Demands for national infrastructure planning and extra funding have been coming from all quarters recently, but this is not a new idea, according to Peter Taylor, chief executive of Engineers Australia. "Prior to the 1996 election, the federal coalition made a commitment to establish an Infrastructure Advisory Committee under the auspices of the Council of Australian Governments to coordinate infrastructure projects of national significance," he explained. "In 2000, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Primary Industry and Regional Services listed a National Infrastructure Advisory Committee as number six out of 92 on its list of priorities for rural and regional Australia.
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