Long term leases [was Asset sales?]

[Derwan]

Land is an asset. End of story. This is an asset sale.

There is no getting around this - for a government that considers a lease equal to a sale (ridiculous), this is a sale, hands down...

It's all in the context.  The promise not to "sell assets" referred to money-generating and Queenslander-employing businesses such as the electricity companies.  Selling a parcel of land that isn't going to be used does NOT fall into this category.  It's just business as usual for any organisation, whether it be a private business or government.

Are you suggesting that the government can never sell land that it no longer uses (while there is the promise not to "sell assets")?  Does that mean that the government can't sell old desks or computers?  They're assets too!  What about vehicles?

To suggest that this breaks their promise is ridiculous!  It's quite clear exactly what the promise referred to.

[ozbob]

ABC News --> Queensland Government denies plans to sell off state-owned land amounts to asset sales

=====================

Seems to me the only ones who really care a toss is red and blue politicians. 

As far as the rest of the masses go they probably reckon just get on with it and starting building some real infrastructure!!

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Queensland government accused of breaking asset sales promise

...The Property Council of Australia has welcomed the plan to sell "surplus and underutilised" government-owned land.

Property Council Queensland executive director Chris Mountford said the Advancing our cities and regions strategy sent a signal to the private sector that the government was serious about using its land holding to generate urban renewal projects.

He said it meant land "currently growing weeds" could be put to good use.

"The new strategy makes a very bold statement that the Queensland government is ready and willing to partner with the private sector to transform surplus government land holdings into exciting new development projects," he said.

"The government's new approach appears to be an open invitation for the property sector to bring forward innovative urban renewal opportunities up and down the state.

"From Cross River Rail-related development, to regional revitalisation projects, there is a lot of economic and community potential in this new approach."

Yep!

[SurfRail]

[ozbob]

http://statements.qld.gov.au/Statement/2016/10/6/government-to-unlock-potential-of-queenslands-cities-and-regions

Media Statements
JOINT STATEMENT
Premier and Minister for the Arts
The Honourable Annastacia Palaszczuk

Deputy Premier, Minister for Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning and Minister for Trade and Investment
The Honourable Jackie Trad

Treasurer, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships and Minister for Sport
The Honourable Curtis Pitt

Thursday, October 06, 2016

Government to unlock potential of Queensland's cities and regions

The Palaszczuk Government will work with local councils and communities to use underutilised government-owned land to generate economic growth and jobs across the State.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the Advancing Our Cities and Regions strategy aimed to generate additional economic growth and more jobs, while honouring the Government's election commitment to "maintaining ownership of essential social assets and productive income-earning assets".

"Advancing Our Cities and Regions will provide a more strategic approach and vision for industries and communities to develop," the Premier said.

Ms Palaszczuk said the models that are delivering Queen's Wharf development, Herston Quarter, Hamilton Northshore and Kelvin Grove Urban Village in Brisbane should be used to generate jobs and opportunities in regional Queensland.

"By working with local councils and communities, we can replicate this approach for underutilised government-owned land in other parts of Queensland, particularly in our regions," she said.

"Just as we are generating jobs and growth thorough these developments in south-east Queensland, my Government is determined to do so across other parts of the State."

"This is land that we don't need for future schools, hospitals and roads.  This is land not being used to the benefit of the community.  Successive governments have bought and sold land.  In the Department of State Development, a dedicated unit – Property Queensland –provides a whole-of-government approach to facilitating better use of the State's property portfolio."

Deputy Premier and Minister for Infrastructure, Local Government and Planning Jackie Trad said that the strategy would maximise the use of state-owned land for the benefit of all Queenslanders.

"We have enormous opportunities in front of us to deliver strategic urban renewal projects which will redefine our cities and regions, deliver more jobs, better community facilities, more affordable housing and unlock significant economic growth for our state.

"We will work with communities, councils and industry on projects to ensure that local needs and aspirations are understood."

Treasurer Curtis Pitt said this major initiative announced in the June 14 State Budget offered the opportunity to transform communities and drive jobs growth across the State, including north Queensland.

