the future superannuation liabilities of the Commonwealth Public Service.

17. Labor's Building Australia Fund will adopt the same corporate governance arrangements as the Future Fund. In setting the broad investment mandate, Labor will ask the Board to consider the full range of investment opportunities suitable to the return and risk objectives of the Fund. Labor envisages that this would include commercially attractive infrastructure investments. The Fund will be managed by an independent statutory authority, which will set the investment strategy and contract fund management to the private sector.

18. Building Better Infrastructure

18. Throughout Australia's economic history, Labor governments—at both Commonwealth and State levels—have worked to accelerate and broaden national economic development. This has been achieved through a balance of public and private investment strategies involving direct public investment in infrastructure and commercial enterprises, and through the creation of a positive climate for private investment.

19. While government remains the largest owner of economic and social infrastructure, private sector involvement has increased in key areas such as rail, airports and roads. Substantial electricity assets have passed to private owners in the past decades, as have other power and communications assets.

20. Increasingly, private sector entities now operate under contract to provide all levels of government with the construction expertise to build and maintain various infrastructure assets. Increasingly, government is also a major purchaser of infrastructure services from the private sector, reflected in the role of the private sector in the design and management of infrastructure.

21. With this shift in public policy, a consistent regulatory framework for infrastructure delivery has become increasingly important in relation to both traditional and public private partnership (PPP) procurement methods.

22. Public Private Partnerships (PPPs)

22. Labor will continue to facilitate the construction of national infrastructure by encouraging the most appropriate financing instruments. Labor recognises it will continue to be necessary for some infrastructure to be jointly procured by government and the private sector where appropriate.

23. Labor recognises that PPPs have a legitimate role to play as an approach to infrastructure financing and procurement. However, that role should be clearly defined and subject to evidence of value for money. PPPs may be an appropriate procurement option for projects which are large (generally over $100 million), complex, one-off or non-standard, or standard government projects in circumstances where there are challenges of a technical, innovation or design nature.

24. Labor's infrastructure procurement approach will focus on the evaluation criteria that will determine how an infrastructure project is most appropriately delivered.

25. Labor will, through Infrastructure Australia develop best practice procurement processes to maximise value for money; transparency and public accountability when evaluating differing procurement options. These processes will include, but not be limited to:

    • the development and application of a rigorous Public Sector Comparator (PSC) adjusted to accurately reflect risks involved in specific projects;
    • public transparency in relation to the methodologies used for calculating risks;
    • allowance for the costs to government of monitoring PPP projects;
    • ensuring that the ‘value for money' test guarantees that employee pay and conditions are not the differentiating factor between two different procurement options or two different bids; and
    • in the absence of revenue streams involving market risk, use of the 10 year Commonwealth bond yield when determining the net present cost of different procurement options.

26. Labor is also committed to high levels of transparency and accountability for all major infrastructure projects, and will through Infrastructure Australia adopt best practices such as those established in British Columbia to:

    • publish Public Interest Reports and Value for Money Statements;
    • publish at the time of public announcement of contract finalisation, appropriate and informative Contract Summaries that should include details of: the PSC, the discount rate and explanations of risk adjustments, the forecast payment schedule, the expected capital and operating costs, asset transfers, risk allocation tables, provisions for contract renegotiations, major contract obligations and management costs.
    • include in ‘Contract Summaries' relating to tollways and projects involving revenue from user-charges, all material financial and other underlying assumptions and revenue forecasts; and
    • allow the National Audit Office to review the timeliness and rigour of the above processes and review particular projects at its discretion.

27. Labor will promote best practice employment standards through government procurement policies and guidelines. This includes the identification of appropriate standards for all parties entering into PPPs, tenders or other commercial arrangements with government, with specific consideration of appropriate wages and conditions, fair employment standards, best practice industrial relations, and guidelines on achieving fair and safe workplaces.

28. A Federal Labor Government should note the issues surrounding the transfer of public sector employees to the private sector and ensure that procurement processes guarantee no loss of wages and conditions for all existing employees.

29. Labor will also, through Infrastructure Australia, expedite the standardisation of tender processes and contract documentation between Commonwealth and State jurisdictions for the use of PPPs and other relevant procurement options.

30. Leveraging Superannuation for National Infrastructure

30. Labor in government built Australia's superannuation industry. Superannuation is the dominant source of investment capital in Australia, making up some two-thirds of collective investment savings. Given the rapid growth of superannuation funds under management, there is increasing interest by the superannuation funds industry to invest in infrastructure asset classes.

31. If investment opportunities are not made available in Australia, superannuation capital will increasingly flow offshore.

32. Labor in government will review existing public policy to facilitate greater involvement in infrastructure financing and delivery by Australia's superannuation funds.

33. Australia's Infrastructure Assets

33. Labor recognises that a strongly performing economy is dependent on adequate and efficient national infrastructure, particularly in the critical sectors of transport, communications and utilities. Renewal and enhancement of this infrastructure is necessary to reduce business costs, improve environmental efficiency, accessibility, living standards and social justice; and expand opportunities for economic development in regional Australia.

34. Building Transport Capacity

34. For transport infrastructure development generally, Labor will:

    • develop a national transport planning strategy aimed at implementing a world class national transport network, with consistent performance benchmarks across rail, road, sea and air including urban public transport to ensure Australia has a coherent transport system;
    • ensure that the national transport strategy funding model takes account of the particular financial capacities of different State and Territory Governments to meet infrastructure demands, so as to guarantee the development of a coherent national transport plan covering all transport modes;
    • develop integrated transport planning processes which provide for fair competition between modes, improve data collection and models on transport demand and projections along with transparent and objective criteria for consistent approach to assessment for investment and projects across modes, equality of modal treatment in regulatory and financial issues and policy integration with environmental, energy and land use objectives;
    • broaden the scope of and representation on national transport regulatory reform organisations to include union representation;
    • work with industry participants on strategies to redress skill shortages and develop a highly-skilled, transport workforce with nationally accredited and portable training standards;
    • support strategies to develop urban and regional infrastructure and intelligent transport systems;
    • ensure that Australians have access to adequate transport services by providing appropriate financial assistance to State governments to improve and extend public transport systems in urban and regional Australia for employment, environmental, education and training, social justice and economic reasons and to help alleviate congestion;
    • focus infrastructure development strategies on the creation of efficient intermodal connections, particularly at ports and airports and at regional hubs;
    • foster the use of public transport by exploring the tax treatment of public transport to remove the disincentives compared to the concessional tax treatment of company cars;
    • work with State and Territory Governments to examine transport regulatory differences between jurisdictions with the goal of harmonising regulations where possible;
    • encourage the promotion and funding of environmentally friendly transport including cycle ways;
    • consider strategies to promote the take-up of contemporary vehicle safety features through specification of such features by government when purchasing or leasing vehicles. Action on this front is important given the economic and social cost of vehicle accidents;
    • consider strategies to promote the development of energy efficient, alternative fuel vehicles including the purchase of such vehicles by government. Action on this front is important given the state of our environment and the fact that oil is a non-renewable fuel source: and
    • undertake a comprehensive investigation of contemporary Travel Demand Management initiatives.

