On the ABC’s “Insiders” this morning Australian Treasurer Joe Hockey has just noted Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plan for $1 trillion in new infrastructure.
That’s a big spend, and Australia excels at PPPs, says Mr Hockey, so we should seek to employ our expertise as India rolls out this program of capital works.
“PPPs”? Yes, that’s where–instead of issuing bonds or capturing part of the uplift that new infrastructure provides to land values–you get the government to grant leases for 30 years or more over the infrastructure and charge a toll on it in the constructor’s favour, effectively privatising the works for that period.
PPPs are another rotten idea promoted by the 1%, and, as some of these partnerships against the Australian people have begun to fall over, it now seems the Australian government is starting to look elsewhere for bunnies to go along with this pathological nonsense.
Is that the best you can come up with for India, Joe Hockey? By all means, let Australian companies tender for the construction of Indian infrastructure …. but you’d better beware of PPPs, Mr Modi, because they will undoubtedly work against the interests of all Indians – as they have against Australians!
What a deal, after 30 years the infra structure is falling to bits. Who better to spend billions repairing it after the developers have made out like bandits- the taxpayer. Makes a mockery of our tax system when developers claim tax depreciation of an asset, then after the depreciated life of the asset the tax payer foots the bill to have it replaced.