Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has released the Coalition’s Smart Cities policy.
The policy proposes an investment fund to accelerate the deployment of clean energy. The Coalition will also establish a $50 million competitive Smart Cities Program for local governments to improve the liveability of cities.
A “City Deal” for Western Sydney will involve a Coalition government partnering with the NSW government and local councils.
The full policy document is shown below.
Statement from the Liberal Party policy document.
The Coalition’s Policy for Smart Cities
Key Commitments
Australia’s cities are home to the majority of our population and responsible for more than 80 per cent of national economic output. Liveable, accessible cities with clean environments are now essential economic assets.
In the knowledge economy, people are our greatest resource, and smart cities put people first. The Coalition will innovate with smart policy, smart investment and smart technology to ensure our cities are more liveable, more productive, and more prosperous.
Our cities are at the frontline of action on climate change. That is why the Coalition will establish an investment fund to accelerate the deployment of clean energy, renewable energy and energy efficiency technology in cities through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
These investments will drive new jobs and enterprise, reducing greenhouse emissions while making our cities more resilient, liveable and putting downward pressure on energy bills.
Projects must demonstrate value for money and earn a financial return for taxpayers.
Financial returns will be reinvested in new projects, creating a sustainable pool of funding with an annual investment target of up to $100 million each year.
The Coalition will also establish a $50 million competitive Smart Cities Program for local governments to collaborate and apply innovative technology-based approaches to improve the liveability of cities and their suburbs.
We will incentivise councils to open up their data and partner with communities, local business, not-for-profits and research institutes to create cutting-edge technology solutions to urban problems and service improvements making measurable differences to Australians’ quality of life.
The Western Sydney Airport presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for new jobs and long-term growth in Western Sydney. This potential will not be realised without better coordination across governments, integrated planning and targeted investment.
That is why the Coalition will partner with the NSW Government and local councils in a City Deal for Western Sydney.
Through commitment and collaboration we will create the right settings for growth and investment, leveraging our shared investments in the airport, planned rail link and key transport infrastructure to accelerate housing and employment.
Our Plan for Smart Cities
Australia’s cities are home to most of our population and responsible for over 80 percent of our national economic output. Like other cities around the world, most Australian cities are growing in terms of population and importance to the national economy.
Liveable, accessible cities with clean environments are now essential economic assets.
The Coalition’s Smart Cities plan represents a major departure from previous governments’ approaches to cities.
An ad hoc approach to the development of cities is no longer sufficient. In the new economy, our cities must collaborate to compete and grow.
The Coalition will innovate with smart policy, smart investment and smart technology to ensure our cities are more liveable, more productive, and more prosperous.
Our Smart Cities plan means more affordable housing, new jobs closer to homes, better transport and more liveable cities.
The Western Sydney City Deal is the single largest planning, investment and delivery partnership in the history of this nation.
1. Sustainable Cities Investment Fund
The Coalition will establish an investment fund for clean energy, renewable energy and energy efficiency technology in cities through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
Our cities are at the frontline of action on climate change, being major users of energy and producers of emissions.
The impacts of a changing climate are also keenly felt within our major urban areas, many of which are located on coastal regions and vulnerable to rising sea-levels, storm surges and high temperature events exacerbated by poor urban design and the built environment.
Our Cities Investment Fund will leverage private sector capital to accelerate the deployment of cutting-edge projects, such as precinct-scale renewable energy plants and installations, next-generation transport management systems, green buildings and retrofit of social and affordable housing.
These investments will drive new jobs and enterprise and reduce greenhouse emissions, while making our cities more resilient, liveable and putting downward pressure on energy bills.
Projects financed through the Cities Investment Fund must demonstrate value for money and earn a financial return for taxpayers that will be reinvested in new projects. In this way, we can create a sustainable pool of funding with an annual investment target of up to $100 million each year.
The Cities Investment Fund provides certainty to industry and will leverage an additional investment by the private sector investment in jobs and growth.
The Cities Investment Fund will be administered by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
2. Smart Cities and Suburbs Program
The Coalition will establish a $50 million competitive Smart Cities Program for local governments to apply innovative technology-based approaches to improve the liveability of cities and their suburbs.
Councils are at the forefront of service delivery and are increasingly required to meet rising expectations of service on restricted budgets.
Rapid development in technology and innovations in business processes are transforming the way cities function and enabling better services that are citizen-centric.
Opening up council data and information, business processes and technologies to third parties creates a platform for the identification of urban problems and contestable approaches to their solutions. Many technology innovations can be remarkably low cost and unlock significant efficiencies in services, resources and space and better usability.