35. Aviation

35. Labor will:

    • encourage majority Australian-owned international carriers including Qantas and Virgin Blue to offer high quality, affordable services to meet a substantial proportion of Australia's international aviation needs;
    • ensure that all Australian international airlines deliver world-class safety and service standards;
    • foster a continuing, vibrant domestic aviation sector offering safe affordable aviation transport services;
    • foster the development of the general aviation sector and develop the potential of the aviation industry as an important export industry including the expansion of Australian aviation maintenance services;
    • encourage the growth of air freight through upgraded airport facilities, increased competition in cargo terminal operations and improvements in the logistics chain;
    • ensure that privatised airports maintain competitive pricing regimes, high quality services and strict environmental and safety requirements and facilitate local ownership and operation of regional airports;
    • implement measures at airports to ensure that outsourcing and sub-contracting does not compromise the security of staff and visitors to the nation's airports;
    • ensure regional communities have proper access to security and safety services; and
    • develop an integrated Sydney Transport Plan that provides for Sydney's future airport needs, including a preferred second Sydney airport site outside the Sydney basin. Labor will maintain the cap and curfew at Kingsford Smith Airport and implement the long-term operating plan maximising takeoffs over water.

36. Maritime Transport

36. Labor will:

    • Ensure a strong and viable Australian coastal shipping industry which employs Australian seafarers working under the Australian flag with Australian terms and conditions of employment;
    • develop a national register and database of all maritime employees—including seafarers, port and stevedore workers—to record that the appropriate levels of security induction and qualifications are held;
    • encourage growth in the Australian coastal shipping industry—and in doing so ensure that Australian shipowners continue to employ Australian crews and receive support comparable with international standards;
    • encourage long-term investment to rebuild Australian maritime industries, address the maritime skills shortage, protect our vast coastline and marine environment and to re-establish our defence self sufficiency;
    • establish a review of the cabotage provisions in Part VI of the Navigation Act 1912 and associated regulations and Ministerial guidelines, and the permit and licensing provisions under that legislation to ensure Australia has strong and effective cabotage laws;
    • encourage Australian participation in international shipping, and in particular provide conditions for Australian seafarers to work in the international trades in ways which do not disadvantage them compared to other seafarers in the international trades;
    • ensure a high degree of cooperation between the Australian Defence Forces and the Australian merchant fleet;
    • require all vessels operating in the Australian offshore oil and gas sector as well as the coastal shipping sector comply with all relevant domestic laws including navigation, health and safety, taxation and industrial relations laws;
    • require floating storage and offload facilities [FSOs] and floating storage, production and offload facilities [FPSOs], and similar vessels working in the Australian Exclusive Economic Zone [EEZ], to comply with all relevant domestic laws including navigation, health and safety, taxation and industrial relations laws.
    • ensure that all vessels participating in the Australian coastal shipping industry and the offshore oil and gas industry comply with all Australian laws including industrial laws and navigation, health and safety, customs, taxation and migration laws;
    • encourage the expansion of Australian participation in Australia's international shipping task through bilateral agreements particularly in the strategic LNG trade;
    • pursue individual port productivity improvement strategies with the direct involvement of port authorities, stevedoring companies, unions and port users through initiatives such as increased competition, productivity targets in terminal leases, increased investment and enterprise bargaining;
    • ensure that where Australia shares economic zones with East Timor, PNG and Indonesia preference of employment is given to the participating nations and that the actual conditions of employment, safety and maritime legislation are no less than those in the Australian Offshore Oil and Gas Industry;
    • explore the possibility of a single, cooperative national maritime jurisdiction through integration of the various State, Territory and Federal maritime authorities;
    • ensure that the Maritime Security Identification Card is used to identify genuine threats to national security and not to exclude ordinary Australian workers from employment in the maritime industry;
    • guarantee the rights of all seafarers to shore leave and also ensure that seafarers' welfare organisations, trade unions and visitors have access to seafarers on their vessels in accordance with the International Maritime Organisation guidelines for shore leave and access to ships under the International Code for the Security of Ships and Port Facilities (ISPS Code);
    • ratify and implement appropriate International Labour Organisation (ILO) and International Maritime Organisation (IMO) conventions, codes and recommendations, in particular the ILO Seafarers Bill of Rights, and ensure that national bodies charged with implementing ILO and IMO Conventions, such as the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, are properly resourced to undertake their compliance functions; and
    • recognise the vital role of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) in the protection of international seafarers visiting Australia's ports. Labor supports seafarers' human and industrial rights progressed by welfare organisations and maritime unions, and will support efforts to ensure there is a genuine link between all ships and their flag state as a means to combating abuses under the flag of convenience (FOC) system.

