IN THIS EDITION 1. Three shortlisted for operations and management of Parklea Correctional Centre 2. John Holland to construct Sunshine Coast Airport expansion 3. ELECTION WRAP: Liberals favoured to win second term in Tasmania tomorrow; SA election heats up in a three way contest 4. ENERGY WRAP: QCA expects electricity prices in regional Queensland to fall; ACCC warns of ongoing supply issues for east coast gas market 5. Victoria passes legislation allowing AV trials in the state 6. Industry news 7. Industry appointments 8. IPA news Home About us Contact 1. Three shortlisted for operations and management of Parklea Correctional Centre Three bidders have been shortlisted for the operations and management of Parklea Correctional Centre, and will now progress to the Request for Tender (RFT) stage. Parklea Correctional Centre has been privately operated by the GEO Group since 2009, with the existing contract to expire at the end of March 2019. The shortlisted bidders are: Serco; G4S; and MTC/Broadspectrum joint venture. Expressions of Interest for the project closed in December 2017 and the contract is expected to be awarded in October 2018, with operations commencing on 1 April 2019. The contract would be for an initial term of seven years and will include a possible five year extension, pending operational outcomes achieved during the initial contract. Services to be provided under the contract include: accommodation and custodial services; programmes and industries; health services; transport and escort services to and from funerals, healthcare facilities and other approved releases; and facilities and asset management. Parklea Correctional Centre, which houses up to 1,000 maximum security and remand male prisoners, has recently experienced a number of safety and security issues. In response, NSW Minister for Corrections David Elliott stated that “Corrective Services NSW has developed a much more stringent contract for the future operations of the prison” including strengthening requirements for potential operators to demonstrate their capacity to achieve better security, safety and inmate rehabilitation outcomes. These are expected to be measured in the contract through the use of key performance indicators for: safety and security; rehabilitation and reintegration; and respect and professionalism. As a result of the previous issues experienced at the facility, the NSW Legislative Council launched an inquiry into the centre and its operational issues in November 2017. The scope of the inquiry includes: benchmarking of prisons in NSW; adequacy of staffing levels and staff safety; inflow of contraband; facility security; appropriateness and operation of private prisons in NSW; corporate governance of the current operator and the facility; and any possible contraventions of the contract between NSW Government and the current operator. Submissions for the inquiry closed on 28 February 2018. Read the NSW Government’s media release HERE View Parklea Correctional Centre on ANZIP HERE back to top 2. John Holland to construct Sunshine Coast Airport expansion This week, Sunshine Coast Council (SCC) and the Federal Government announced that John Holland has been awarded a $225 million contract to construct the Sunshine Coast Airport Expansion project. According to media reports, five companies were originally shortlisted for the project in November 2017. The expansion will see the construction of a new 2,450 by 45 metre east-west aligned runway to the north-east of the terminal (shown in Figure 1), with the present second runway being decommissioned. The new runway will allow Sunshine Coast Airport to service passenger aircraft such as Airbus A330s and Boeing 787s. The expansion also includes upgrades to the terminal and the installation of a new air traffic control tower. Figure 1: Artist impression of new runway Source: Sunshine Coast Council The contract award follows the successful 99-year lease of the Sunshine Coast Airport by SCC to Palisade Investment Partners, who commenced operating the airport in December 2017. As part of the agreement, Palisade Investment Partners paid $82 million upfront for the airport and will pay SCC an additional $290 million fixed payment for the new runway in 2022. This is in addition to a $181 million concessional loan the Federal Government has provided SCC to deliver the expansion. It is expected that the loan will be repaid by SCC using payments that it will receive from Palisade Investment Partners after the completion of the expansion. Construction of the expansion is expected to commence in the coming weeks, with the new runway and facilities scheduled to be operational in 2020. Read the Federal Government’s media release HERE View the Sunshine Coast Airport Expansion on ANZIP HERE back to top 3. ELECTION WRAP: Liberals favoured to win second term in Tasmania tomorrow; SA election heats up in a three way contest Tasmania will go to the polls this Saturday with opinion polls indicating that the incumbent Liberal Government, led by Premier Will Hodgman, is favoured to secure a second term. Meanwhile, the South Australian election to be held on 17 March, is shaping up as a three way contest between the incumbent Labor Government led by Premier Jay Weatherill, the Liberals led by Steven Marshall and SA Best led by former Federal Senator Nick Xenophon. The Tasmanian Liberal Government has committed to delinking the wholesale electricity prices from the Victorian benchmark within the National Energy Market (NEM) by mid-2021. This policy would see Tasmania create its own regional reference price, similar to other NEM jurisdictions, whilst remaining within the NEM. While repeatedly ruling out asset recycling as a means of funding the State’s infrastructure priorities, the Liberals have committed to investing $125 million over five years into the second stage of the Tasmanian Affordable Housing Strategy 2015-25 to deliver an additional 1,500 new affordable housing dwellings. A new $270 million prison in the north of the State, with capacity for approximately 270 inmates, forms the centrepiece of the Liberal’s plan for new prison infrastructure. It will be developed in two stages, with the $150 million first stage to be completed within five years. Construction of the new prison would commence in 2019/20. Other Liberal commitments include the continuation of the $500 million Midland Highway upgrades, including the $80 million Perth Links Project. See the Liberal Government’s election policies HERE Meanwhile, Tasmanian Labor’s campaign has focused on health infrastructure, renewable energy development, as well as addressing Tasmania’s water and sewerage infrastructure needs. Labor has committed to call for Expressions of Interest (EOIs) for private providers to build a new co-located private hospital on the existing Launceston General Hospital site. It is unknown how the project will be delivered, or what the funding arrangements will be. Labor has also announced that it will provide $250 million, as part of the Future Hospitals Project, to fund hospital upgrades across the State. The Opposition has committed to a 500MW Renewable Energy Development Target, to be achieved by securing up to $200 million in public financing from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC). It has also expressed support for the completion of a business case into a second Basslink cable to export surplus renewable energy to the mainland. In terms of water and sewerage infrastructure, Labor has announced that TasWater and its existing network will remain Government-owned. For water projects that sit outside TasWater’s current works plan, Labor will seek equity investment from Australian industry super funds to finance projects including relocating Macquarie Point Sewerage Works and Cameron Bay Treatment Plan, upgrades to Launceston’s sewerage and water systems and other minor capital works. To finance capital works of this size, Labor has said it will take advantage of the “historically low interest rates and an extremely competitive superannuation market that is looking for low-risk, long-term infrastructure opportunities to keep rates of return low and minimise on household bills”. Media reports suggest that Opposition Leader Rebecca White has also ruled out asset recycling as a means of paying for infrastructure priorities. Read the Labor Opposition’s election policies HERE In South Australia, Labor’s campaign has focused on transport, energy and freight, while the Liberals have focused on freight, energy, and health. Nick Xenophon's SA Best party has released minimal policy detail to date, except for a proposal to create a new community-owned energy retailer for low income households. If re-elected, the Weatherill Government plans to have solar and battery storage systems installed on 50,000 households to create a 250 megawatt (MW) “Virtual Power Plant”. In order to encourage households to install solar and battery storage systems, Labor would also allow any household to access seven year interest-free loans of up to $10,000 to assist with installation costs. These policy announcements feed into a broader commitment to increase South Australia’s Renewable Energy Target (RET) to 75 per cent by 2025 (from the current 50 per cent). Additionally, under a Labor Government, SA Water would be decorporatised by creating a new Energy & Water Services Department, in order to retain these assets under public ownership. In health, if re-elected the Labor Government would spend $528 million to build a new Adelaide Women’s Hospital