Queensland is busy trying to cut its reliance on the boom-and-bust coal mining industry by developing a renewable energy industry and upgrading its infrastructure to cater to a growing number of tourists.
“We are more than a rocks and crops economy,” the Treasurer of Queensland, Curtis Pitt said last month in Hong Kong, as he courted an audience of potential investors with his vision for a more service-driven economy.
Attracting risk-averse private money to pay for the required overhaul of the northeastern Australian state's infrastructure remains a challenge though.
To that end, Queensland officials have been touring Hong Kong, Japan, and Singapore to drum up interest in public-private partnerships (PPPs), within political constraints.
“The big threshold is on-going ownership. We will not be looking at [selling] those brownfield assets," Pitt told FinanceAsia, referencing the ruling party's pledge at the last state elections not to sell existing assets. "Where we can partner with the private sector to deliver on necessary pieces of public transport infrastructure or other social infrastructure, we’ll do it.”
Investors in Hong Kong listened to Pitt talk about the state’s plan to boost infrastructure spending by A$2 billion to a total of A$42.75 billion ($34 billion) over four years while munching on a breakfast of organic beef and eggs from Queensland. Many were flush with cash and looking for investment grade opportunities, but voiced concern about the risk of funding greenfield projects. Some were worried about policy risk in Australia, especially the lack of coordinated energy goals between states.
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