"Developments will deliver strong community benefits and could include social and affordable housing, energy efficient housing, innovative urban design, new public precincts, and the creation of new arts, educational sport and community facilities and tourism opportunities," Mr Pitt said.

The Premier said the income-generating Government-owned assets such as our ports and electricity companies will stay in public hands.

"The LNP has left the door open to their sale," she said.

"My Government knows the importance of these businesses staying in government ownership. These businesses employ Queenslanders and provide dividends for the Queensland Government fund services such as education, health and police as well as support the investment in public infrastructure."

Priority projects

Cross River Rail Economic Development Strategy

The Strategy will ensure CRR efficiently delivers an innovation and economic development corridor, effectively connecting some of Brisbane's most important knowledge infrastructure including UQ and QUT; PA Hospital and RBWH; the Translational Research Institute and QIMR.

Prominent parcels of underutilised government land within the corridor will be designated as Significant Economic Development Opportunities for catalyst projects and developments. These sites include areas such as the Mayne Railyards, Boggo Road, Roma Street and Woolloongabba.

Townsville Transformation

A range of renewal opportunities including the Townsville City Waterfront Priority Development Area, incorporating the North Queensland Stadium, development of a health and knowledge precinct at the James Cook University campus and improved transport linkage between the CBD, university campus and Townsville Hospital. This project includes the Townsville Waterfront Promenade announced today.

The Queensland Government is also working to ensure the Australian Government honours its commitment to make Townsville the first city to be recognized in a 'City Deal' under its Smart Cities Plan.

Rockhampton Revival

Revitalising the CBD through two joint-venture projects for residential and student accommodation on surplus local government-owned land.

Rockhampton's historic city centre is ready for large-scale renewal that will stimulate ongoing employment and economic activity for the tourism, construction, entertainment, leisure, retail and services sectors.

Moreton Bay Renewal

The Moreton Bay Renewal project will aim to transform underutilised areas of the Moreton Bay region, including North Stradbroke Island, into hubs of tourism activity.

This project will be driven by the North Stradbroke Island Economic Transition Strategy that will help transition the island away from sand mining, and the redevelopment of the gateways to Moreton Bay's islands, Toondah Harbour and Weinam Creek.

Link to Advancing Our Cities and Regions strategy http://www.edq.qld.gov.au/infrastructure/advancing-our-cities-and-regions-strategy.html

Link to Property Queensland http://www.statedevelopment.qld.gov.au/economic-development/property-queensland.html

[SurfRail]

One thing I would like to see is the old Gold Coast Hospital site proceeds plumbed into a Burleigh light rail extension. 

With the kind of yields that have been talked about, it should be enough to pay for at least 1km worth, if not more.

[ozbob]

[Derwan]

Logic and commonsense coming from the Unions.... unlike the rubbish coming from the LNP and its supporters.

[Stillwater]

It doesn't take too much imagination to see the urban renewal potential to be gained by linking the revitalisation of the railway towns of the Sunshine Coast (Glasshouse Mountains, Beerwah, Landsborough, Mooloolah, Eudlo, Palmwoods, Woombye and Nambour, even Yandina) with the duplication of the SCL to Nambour.  Most of these towns have areas of land, some owned by the state government, in close proximity to the local station, that could be developed or redeveloped.  The new rail alignment through these towns will create surplus state-owned land that could be sold to developers.

Why isn't the SCL duplication and associated redevelopment of the railway towns included in the Queensland Advancing Our Cities and Regions Strategy?  Well, plain and simple, once again the state government reveals it has no plans for undertaking this project.  The SC railway towns are suspended in a perpetual Groundhog Day.

[#Metro]

This is just word games. Especially for a government that can't tell the difference between leasing your house and selling your house.

It's all in the context.  The promise not to "sell assets" referred to money-generating and Queenslander-employing businesses such as the electricity companies.

Under this new tortured definition, Brisbane Transport and Queensland Rail, being non-income-generating, can be outsourced, right?