37. Labor is strongly committed to the re-invigoration of the Australian maritime industry, aimed at building the capability of the shipping sector to help meet the nation's growing domestic freight task and to support a rapidly expanding offshore oil and gas industry. The availability of a highly skilled and highly qualified seafaring labour force will be vital in meeting this objective. To give effect to this objective, Labor will, in consultation with industry employers, unions, training institutions, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, the Industry Skills Council and State/NT Governments:

    • ensure the availability of suitable maritime training and skills development arrangements to meet the skills needs of the maritime industry;
    • ensure there is a coordinated approach to the resourcing and delivery of maritime training across all maritime training institutions;
    • ensure that any bottlenecks in the distribution of resources to maritime training be resolved, aimed at ensuring training expenditure is allocated to regions and to projects having the greatest demand for seafaring skills;
    • assist in expediting industry research on reconciling data on maritime industry skills supply and demand with the capacity of training institutions to deliver relevant training;
    • review the charter, management and focus of the Australian Maritime College (AMC) to ensure it is responsive to the needs of the Australian and regional maritime industry;
    • develop a nationally coordinated scheme to ensure that both private and public shipping assets are harnessed in an effort to maximise opportunities for maritime trainees to gain sea time as a necessary part of acquiring a maritime qualification; and
    • consult with regional governments on the most appropriate ways to involve regional nations in the training and skill formation strategies for the offshore oil and gas industry, to assist in meeting Australia's skills needs and to facilitate skills transfer as part of Australia's commitment to regional development.

38. Rail Transport

38. Labor will:

    • work with State and Territory governments to further develop an integrated national rail network and tracks of national significance to the operation of the economy, including efficient intermodal connections, particularly at ports and airports;
    • retain the designated interstate mainline from Perth to Brisbane and explore, in cooperation with State governments, designating extensions of the interstate rail mainline. Labor will also maintain the Australian Rail Track Corporation in full public ownership;
    • fund investment to attain high speed freight standards giving priority to removing speed restriction and modifying extension of the network to include other critical freight lines;
    • provide assistance to major, privately funded extensions to the rail network where there is demonstrable public benefit; and
    • work with State and Territory governments to re-invigorate Australia's long-haul passenger railways, including assessment of the likely costs and benefits of private, high-speed train projects linked to airports where practicable and the establishment of uniform national Very Fast Train (VFT) standards.

39. Road Transport

39. Labor will:

    • seek to restore equity in road funding and ensure that road projects are funded according to strict, transparent and objective criteria;
    • consult with the States with regard to the re-establishment of the national highway system and to include critical freight routes—such as port access roads and urban ring roads in the system;
    • improve road safety by providing greater access to well equipped rest stops for both passenger vehicles and heavy vehicles on the national highway;
    • recognise the link between rates of pay and road safety in the road transport industry, and work to improve mechanisms to prevent drivers from facing pressures to work unsafe hours;
    • seek to ensure national compatibility of automated, e-toll payment systems on all toll roads; and
    • review Roads to Recovery guidelines to include park and ride facilities, bus and ferry stations, real time passenger information, regional airport runways, walking trails and railway crossings.

40. Urban Public Transport

40. Labor will:

    • recognise the importance of cities and regional urban communities to the national economy and a role for the Commonwealth government in urban development;
    • recognise a role for Commonwealth involvement in delivering urban public transport infrastructure, with particular focus on the needs of poor regions in outer urban and regional areas;
    • assist State and local governments to integrate land use and transport planning;
    • provide appropriate financial assistance to State governments to improve and extend public transport systems in urban and regional Australia for employment, education and training, health, social justice and economic reasons;
    • achieve greater use of all forms of public transport, thereby contributing to reductions in emissions and congestion;
    • integrate transport, land use and environmental objectives;
    • ensure public transport is available to new suburbs and developments;
    • improve integration of various public transport modes through development of inter modal interchanges;
    • propose ways to reduce dependency on cars, including reform of the inequitable tax treatment of public transport as against employer-provided, car transport and thus encourage public transport use for commuting to and from work; and
    • Encourage urban public transport including trains, trams, light rail, buses and ferries.

41. Protecting Travellers

41. In relation to aviation safety, Labor will:

    • ensure that security at Australian airports and in planes flying in Australia is maintained at the highest possible standards;
    • ensure that the Australian Transport Safety Bureau has access to adequate resources to continue its efficient and effective, independent role in accident and incident investigation across transport modes;
    • ensure the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) is appropriately resourced and continue the review of regulations and internal CASA reforms designed to streamline procedures, ensure public accountability, concentrate resources on the safety enforcement task and ensure the strict enforcement of safety regulations; and
    • retain Airservices Australia as an efficient public aviation service provider of air traffic services, aviation fire services and national airways maintenance and installation services.

42. Maritime Safety

42. Labor will:

    • maintain an appropriately resourced Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA), Seafarers Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Authority (Seacare Authority), National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) and Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), and equivalent State organisations, to ensure they operate efficiently and in a coordinated way to maintain a strict maritime safety regime; and
    • protect the marine environment by adequately resourcing AMSA to combat ‘ships of shame', and to maintain strict, regulatory regimes governing pilotage, discharges at sea and other matters critical to marine environmental protection.

43. Rail Safety

43. Labor will:

    • consult with rail operators, users and unions with the aim of upgrading Australia's rail safety efforts in order to accommodate the proliferation of operators arising from privatisation and vertical separation;
    • enhance the role and functions of the Rail Safety Unit in the Australian Transport Safety Bureau to recommend strategies to improve the safety of the national rail network; and
    • work with State and Territory governments to develop a modern national regulatory and enforcement regime.

44. Road Safety

44. Labor will:

    • work with the States and Territories and key road safety stakeholders to develop a strategic approach to reducing road trauma and death reflecting the guiding principle that it is morally unacceptable to accept any level of road death or trauma.
    • ensure that this guiding principle is reflected in funding allocations for Auslink programs.
    • further develop national Chain of Responsibility principles, including recognition of the link between rates of pay/contract prices and road safety in the road transport industry, and developing a national enforcement program to ensure all parties in the transport supply chain operate safely;
    • continue the process of developing uniform, national road transport regulations and ensure that the regulations regarding driving hours and loads protect the health and safety of drivers, including concerns about driver fatigue and the interests of the general public;
    • continue to develop e-transport strategies and actions to improve road safety, reduce emissions and traffic delays and to make our transport systems more sustainable and user friendly;
    • develop strategies to reward road transport operators and drivers who fully comply with regulatory and health and safety requirements and penalise operators and drivers for regulatory and health and safety breaches;
    • improve the collection of data on road fatalities and injuries to ensure a more strategic approach to road safety initiatives, make more use of Australian Design Rules to improve safety standards in new vehicles, require manufacturers to release crash test data and improve public road safety education;
    • investigate internationally proven vehicle safety features and review the currency of Australian Design Rules in regard to vehicle safety;
    • provide ongoing support to independent vehicle safety assessment programs;
    • encourage car manufacturers to work in collaboration with independent vehicle safety assessment programs to enhance the community's road safety awareness and purchasing options;
    • incorporate road safety best practice with regard to the engineering guidelines when constructing or modifying road infrastructure;
    • encourage vehicle importers to retain OEM (original equipment manufacture) safety features over and above Australian Design Rules; and
    • review Australian Design Rules for vehicle safety features against international best practice and consider more stringent rules and clearer labelling requirements for safety features.

