The long-term stewards of major Australian infrastructure assets will make a $25 billion capital expenditure investment to upgrade and expand their assets over the decade to 2030. The expenditure will build the value of these investments for millions of industry super fund members by ensuring they continue to deliver the services the community expect for many decades to come. The expenditure is expected to generate more than 50,000 new jobs over the next decade.
The assets include iconic Australian household names like electricity distributor Ausgrid and the international airports for the cities of Brisbane, Melbourne, Darwin and Adelaide, as well as major seaports such as the Port of Brisbane, Port Botany and Port Kembla.
The new investment aligns with a recent exhortation from Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who in August called for such measures in preference to share buybacks and special dividends.
IFM Investors CEO Brett Himbury said that the investment would drive strong and stable returns for 7 million working Australians invested in the assets through their industry super funds, as well as giving the whole nation a productivity and jobs boost.
“This ongoing capital expenditure is a result of the alignment between the long term time horizon of superannuation money and major critical Australian infrastructure. The responsible stewardship of these assets by industry super funds and their partners protects and grows the retirement savings of members. These investments are an investment in the future value of these assets and will increase the productive capacity of the entire country.”
The $25 billion in capital expenditure will fund numerous new projects, including a rail upgrade at Port Botany to continue the shift of freight from road onto rail, new solar generation at Darwin Airport that will support reductions in carbon emissions and reduce energy costs, a new international cruise ship terminal at the Port of Brisbane, and several airport terminal and aviation capacity upgrades across Australia’s growing international city airports.
The additional investment will average over $2 billion per annum through the next decade, exceeding $2.6 billion per annum in 2020, 2021 and 2028.
Over the last eight years, IFM Investors and its partners have supported $8.7 billion in capital expenditure at its major Australian infrastructure assets, including $1.3 billion on the new second runway at Brisbane Airport, at the time the largest private expenditure into airport infrastructure, globally. Major new terminals were also built in recent years at Darwin, Adelaide and Melbourne airports and a $110 million road upgrade delivered at Port of Brisbane.