An asset is anything that has a future value.
http://www.accountingtools.com/definition-asset

Examples of long-term assets are:

Land
Buildings
Office equipment
Furniture and fixtures
Software

Land is income generating, because when you sell it or lease it, you make money from it. You could just 99-year lease the land, for example. But wait that would be a sale under their own definition. 

I welcome the money going to CRR etc. but bottom line: They've broken their election promise.

Video: 99-year lease is the same as a sale

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwmrxNUybrY!

[OzGamer]

Land is income generating, because when you sell it or lease it, you make money from it. You could just 99-year lease the land, for example. But wait that would be a sale under their own definition. 

Not income generating, but capital gains generating. It would be income generating if someone was paying rent on it. Everyone who thought about it honestly knew that the point of the anti-privatisation push was to stop the privatisation of profits and socialisation of losses.

LD, do you really think that an electricity company is going to be worth anything after a 99 year lease, when the lessee can deduct anything they have spent on the asset over that period? Those were sales, calling them leases is just trying to confuse the issue.

[#Metro]

We are expected to believe that before the election, asset sales were not okay, but asset sales* were. 

Just thinking about it now, I struggle to name anything that blue team in QLD actually sold off. So what red team is doing is a bit like having your cake and eating it too, really. They are the ones who sold off QR's freight division arm.

Everyone who thought about it honestly knew that the point of the anti-privatisation push was to stop the privatisation of profits and socialisation of losses.

Well, should the Queensland Government buy McDonalds? That's generating an income...

The sale value of an asset is its (discounted) expected future income stream. The two have an equivalence.
"loss" of future income is a political rhetorical device designed to induce loss aversion reactions.

LD, do you really think that an electricity company is going to be worth anything after a 99 year lease, when the lessee can deduct anything they have spent on the asset over that period? Those were sales, calling them leases is just trying to confuse the issue.

After 99-years, the power station, poles and wires would all have to be demolished and replaced anyway, whether that was government owned or not. It is not an avoidable thing, even under gov't ownership.

I am going to move on from these points, because I think the hypocrisy and double think has been pointed out.

In any event, the funds they will raise for CRR will be good and that is welcomed. The only one concern I have is over selling Mayne Rail Yards as it is difficult to see how that is going to be redeveloped. What are they suggesting there? Build residences over the top of the stabling yards?

[Derwan]

Just thinking about it now, I struggle to name anything that blue team in QLD actually sold off

The houses that were resumed for CRR.

[Stillwater]

^^

Houses and land resumed for the dud Traveston Crossing Dam

[ozbob]

" ... The only one concern I have is over selling Mayne Rail Yards as it is difficult to see how that is going to be redeveloped.  ... "

When I was a lad (play violins)  Flinders St Station and the Jolimont yards were just trains and trains and trains. I could not imagine the massive redevelopment that has now occurred.


Overhead view of the workshops and yard looking north west, in 1929.


Federation Square atop the railway lines

>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jolimont_Yard

It is now a sporting precinct of some note as well. 

The centralised stabling was very inefficient in some ways and now has been transformed on the Melbourne network to decentralised stabling.  This reduces dead running and provides much better operational flexibility, it is much more efficient and cost effective. It also helps with better counter-peak frequency as well.  A major issue on our rail network hey what?

I expect we will see something similar in SEQ.

[#Metro]

When I was a lad (play violins)  Flinders St Station and the Jolimont yards were just trains and trains and trains. I could not imagine the massive redevelopment that has now occurred.

Fantastic photo! Thanks for sharing!!


OTOH

Is the proposed development of Federation Square East a con?
https://blogs.crikey.com.au/theurbanist/2014/09/03/is-the-proposed-development-of-federation-square-east-a-con/

A key reason is because building over operating rail lines is very expensive. A recent estimate by Major Projects Victoria put just the cost of decking over the rail lines at Federation Square East at $335 million i.e. around $15,000 per square metre.

Only way I see it working is if they dispose of Mayne yards entirely, and move to decentralised stabling across the network. That could really work.

[STB]

Selling off the Mayne Rail Yard is something I've been thinking of for quite a while and let that area be redeveloped while decentralising the maintenance and stabling which as you point out does have advantages.  I'm kinda hoping it'll happen in my lifetime, but I doubt it - give it another 200 years!