45. Urban Infrastructure: Realising the Potential of Our Cities and Towns

45. Labor is committed to rebuilding the idea of Australia as a fair society: a place where everyone has the chance to get ahead in life no matter where they live. Federal Labor's nation building reforms will regenerate and revitalise our cities, towns, neighbourhoods and communities.

46. Labor will strive to ensure that Australia's cities remain among the most liveable in the world.

47. Eighty per cent of Australians live in cities. Cities and the people who live in them drive the nation's economic future. Only cities can bring together enough people with highly specialised skills, working across a wide enough range of fields, to enable the generation of new industries, hasten the spread of knowledge and spur innovation in products and processes.

48. Labor understands that quality of life is the key to attracting and retaining the skilled workers who are the foundation of our economic prosperity. Improving the environmental and physical health of our cities and addressing social equity are therefore absolute prerequisites to sustained economic growth.

49. Labor believes we must have the best of urban planning and development in our suburbs to:

    • make the most efficient use of energy and water;
    • support healthy lifestyles;
    • strengthen community and cultural life; and
    • ensure that buildings, streets, parks, urban centres and transport services are accessible to everyone, including children, older people and those with disabilities.

50. Cities also play a vital role in the economic and social life of their surrounding regions. Smaller cities and towns close to our fast-growing major capitals are in a strong position to attract city workers looking for a quieter lifestyle, but the key to their success is fast and reliable transport links.

51. Labor recognises that there is a role for the national government in urban development and believes that abrogation of Commonwealth responsibility and failure to invest in Australia's cities has hindered economic development and undermined social cohesion.

52. The Commonwealth Government has both the capacity and the responsibility to plan for the long-term with respect to industry and workforce development, the provision of infrastructure and services, and environmental sustainability.

53. As the level of government closest to the community, local governments have a vital role in local and regional planning, decision making and infrastructure provision and maintenance. Labor will ensure their active participation in urban development strategies.

54. Managing Our Cities for the Future

54. Labor sees the liveability and sustainability of Australia's cities and towns as two sides of the same coin. While liveability measures tell us what a city or town is like today, sustainability is about ensuring our cities remain healthy and prosperous for future generations.

55. The continuing growth of Australia's cities brings with it demand for new infrastructure and presents environmental and social challenges that all levels of government must address.

56. Labor will seek to use these opportunities to reduce barriers to productivity in Australia's cities and towns focusing on measures that:

    • reduce traffic congestion and improve access to public transport;
    • improve access to high-speed broadband;
    • ensure reliable energy supply and efficient energy use; and
    • secure the supply of water and support better water management.

57. Labor will establish Infrastructure Australia to coordinate a national strategy for infrastructure provision and maintenance across urban and non-urban regions.

58. Labor will develop a national settlement strategy to bring together the evidence about Australia's settlement trends, enabling all levels of government to plan for the future by identifying what is needed to ensure communities develop sustainably. The strategy will examine changes in industry structure, employment demand and demographics. Labor will use the national settlement strategy to inform decisions about Commonwealth investment in hard and soft infrastructure, particularly in areas of rapid growth.

59. Labor will work with other spheres of government to develop a multilateral national cities and towns policy, building on the settlement strategy and a national sustainability charter.

60. Labor will work in cooperation with other spheres of government, regional authorities and the private sector to identify opportunities for the national government to support innovative projects which improve the liveability of Australia's cities. These projects will demonstrate best practice in urban development and contribute to achieving our economic, social and environmental goals. The program will build on the successful elements of Labor's Better Cities, which leveraged state and private investment to transform decaying urban areas and generate returns to the Australian economy of four times the public investment.

61. Commonwealth neglect of Australia's cities has resulted in the need for states and local governments to fund local infrastructure through developer levies which are sometimes passed on to new home buyers. Urban infrastructure represents a long-term community asset and forms part of the public realm. Labor will work with State, Territory and local governments to improve ways of financing local infrastructure.

62. Up-to-date communications infrastructure and facilities are essential to modern cities. Labor will establish a national broadband strategy to ensure that high speed communications infrastructure and services are available to all Australians, including those in the outer suburbs of our cities.

63. Labor is committed to overcoming the practical difficulties faced by businesses in outer urban areas, particularly small businesses, in accessing information and expertise. Labor will improve the effectiveness of business networks, including online networks, in disseminating best practice information and new technologies to regional and outer urban businesses.

64. Labor understands that a strong research base is essential in promoting dialogue and informed debate on the future shape of our cities. We must support the next generation of urban research scholars, who will bring new perspectives and inject new ideas into the debate.

65. Labor will support an expansion of Australian research in housing and urban development, attracting the best minds in the country to address the challenges, and aiming to double the number of researchers in this area. This will be done through a range of mechanisms, including a national research institute with expertise in each of our major cities, and other structures such as CSIRO and the Cooperative Research Centre program.

66. A collaborative, coordinated effort is required and Labor will actively support researchers in reaching out to a wide audience. Building bridges between researchers and policy makers will be critical to ensure that the best research becomes embedded in government decision-making processes.

67. Environmentally Sustainable Cities

67. Australian minds and Australian industry can and should be at the forefront of sustainable urban planning, design and technologies. Labor recognises that the Commonwealth must take the lead in encouraging the development of environmental strategies for urban regions.

68. Labor will actively support the development of alternative energy and water conservation technologies in Australia. We want to see our best minds at work on these critical issues, developing new technologies and commercialising their ideas here in Australia.

69. Neglect of Australia's research and innovation sector has seen Australia fall from its position as the world leader in solar technology. Labor aims to reverse this situation and to encourage greater use of renewable energy in housing and all other developments in Australia's cities. This includes support for the use of home-based sources of renewable energy.