We want to pilot ideas that are made possible by new and emerging technologies or solutions to complex long-standing urban issues that only emerge when technology is applied.
We will incentivise councils to open up their data and collaborate with communities, local business, not-for-profits and research institutes to create cutting edge technology solutions to urban problems and service improvements.
Projects can be planning, infrastructure or service initiatives and must demonstrate partnerships, open data, use of technology and make measurable improvements to people’s quality of life.
The program will target initiatives that are scalable and transferrable with potential for broader roll out. Successful councils will be supported by the Commonwealth’s Digital Transformation Office.
3. A City Deal for Western Sydney
The Coalition is building the Western Sydney Airport – the most significant piece of infrastructure that will ever be built in the region.
The airport presents a once-in-a-generation opportunity for new jobs and long-term growth in Western Sydney. This potential will not be realised without better coordination across governments, integrated planning and targeted investment.
That is why the Coalition will partner with the NSW Government and local councils in a City Deal for Western Sydney.
We are committed to investing in the critical infrastructure that will deliver better outcomes for Western Sydney, particularly jobs.
The Western Sydney Airport alone will create 39,000 new jobs over the next 20 years.
But with the population in the region directly around the airport projected to reach over 1.4 million over this period, an additional 178,000 new homes will be required and almost 200,000 new jobs if we are to stop the daily jobs leak from Western Sydney.
Through commitment and collaboration, we will create the right settings for growth and investment, leveraging our shared investments in the airport, planned rail link and key transport infrastructure to accelerate ambitious housing and employment targets.
Under our City Deal, all three levels of government will work together to develop a vision for Western Sydney and agree on the goals, actions and investments required to ensure these outcomes are delivered.
We will form a joint-Ministerial Council with ultimate accountability for the City Deal supported by officials from the Commonwealth, New South Wales and local governments.
We will also seek to leverage investment from the private sector and share the costs of key infrastructure required to unlock growth, housing and jobs, and share in the benefits.
This City Deal means more affordable housing, new jobs closer to homes, better transport and a more liveable city.
The Western Sydney City Deal is the single largest planning, investment and delivery partnership in the history of this nation.
City Deals are at the centre of the Coalition’s Smart Cities Plan.
The Choice
The Coalition is investing a record $50 billion on road and rail projects across Australia: reducing congestion, improving the liveability of cities and connecting our regions to markets.
Our investment includes over $4 billion on major public transport projects like the Melbourne Metro, Sydney Metro, Perth’s Forrestfield airport rail link and the Gold Coast Light Rail, making our cities more accessible and getting people to work quicker.
We have made our first down payment to build Western Sydney Airport and make it rail ready – providing $115 million for this work on top of our contribution to critical road upgrades in the $3.6 billion Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan.
The Coalition is making our cities more competitive by reducing regulatory costs by $4.8 billion and delivering the National Broadband Network cheaper and sooner.
We are helping local councils deliver vital services and local infrastructure, investing $3.2 billion for essential road improvements and $2.3 billion in financial assistance grants.
City Deals are at the heart of the Coalition’s Smart Cities Plan.
To support the Smart Cities Plan, we announced $50 million to accelerate planning and development on major urban transport projects and the establishment of an Innovative Financing Unit to broker commercial deals with the private sector so that we can deliver more congestion-busting infrastructure sooner.
City Deals will make our cities more liveable through better coordination, integrated planning and targeted infrastructure investment. City Deals create a shared vision for cities and a plan for governments, businesses and communities to coordinate their actions and investments to achieve agreed targets. Townsville is the first city in Australia to be recognised in a ‘City Deal’ under the Turnbull Government’s Smart Cities Plan.
Sustainable, green cities are more liveable cities. The Coalition is facilitating accreditation of carbon neutral precincts as a means of claiming emissions reduction credits – this will be a global first. The CEFC is financing the deployment of new technologies and more efficient systems in cities, including through its $250 million energy efficient housing fund to support improved social housing options.
The Australian Government also recently established a new $1 billion Clean Energy Innovation Fund, which every year will invest $100 million in the smartest, cutting edge Australian clean-energy technologies and businesses.
The Coalition will work to ensure our cities are more liveable, more productive, and more prosperous.
Costs
The Coalition’s plan for smart cities will invest up to $100 million a year in a Sustainable Cities Investment Fund, to be managed by the Clean Energy Finance Corporation.
We will also invest $50 million for a Smart Cities and Suburbs Program.