[#Metro]

They seem to be expanding the yard to the North.
https://www.google.com.au/maps/@-27.4372298,153.040379,455m/data=!3m1!1e3

Selling off the Mayne Rail Yard is something I've been thinking of for quite a while and let that area be redeveloped while decentralising the maintenance and stabling which as you point out does have advantages.  I'm kinda hoping it'll happen in my lifetime, but I doubt it - give it another 200 years!

Where will they put the control centre then? Woolloongabba??

[ozbob]

Control Centre can stay where it is.  Some elements of Mayne would remain is my guess.

Re Fed Square in Melbourne.  May or may not occur, but there has been very considerable reclaim of the rail yards for the sporting stuff, Tennis Centre etc.  Trams rerouted as well.  It is vastly different to what I remember of it as a boy.

Wacol could be utilised for a significant stabling yard. Plenty of land, no near neighbours etc.

Others?

[#Metro]

Maybe this needs to go into the crazy bin, but the Doomben line could be used for stabling purposes? Would need work, but plenty of land out near the port.

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Opinion: Queensland politicians put point scoring ahead of state interest over land asset sales

THE sheer banality and shortsighted self-interest of Queensland politics was writ large this week with the sanctimonious finger-pointing from both sides of the divide over redeveloping or selling a few parcels of idle or better-utilised Crown land.

The LNP immediately sought to exploit some partisan leverage by accusing the Palaszczuk Government of lying about no asset sales.

On the flip side, this is the same Labor team that charged the previous government with embarking on privatisation without a mandate when it set out on a similar sell-off of surplus property holdings.

The reality is that both sides are consistently guilty of placing a few cheap political points ahead of the wider state interest when it comes to managing – and extracting optimal value from – Queensland's $300 billion asset portfolio.

In short, they are both buck naked potentates accusing their opposites of being the emperor with no clothes.

Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls conceded as much in an interview this year when he said that, in hindsight, the decision to label the Bligh government's 2009 privatisation program a "fire sale" was a mistake that opened the next government up to exactly the same line of attack over its Strong Choices asset sales agenda.

This is, sadly, not a new phenomenon. In 1996, the Labor opposition attacked the Borbidge-Sheldon government over its Suncorp-Metway merger and subsequent privatisation, only to embrace the next stage of the share sell-off with gusto when in office two years later.

So for good measure the Coalition tried to make similar political capital a few years hence when the Beattie government privatised the state's electricity retailing arms. Hypocrisy, meet Groundhog Day.

The reality in this latest nonsense is that state governments are constantly buying and selling tens of millions of dollars of property.

Departments such as Health, Transport and Main Roads, Housing and Public Works, and Education have vast property portfolios. Schools close as demographics shift, future transport corridors are made redundant by tunnels or new solutions, and buildings reach their use-by date.

If we held on to every parcel of land and every asset and locked it away from private development for all eternity we would still have a gasworks at Newstead, a jail at Boggo Road, state-owned butcher shops and canneries, and forestry plantations.

Opening up under-utilised land in areas such as Woolloongabba or Bowen Hills for mixed-use development will not only create jobs, economic growth and urban renewal. If executed well, it could also free up billions that can be recycled into new economic assets such as the cross river rail link.

Why, for example, shouldn't a disused school such as the one in Fortitude Valley become part of a wider renewal of the precinct in much the same way that we saw the creation of the Kelvin Grove urban village and education precinct a decade or so ago?

This is not an ideological argument, but common sense that both sides of politics recognise – only when they are in office and have to deal with governing, rather than scraping bark off the other mob. Nor is it an argument for a laissez-faire auction of natural monopolies and essential services such as bulk power and water transmission, or public education.

It is simply business as usual that seeks to leverage maximum public benefit from non-income producing assets that are often lying fallow.

And the debate – from both sides – is characterised by tawdry, birthday suit politics.

Hear hear !

[ozbob]

Meanwhile ..

We're using the proceeds to build new roads, rail, schools and hospitals right across NSW.