70. Energy and water must also be conserved through better urban planning and innovations in building design, materials and construction. Labor believes the Commonwealth has a responsibility to support innovation in these areas, which are critical to combating the threat of climate change and the impact of drought on our cities.

71. Each of Australia's major cities receives sufficient rainfall to meet all of its water needs if managed effectively. However, much of this water is currently discarded as stormwater, causing pollution of inland and coastal waterways. Significant water savings can be made by improving the design of new residential developments to minimise stormwater run-off and by capturing stormwater for use in watering public parks and sports grounds. Labor will work with State, Territory and local governments to address Australia's stormwater infrastructure problems and to support innovative stormwater management projects.

72. Labor supports the use of water-sensitive, urban design for new housing developments, which can significantly reduce demand on the drinking water supply. Labor will work with State, Territory and local governments to create incentives for developers and new home buyers to implement water-saving measures, including recycling, rainwater use and demand management.

73. Labor supports the role of the Australian Building Codes Board in examining the environmental impacts of buildings, and the decision of the Board to include a Five Star energy rating standard for new homes in the Building Code of Australia. Australia faces the task of building 3.8 million new homes over the coming 25 years and we must do all we can to ensure that they are both as environmentally efficient and as affordable as possible. Labor will undertake regular review of the standard to ensure best practice energy efficiency.

74. Labor recognises that work must continue to improve ratings tools for both residential and commercial buildings. Such tools must be constantly refined to take account of new construction materials and techniques, and to look at areas beyond energy use—such as water consumption and waste management. More resources must also be committed to determining accurate life-cycle costs for building materials and construction technologies.

75. Labor acknowledges the important role local government can play in environmental management, planning and service delivery. Labor will work with local government to facilitate community involvement in urban environmental management, recognising the importance of building awareness of the benefits that can come from changes in individual behaviour.

76. Improving Urban Transport

76. Labor will establish a national transport planning strategy which recognises that urban and passenger transport are critical elements of the national transport system. Labor will work with State, Territory and local governments to improve transport infrastructure and systems across Australia's cities, and particularly in outer urban areas.

77. Australia's national government is unique among Western countries in making no contribution to urban public transport infrastructure. Labor believes that safe, clean and efficient public transport in our major cities is critical to addressing the economic problem of traffic congestion and the environmental, health and social impacts of increasing car use.

78. Labor recognises that decent access to public transport in our outer suburbs is vital if we are to treat those who live there fairly, to protect our environment and to avoid creating pockets of social exclusion. Labor will invest in public transport in outer urban regions and new growth corridors, in partnership with State, Territory and local governments.

79. Labor will also adopt a more flexible approach to transport funding for local government, giving individual councils greater scope to fund projects such as public transport infrastructure, real-time passenger information systems, intermodal hubs and exchanges, and pedestrian and cycle trails.

80. Challenging Poverty and Exclusion in our Cities

80. Most Australians live in the suburbs of our capital cities. Labor recognises that there is an increasing economic disparity between different suburbs within our cities. The prosperity of families and their children's is becoming irrevocably linked to where they live. This inequity undermines social cohesion and limits opportunities for individual Australians and the country as a whole.

81. As a nation, we have a responsibility to ensure that Australian cities are designed to include and engage everyone, rather than marginalising the poor or reinforcing the effects of income inequality. Instead, in many outer-suburban areas there are not enough decent jobs, there are limited prospects for young people, infrastructure is crumbling, services can't be relied on and a vital and healthy community life is becoming harder to sustain.

82. Labor recognises the debilitating effect of social exclusion on the lives of individuals, families, communities and the nation. Areas suffering concentrated disadvantage are breeding grounds for crime and dysfunction and the economic and social costs are ultimately borne by the entire community. The emergence of such neighbourhoods in Australia is a problem that is national in scope, and for which the Commonwealth has some responsibility.

83. Markets alone will not deliver fairness and equality of opportunity between our suburbs. An active approach to building opportunity at the community level, with an emphasis on participation, is critical to improving outcomes.

84. People in depressed areas often suffer from multiple disadvantages. They need customised assistance that delivers opportunities for both community building and individual participation in employment, education, training and social, cultural and recreational activities.

85. Labor recognises that communities of refugees who have arrived in Australia over the last decade are facing particular challenges, and that addressing these concerns is the responsibility of the Commonwealth. The needs of refugees from societies that differ greatly from the Australian mainstream cannot be met with English language classes and short-term settlement assistance alone. The complex needs of such families are placing enormous strain on housing, education and community services in many suburbs. Labor will work with States, Territories, local governments and communities themselves to dramatically improve settlement support for refugees, asylum seekers and other vulnerable migrants.

86. Labor is committed to community building, based on partnerships between local people, government, businesses, higher education and research institutions and other agencies which aim to improve the places where people live. Strong communities are able to find local solutions to local problems, increase social participation and develop networks within and across communities.

87. Labor will establish a new urban renewal program in cooperation with the States and Territories, local governments, the business and not-for-profit sectors and local communities to revitalise Australia's most disadvantaged urban communities, building on existing neighbourhood renewal programs. Labor's urban revitalisation program will take account of the need to invest in infrastructure as well as human capital, recognising that decent housing, transport and community infrastructure are fundamental to supporting social inclusion.

88. Community in Our Suburbs

88. Labor believes that the physical and cultural environment in which people live plays a key role in determining their health and well-being. Genuinely inclusive cities and suburbs are welcoming environments for people of all ages and backgrounds.

89. Population ageing has implications for the structure of our cities as well as their services. Planners' growing understanding of older people's needs for improved physical access to businesses, public transport and community facilities has the potential to create flow-on benefits for other people who find access difficult—particularly people with disabilities, who have not had the economic weight behind them to drive rapid improvements in accessibility.

90. As we focus on our ageing population, however, we must not forget about the needs of other groups, particularly children. Trends towards consolidation in inner suburbs, larger houses on smaller blocks in outer suburbs, increased traffic volume and concerns about child safety reduce both the private and public space available for children to play in. This not only affects children's social and physical development, it also increases the risk of childhood obesity.

91. Labor recognises that the Commonwealth can play a role in helping meet the specific urban planning challenges posed by changing demographics, health concerns and shifting community expectations through standard-setting and encouraging streamlined approaches to development. Labor also believes the government has a role in encouraging informed debate about the liveability of our cities and in facilitating the sharing of information between jurisdictions about best practice approaches to making our cities work for all Australians.

