The Minister for Infrastructure, David O'Byrne, today welcomed Infrastructure Australia's decision to add three new Tasmanian projects to its "project pipeline" process.

The new projects have been formally recognised by IA (in its latest annual report to the Council of Australian Governments - COAG), as a result of the Tasmanian Government's latest submission to the Federal advisory body. 

The three newly recognised projects are:

·         The Tasmanian Rail Revitalisation Program ($240 million).

·         The Hobart to Launceston Transport Strategy - incorporating both the Midland and Brooker highways (with a combined value of $1.6 billion)

"This is very encouraging news for Tasmania, as we continue to diversify our economy and seek out new opportunities," Mr O'Byrne said.

"It shows that Infrastructure Australia sees realistic potential and benefits in another three Tasmanian projects, and takes them seriously.

"As well as our existing bids, we're working very closely with Infrastructure Australia, and Minister Albanese, to promote these projects.

"This latest recognition means we now have a total of seven projects recognised in the IA pipeline process, and caps off a fantastic few weeks for Tasmania in terms of proposed infrastructure investment.

"It follows the Federal Government's historic decision to invest $50-million preparing the Hobart railyards for an exciting new future, and strong progress on Tasports' projects like the Macquarie Wharf Number Two shed redevelopment, and modernising of Devonport Airport," he said.

It's important to recognise that Infrastructure Australia is nota funding body. Instead, its role is to assess and monitor projects of nation building significance, and advise the Federal Government accordingly on policy and investment decisions.

IA lists projects in its "pipeline" under four categories (based on their degree of development) - early stage, real potential, threshold and ready to proceed.

As usual for newly-added projects, the three new Tasmanian developments have been recognised at the early stage level.

The following projects were already part of IA's pipeline process, and retain their existing statuses.

·         Water and Sewerage Reform (real potential);

·         Bell Bay Intermodal Expansion (real potential);

·         An Innovative Strategy for Tasmania: Focus on Food Bowl Concept (early stage); and

·         "Hobart - a World Class Liveable Waterfront City" (early stage) - which just received $50m of Federal funding for the railyards remediation.

As usual, the latest IA report focuses on:

·         Providing a commentary on Australia's infrastructure decision making processes;

·         Advice on necessary improvements in these processes;

·         An outline of IA's focus; and

·         An update on IA's pipeline of projects.

"The Tasmanian Labor Government has worked closely with our Federal colleagues to secure more than $800 million of road and rail funding under the Nation Building One program, between 2008 and 2014," Mr O'Byrne said.

"That's unprecedented, and there's more work to do.

"Indeed, Federal Labor has almost doubled annual infrastructure spending from $157 to $264 per Tasmanian.

"The latest submissions and positive report from Infrastructure Australia are another valuable step in promoting Tasmania's strong case for Federal infrastructure funding," he said.

The Infrastructure Australia report to COAG is available at:

www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/2012_coag/

Details of Tasmania's latest submission to Infrastructure Australia are available at:

www.dier.tas.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/72386/DIER_website_Tasmanian_Governments_2011_Submission.pdf