— Mike Baird (@mikebairdMP) October 20, 2016

[#Metro]

$ 16 BN = 3 x CRRs

[Stillwater]

Meanwhile, Queensland politicians, most notably Ms Trad, stands at the Qld/NSW border, facing in the general direction of Canberra, and shouts: SHOW US THE MONEY

[ozbob]

Queensland is a failed state ... mob of amateurs  ...

It will be good to visit Sydney and ride the metro hey? 

I am we sure will have nice ' vision ' videos to watch here SEQ. I hope they use decent music, it is all we have got ...



======================

Sydney Morning Herald --> Australian super funds consortium buys 50.4% of Ausgrid for $16.189 billion

Premier Mike Baird says the NSW government has achieved from two electricity transactions roughly the proceeds it anticipated from three, with the part-privatisation of Endeavour Energy still to come.

On Thursday, Mr Baird and Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian announced two Australian pension funds will pay $16.189 billion for 50.4 per cent of Ausgrid on a 99-year lease after an unsolicited proposal to the NSW government.

After $10 billion of debt is repaid, net proceeds will be around $6 billion, Mr Baird said.

It follows the part-privatisation of electricity transmission company Transgrid in December for more than $10 billion for net proceeds of about $7 billion after debt.

Together the transactions deliver the government net proceeds of $13 billion.

This is equal to the $13 billion net proceeds the government had said it expected from three transactions, including 50.4 per cent of Endeavour Energy.

With Commonwealth incentive payments and interest, it anticipated having $20 billion for infrastructure.

The government received a $2 billion incentive payment from the federal government in relation to the Transgrid lease and expects about $800 million from Ausgrid.

"When you bring the first two leases together, we're pretty much where we anticipated to be after three," Mr Baird said.

"So there's an opportunity for further infrastructure."

The proposal by Australian Super and IFM investors was revealed in late September, just weeks after Chinese bids that led a competitive tender were blocked on national security grounds by federal Treasurer Scott Morrison.

The unsolicited proposal rules allow for a confidential approach to the NSW government with a unique proposition that, if accepted, does not need to go to tender.

Mr Baird said the unique criterion of the bid is "the 100 per cent Australian ownership" and that since it was revealed in September, no other proposal had been put to the government.

The initial transaction for Ausgrid was blocked by Mr Morrison in August after advice from the Foreign Investment Review Board.

Chinese government-owned State Grid Corporation and Hong Kong based company Cheung Kong Infrastructure were the sole bidders.

But in making the decision, Mr Morrison said "national interest concerns" were paramount after receiving advice from the FIRB.

On Thursday, Mr Baird said a steering committee led by Treasury and the Department of Premier and Cabinet as well as external probity advisers were "very satisfied" that the bid was unique.

Mr Morrison said he was "pleased a fully Australian-owned proposal has come forward and to achieve the sale of Ausgrid in NSW, that it remains under Australian ownership, facilitated through the operations of decisions here."

Opposition leader Luke Foley criticised the government for not going to tender, arguing it had "robbed the people of NSW of over $1 billion of value."

[ozbob]

[#Metro]

I'm pleased to announce the successful partial lease of Ausgrid for $16.189 Billion to an all-Australian consortium.

Is it really a "loss"?

What is happening here is that one public asset is being swapped for other assets (schools, hospitals, metro etc).

For $16 billion you could probably build CRR, do Sunshine Coast line and complete Gold Coast Light Rail. Provided that the BCRs for all such projects were above 1, by definition, society would get more benefit than for the money it put into the projects.

[Stillwater]

Lots of studies and reports of the Premier being 'furious', positively scowling for the TV cameras, but the reality is that Queensland construction projects have dwindled, talent and resources are leaving the state .... meaning that when we finally get round to building a few big things, it is going to be that much harder to gear up again.

http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/construction-figures-fall-off-a-cliff-in-queensland-report-20161024-gs9jhu.html

[ozbob]

$9.7 billion. That's how much just landed in the bank, thanks to the lease of the Port of Melbourne.