92. Labor supports the establishment of standards under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 in relation to access to premises, and the inclusion of these standards in the Building Code of Australia. Labor believes that the processes for finalising the standards should be transparent and that there should be a mechanism for people with disabilities to be involved in monitoring their implementation and effectiveness.

93. Reforming Structures and Processes

93. National leadership is required to ensure that regional planning and decision making structures exist to coordinate the efforts of smaller local communities, based on commonality of interest.

94. Labor's urban development structures will build on existing networks, including Area Consultative Committees and Regional Organisations of Councils. Labor will work with State, Territory and local governments to re-invigorate or establish regional structures within cities where they would be of benefit in coordinating urban development.

95. Labor recognises that Australians respond to challenges when given opportunity, resources and support. Labor will develop community leadership in urban communities, including youth leadership and will provide opportunities for community input to ensure that people have an effective voice in policy development and delivery.

96. Labor's National Housing Strategy

96. Labor believes that all Australians have the right to secure, affordable and appropriate housing throughout their lives. Labor recognises that having a home provides the foundation for financial, social and emotional security. If Australia is to be a truly fair and democratic society, we must not tolerate the social exclusion that arises from failing to meet this basic need.

97. Labor is committed to policies which make housing affordable:

    • by implementing economic policies designed to maintain low interest rates and a competitive housing finance sector; and
    • ensuring those on low and middle incomes can meet the cost of home ownership or public, community or private rental accommodation.

98. Labor recognises that although there are significant concessions to assist housing under current policy, home ownership is now out of reach for many Australian families, and Australian cities are experiencing a rental crisis. Labor believes that all Australians have a right to affordable housing. It is critical for the provision of decent housing for all Australians that the current affordability crisis is addressed. Labor is committed to ensuring that policies affecting housing affordability are effectively targeted to provide help for Australians who need it most. Poorly targeted subsidies can have the undesirable effect of driving up accommodation costs at the wrong times in the wrong places. Labor will ensure that subsidies are efficiently and fairly targeted.

99. Labor will develop and implement a National Housing Strategy, which will:

    • expand the range and supply of secure, affordable and appropriate housing;
    • deliver more efficient and effective housing, land and infrastructure development;
    • improve opportunities for first home buyers to enter the market;
    • re-invigorate public housing and support the further development of the community housing sector;
    • better integrate housing and other services to strengthen communities and build neighbourhoods that are safe, healthy and close to employment opportunities;
    • expand the role of institutional investment in the provision of affordable housing; and
    • promote housing options that minimise adverse environmental impacts.

100. Home Ownership

100. Labor recognises that the dream of home ownership has slipped further out of reach for many young Australians as house prices have increased over the last ten years from less than three times average income to around six times average income. Australians are paying more of their income in mortgage payments—and more in mortgage interest payments—than ever before. The consensus is that Australia is now experiencing a chronic problem with home ownership affordability.

101. Labor believes that national leadership is needed to address the crisis in home ownership affordability. As part of its National Housing Strategy, and working with State, Territory and local governments where appropriate, Labor will:

     • improve the First Home Owners' Grant scheme to give better help to those most in need;
     • ensure that incentives are in place to increase the supply of affordable housing for purchase, including requirements for affordable housing to be built in new developments;
     • support innovative projects to develop cost-effective, environmentally sustainable housing;
     • ensure that non-bank home loan providers are appropriately regulated and that borrowers and potential borrowers are protected as far as possible from taking on unsustainable home loans;
     • explore options for government supported, shared equity products, in partnership with superannuation funds, to allow low income earners to enter the property market through arrangements that are fair to them while protecting the investor from undue risk.

102. Labor acknowledges that much of the urban infrastructure to support new residential areas is a long-term community asset. Labor will work with State, Territory and local governments to:

     • ensure that new home buyers do not unfairly bear the costs of such infrastructure, with infrastructure charges levied on developers appropriately reflecting the cost of infrastructure related to specific developments;
     • find better ways to finance infrastructure that has a broader community benefit; and
     • reduce development costs by improving national consistency in building codes and urban design regulations and streamlining approval processes.

103. National Affordable Housing Agreement

103. Labor supports the continued existence of a Commonwealth State agreement on housing assistance and will work with the States and Territories to develop a National Affordable Housing Agreement (NAHA) to replace the existing Commonwealth State Housing Agreement, from 2008. Through the NAHA, Labor's National Housing Strategy will be advanced by:

     • setting targets, in cooperation with State, Territory and local governments, for a net growth in public and community housing stock in each State and Territory jurisdiction, based on a national assessment of need;
     • ensuring funds are available to increase social housing stock and upgrade social housing which has fallen below acceptable standards;
     • supporting a program of urban renewal of old public housing estates, to provide a greater range of housing choices, better integration with services such as public transport and an increase in private investment and employment and training opportunities;
     • promoting partnerships between the public, community and private sectors in the provision of affordable housing for both ownership and rental, including developing mechanisms to encourage increased institutional investment in affordable housing;
     • seeking ways of providing assistance to low and middle-income households to buy their own homes, including key workers and social housing tenants where appropriate;
     • actively supporting a National Sector Development Strategy for the community housing sector and addressing barriers to the expansion of the sector, including establishing frameworks that enable long-term headleasing of properties from small private sector landlords;
     • ensuring public housing rental rebate policies do not require tenants to pay more than 25 per cent of household income in rent, unless there is an agreement with the Housing Authority to charge a higher rate for the provision of additional services;
     • ensuring that public housing is provided in conjunction with health, disability and other support services and that tenants who are vulnerable or marginalised, such as tenants with a mental illness, are appropriately supported to maintain their tenancy;
     • improving the capacity of public and community housing to support tenants in moving from welfare to work, including facilitation of employment opportunities for public housing tenants through TAFE training, maintenance work and management;
     • ensuring that public and community housing tenants in all States and Territories have access to independent mechanisms to review decisions made by housing providers;
     • reviewing current rent assistance arrangements to improve the effectiveness of rent assistance in addressing housing affordability and the ability of rent assistance to support tenants moving from welfare to work;
     • exploring other options to reduce housing-related poverty in the private rental market;
     • establishing a National Housing Advisory Committee, which will involve peak representative bodies in program development;
     • ensuring that peak bodies are properly resourced to perform such functions;
     • supporting programs which ensure that people are made aware of and can access the various forms of housing assistance which are available; and
     • ensuring consumer rights are protected and satisfactory standards are maintained for all low income housing consumers through adequate funding to housing consumer services.

104. A Comprehensive Approach to Housing Policy

104. As part of its National Housing Strategy, Labor will also:

     • develop and implement a national Indigenous housing strategy, recognising the special needs of Indigenous housing policy, taking into account employment needs and the need for cultural compatibility;
     • take particular account of the needs of other groups who are vulnerable in relation to housing and homelessness, including older people, single parents, children and young people, people with disabilities, people with mental health problems, people with chronic illness, refugees, asylum seekers and other migrant groups and prisoners and people released from detention;
     • develop policies to ensure they key workers, such as nurses, police and emergency service personnel, have access to appropriate and affordable housing, especially in inner-city areas, remote communities and fast-growing regional centres;
     • develop and implement strategies to increase the number of apprentices in the housing industry;
     • undertake ongoing evaluation of housing assistance and taxation policies to assess their effectiveness in improving housing outcomes for low and middle income consumers;
     • explore the effectiveness and impacts of incentives to encourage individual private property investors to invest in affordable rental housing;
     • review the allocation of rent assistance payments to young people in receipt of the Youth Allowance, as part of its commitment to removing any discrimination against young people in the setting of rental subsidies;
     • in cooperation with all levels of government, industry and unions, develop a plan for the housing industry to increase its capacity to deliver a quality and cost effective product; and
     • support the development of flexible housing programs which recognise regional differences and the changing nature of rural areas.

105. Protecting the Rights of Renters and Boarders

105. Labor believes that the rights of renters must be protected through the application of appropriate regulation and standards and will work with States, Territories and non-government organisations to:

     • introduce national tenancy standards for all residential tenancies, including caravan park residents, boarders and lodgers, to ensure that tenants' rights are protected in relation to matters such as eviction, unfair rents, repairs and maintenance, quality of rental accommodation, appeals and bond security;
     • ensure that all States and Territories have independent review mechanisms for resolving tenancy disputes with the power to overturn evictions and unfair rents, determine bond or rental disputes and refer matters for prosecution where necessary; and
     • support the regulation of tenant databases though stronger privacy protection including independent monitoring of compliance and access to affordable dispute resolution processes.

106. Labor notes that over 160,000 Australians live in boarding houses, mobile homes and manufactured home parks. These people are often retirees or those who cannot afford other accommodation. Refuge services also use caravan parks to provide emergency accommodation. Labor will:

     • examine ways to restore equity between the private rental market and permanent residents of caravan parks, boarding houses and manufactured home parks including discriminatory applications of taxation; and
     • develop a National Boarding House, Mobile Homes and Manufactured Home Parks Accommodation Standards Code in consultation with appropriate bodies, including peak advocacy and consumer groups.

107. Addressing and Preventing Homelessness

107. Labor recognises the growing problem of homelessness, and particularly youth homelessness, and that other problems—such as poverty, drug and alcohol abuse, psychiatric or other health problems, deinstitutionalisation, unemployment, family breakdown and domestic violence—can contribute to or precipitate homelessness.

108. Labor acknowledges the responsibility of all levels of government to ensure that all Australians have access to adequate housing and believes that homeless people, and those at risk of homelessness, should receive particular attention in housing and broader social programs. No individual or family should be placed at increased risk of homelessness by the withdrawal of income support under punitive welfare policies.

109. Labor is committed to developing a genuine national homelessness strategy in conjunction with State and Territory governments and will establish targets to reduce homelessness over time as part of its plan to address poverty in the community. Labor supports a three pronged approach to homelessness, the success of which depends on the participation and cooperation of all stakeholders through:

     • prevention;
     • assistance to people once they become homeless; and
     • support for homeless people in their transition from crisis accommodation to more stable housing.

110. Labor is committed to the continuation of the Supported Accommodation Assistance Program (SAAP) and its capital arm, the Crisis Accommodation Program (CAP) and will ensure that, under these and related programs:

     • the quality and security of boarding house accommodation is improved;
     • crisis and emergency accommodation programs are improved and expanded; and
     • high-security refuges for women and children escaping from family violence are appropriately supported.

111. Labor is concerned that the current SAAP V Agreement does not adequately reflect the findings of the independent evaluation of SAAP conducted in 2004. In particular, the current Agreement:

     • is not sufficient to support the development of new service models while maintaining viability of essential crisis services; and
     • does not do enough to engage related sectors, such as mental health services, drug and alcohol treatment, employment services and training providers.

112. Labor will support a diverse SAAP sector and enable services to trial innovative approaches to early intervention and assistance for homeless people, both while they are in crisis and in their transition to stable housing, without undermining the viability of existing services. Labor supports a cooperative approach to the development of the sector, involving service providers, all levels of government, and the organisations and institutions best placed to identify individuals at risk and to assist them.

113. In order to provide pathways for homeless people to move out of SAAP accommodation and into more permanent housing, Labor will ensure that:

     • housing programs have clear and planned links with the SAAP;
     • housing programs provide for long-term housing support requirements in both public and private rental housing; and
     • housing programs have the flexibility to offer a range of housing options suited to those at imminent and/or chronic risk of homelessness.

114. Labor recognises that child and youth homelessness is a significant problem within the Australian community. Labor supports the implementation of a National Child and Youth Homelessness Strategy within the broader national strategy. The strategy will:

     • address the pathways into homelessness for children and young people (for example, abuse, family breakdown, poverty, unemployment, discriminatory social policy);
     • improve research into and support implementation of best practice in providing pathways out of homelessness for children and young people;
     • investigate how community housing can better assist children and young people to leave SAAP and move into a more stable environment that will allow them to continue or resume education and/or participate in the labour market; and
     • develop best practice models of community housing for young people living independently.

115. Equitable Access to Modern Communications Services

115. Labor regards telecommunications services as essential services that should be accessible and affordable for all Australians. Labor believes that access to fundamental telecommunications services should be provided through a universal service subsidy that adequately compensates for the costs of universal services, funded by the industry in accordance with market share.