Here's 50 ways it will benefit you. pic.twitter.com/OFYUONkGPG

— Daniel Andrews (@DanielAndrewsMP) October 31, 2016

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Opinion: Voters the biggest roadblock to infrastructure funding

YESTERDAY'S update of Infrastructure Australia's priority list sees the welcome addition of the Brisbane-to-Gold Coast transport corridor upgrades as a "priority initiative" addressing the damaging cost of congestion.

But keeping Cross River Rail in the "initiative" rather than "project" group won't commit the Commonwealth to an investment approval, and seems in conflict with the tremendous benefits this project will bring to the whole southeast Queensland region.

While refinement of project business cases is one thing, the real challenge is how to fund our increasing demand for major roads, rail, water and productivity-enhancing infrastructure.

A soon-to-be-released report by BIS Shrapnel indicates Queensland is staring at a $1 billion hole in being able to fund critical public infrastructure within three years.

The state's total debt also continues to surge towards $80 billion by the end of the decade.

We now have an acute infrastructure funding challenge emerging in Queensland, placing us at grave risk of a return to eras past that saw unacceptable and ever-increasing backlogs in major infrastructure delivery.

The need for reforms remains central to generating greater revenue to invest back into infrastructure.

Unfortunately, it's a complex and vote-sensitive subject that governments and political parties shy away from.

And, if the policymakers are to be believed, dear reader, the problem is – in a word – you.

Apparently, you're not ready to be re-engaged on asset leasing, the virtuous recycling of capital back into job-generating new infrastructure.

Nor are you ready to be swayed from the popular myth that more debt to fund productivity-enhancing infrastructure is anathema.

You're probably not ready to engage on payment of a modest levy to support a game-changing local project.

And you're definitely not even close to accepting a new, more effective way to charge road users based on actual use rather than the failing system of fuel excise and rego.

And so, there we have it, "public barriers" to reforms are assumed to be insurmountable.

Underlying this assumption is the persistent misalignment between Commonwealth and state governments in terms of the recognition for, and willingness to adopt, a productively bipartisan, long-range approach to infrastructure funding.

That is, one less concerned with the loss of votes and consequences upon the next election cycle, and more concerned with addressing a growing problem that will be bequeathed to forthcoming generations.

Last week's comments by former Treasury boss Ken Henry couldn't have been better timed. Despite being reliant on each other like never before to co-fund projects, public spats between governments have now reached epidemic proportions.

It's little wonder that the public wallows in the depths of confusion over the options being debated by the powers that be for the future funding of their infrastructure.

Whilst the Townsville City Deal provides a ray of hope, we're entitled to ask why fiscally constrained governments won't work more effectively together to stretch our taxpayer dollar.

Aside from the necessity for political alignment and consistency, there is a basic need to communicate with the public in a manner it can understand.

Reforms of this nature are sensitive matters: they have consequences for people's everyday lives.

At face value, the introduction of a new levy, tax or user charge doesn't ring with resounding appeal to Joe or Jane Public. Thus, the conversation is one that must be had in terms to which the average citizen can relate.

To the public, it's a conversation about queuing for the bus, getting stuck for an hour in traffic, and the ability to pay utility bills. It's not about GDP and macroeconomics.

Experience indicates that when the public has the matter explained in terms it can relate to, vast numbers of the citizenry not only support this type of reform, they often demand an explanation as to why sluggish politicians have sat on their hands for so long.

The asset recycling, debt reduction and reinvestment program in New South Wales is a case in point.

Authorities and political parties can't, however, initiate this type of productive communication in the absence of leadership alignment and mature, solutions-based communication between the levels of government, supported by a coherent and consistent policy.

Without this, the status quo will persist: poor public consultation, a head-in-the-sand mentality and/or Mexican stand-offs between the Commonwealth and state governments, emotive grandstanding by politicians and near total inertia on reform.

Steve Abson is chief executive officer of the Infrastructure Association of Queensland

[aldonius]

The Curious Snail? Publishing something useful? I'm clutching my pearls!

[ozbob]

The Curious Snail? Publishing something useful? I'm clutching my pearls!