116. Labor is committed to ensuring that all Australians will be able to enjoy access to affordable high-speed broadband telecommunications service.

117. Labor recognises that access to broadband in regional Australia is crucial to the future economic development of regional communities. Broadband facilitates the location of small and medium sized businesses outside the major urban centres.

118. Labor will ensure that adequate safeguards are in place to protect consumers in communications markets. Labor will ensure that these safeguards are properly enforced and that communications companies deliver high standards of service to consumers.

119. A More Competitive and Consumer Focused Regulatory Regime

119. Labor is committed to establishing a communications regulatory regime that supports investment in modern infrastructure while ensuring genuine competition and fair third party access arrangements to "bottle neck" services.

120. Labor supports fair, third party access arrangements for communications infrastructure. Labor will ensure that Telstra's wholesale and retail functions are clearly distinct within the company, to ensure the openness and transparency needed for fair access regulation. Labor will strengthen the telecommunications competition regime to ensure genuine openness and transparency in Australian telecommunications.

121. Genuine competition and consumer protection in communications requires appropriate resourcing and regulatory powers for bodies such as the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).

122. Labor will retain the telecommunications price control regime and ministerial pricing powers to ensure that all Australians share equitably in the benefits of innovation and competition and are protected against the effects of any market failure. Labor will ensure that there are no further unfair increases in basic telephone line rental and call charges.

123. Labor will encourage communications technology research and development within the industry generally, to help ensure that Australia remains at the forefront of the international communications sector.

124. Australia Post

124. Labor will maintain Australia Post in full public ownership.

125. Labor will maintain Australia Post as the sole carrier of the standard-size, letter service and the sole issuer of postage stamps. Cross-subsidy arrangements between metropolitan and regional Australia will remain to ensure an equitable, flat-rate postal charging arrangement for the standard letter.

126. Labor will encourage the growth of Australia Post's services and extend the scope of Australia Post's community service obligations, where appropriate, to ensure equitable access to a full range of postal services for all Australians, including financial and bill paying services.

127. Labor will ensure that Australia Post continues to maintain appropriate coverage of post office and post box outlets throughout Australia. Labor will ensure that the present Australia Post corporate retail outlets remain publicly owned and operated and that the current ownership mix will be maintained.

128. Labor will encourage Australia Post to continue to use its network to provide public access to new communications options and essential community information. Labor envisages Australia Post playing a key role as a platform for the delivery of digital services, particularly to regional Australia.

129. Building Energy Capacity

129. Among Australia's greatest economic strengths is the extent and diversity of its natural energy resources, energy infrastructure and energy technology. Australia is both an important producer of established sources of energy, including coal, gas, oil and condensate, and a world-class player in the development of renewable and sustainable energy technologies.

130. Australia's energy supply and use must be economically efficient, internationally competitive and sustainable in the long-term. Such national energy capability is essential for Australia's sustained economic growth. Labor recognises that the long-term challenge of global environmental issues must be built in from the start in planning the future of the Australian energy industry.

131. Increasingly, more efficient and clean energy supplies and use will enhance Australia's capacity for the downstream processing of minerals and other natural resources and more competitive manufacturing generally, thus providing employment benefits.

132. The continued development and application of new technology to improve the economic and environmental efficiency of energy production and consumption is vital to Australia's long-term international competitiveness.

133. To improve our national energy capacity, Labor will:

     • facilitate a process of cooperation and development involving State governments, industry representatives, including peak industry associations and the trade union movement to ensure that Australia builds the necessary electricity industry transmission, distribution and generation electricity facilities to meet Australia's electricity demands and ensure supply for the future for all Australians;
     • encourage investment in an intensive national oil and gas exploration effort;
     • encourage continued development and investment in energy infrastructure and technologies, particularly gas and renewable energy sources;
     • facilitate free and fair competition between energy sources;
     • facilitate free and fair interstate trade in gas;
     • facilitate a national electricity market;
     • encourage cogeneration;
     • encourage the use of gas in conjunction with coal for power generation;
     • encourage research and commercial development of new and renewable energy sources and technology; and
     • take into account the relative environmental impact of these energy sources.

134. Labor will encourage greater efficiency in the production, transmission and use of existing energy sources, in particular by acting to:

     • ensure a concerted and ongoing effort to encourage the pattern of Australia's domestic, transportation and industrial energy consumption to greater use of clean and renewable energy sources through demand management strategies and government procurement policies;
     • encourage greater energy efficiency and consumer purchase of energy efficient products through consumer education programs, innovative financing mechanisms, product standards and energy efficiency labelling schemes; and
     • encourage energy audits for the industrial, commercial, transportation and residential sectors to inform users of their relative energy efficiency and how this can be improved.

135. Labor recognises that major opportunities are emerging in new and renewable energy technologies within the global energy market. Accordingly Labor will:

     • support research and development in innovative energy technologies that are cleaner and more efficient;
     • encourage domestic markets in renewable energy technologies;
     • encourage Australian development, manufacture and commercialisation of renewable energy technologies for both domestic and export markets;
     • encourage local and foreign investment to increase Australia's renewable energy technology manufacturing capability; and
     • maximise employment creation within the renewable energy sector to offset possible long-term job losses in fossil fuel dependent sectors of the energy industry.

136. Labor will institute a national energy industry policy to integrate the need for improving energy efficiency, abating greenhouse emissions and encouraging the development and commercialisation of new Australian energy industries, including renewable and sustainable energy technology.

137. Labor will ensure that consumers are protected in the new national energy environment, through access to competitively priced energy, proper regulation of the national energy market and viable dispute resolution mechanisms.

138. Safeguarding Australia's Infrastructure

138. Labor recognises the importance of Australia's critical infrastructure and the need to adequately plan, maintain and safeguard it. Critical infrastructure includes systems of telecommunication, banking and financial operations, power generation, air, land, sea and water transportation systems and operations, water purification and sewerage and waste water treatment. Infrastructure protection is integral to Australia's national security. It underpins our economy. Our quality of life depends on it. Labor is committed to ensuring that Australia can manage and contain demonstrated and emerging threats to our infrastructure, especially those that relate to the information or cyber elements that increasingly control the operation of physical infrastructure.