Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
A draft indicative design of the green track
The ACT Government is building a new type of light rail track made from grass and other low-lying plants as part of the City to Commonwealth Park project.
On a green track, light rail sits within a bed of specially selected grass or plants, instead of concrete.
This has multiple benefits: countering the ‘urban heat island’ effect, absorbing more rainwater and helping to reduce noise and glare.
A green track prototype will be grown and tested at the National Arboretum. This will include all necessary infrastructure to simulate the city environment where the future light rail track slab will be laid.
The green track will be planted on Northbourne Avenue and will form part of the overall landscape design.
There will be another green track on London Circuit in front of the Melbourne Building.
To maintain symmetry between the heritage-listed Melbourne and Sydney buildings, the planting will be mirrored in the median in front of the Sydney Building.
It will also feature on Commonwealth Avenue.
The construction of the 20 metre by 30 metre section will also include installing sections of metal track and the infrastructure required to support light rail, such as concrete substructures and a vehicle location system.
Supporting infrastructure will also be required to ensure the structural integrity of the prototype, such as retaining walls.
Different turf mixes and irrigation systems will be rigorously tested.
This process ensures the suitability of the selected grass, groundcover, and tree species will flourish in all four seasons of Canberra’s climate.
The prototype will inform the final green track design, construction, and maintenance approach to be used on Light Rail Stage 2A.
Canberrans can preview this before construction commences. The prototype will be located just south of the Village Centre near Forest Drive at the Arboretum.
Work is expected to start in September 2023 and be finished in December 2023. This will then be followed by a 12-month monitoring period.
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Since releasing the NSW Government Action Plan: A ten point commitment to the construction sector (the Ten Point Commitment) in 2018, the construction sector has undergone significant change. Having met the challenges of unpredictable external factors like COVID-19, extreme weather and geopolitical instability, the construction sector continues to grapple with supply chain constraints, rising material costs, labour shortages and skills gaps, increasing pressure to reduce carbon emissions and adapting to technological change.
The Principles aim to streamline the delivery of infrastructure projects by bolstering cooperation between the NSW Government and construction industry participants to face these challenges together. The refreshed Principles signal an increased government focus on local industry, growing a skilled and diverse Australian construction workforce and embedding decarbonisation into procurement processes.
In this Insight, we cover:
what the seven Principles are;
how they compare against the Ten Point Commitment; and
how these Principles can be used to secure success for your projects.
Key takeaways
While the Ten Point Commitment focused on government action to improve the delivery of NSW’s infrastructure pipeline, the new Principles invite greater collaboration between government and industry.
The Principles place a sharper focus on social and environmental policy objectives than the Ten Point Commitment, including in relation to gender equality, workforce flexibility and decarbonisation.
Given that the policy objectives promoted by the Principles are likely to become explicit tender requirements and performance benchmarks for future NSW Government projects, industry partners will need to consider how to adhere to the Principles. Steps may involve, for example, implementing workplace flexibility plans, changing work, health and safety requirements in supply chains and downstream contractor arrangements, and meeting new carbon reporting requirements.
The story so far: why were the Principles introduced?
In 2018, through the Ten Point Commitment, the NSW Government made the following commitments in relation to the procurement and delivery of the NSW infrastructure pipeline:
procure and manage projects in a more collaborative way;
adopt partnership-based approaches to risk allocation;
standardise contracts and procurement methods;
develop and promote a transparent pipeline of projects;
reduce the cost of bidding;
establish a consistent NSW Government policy on bid cost contributions;
monitor and reward high performance;
improve the security and timeliness of contract payments;
improve skills and training; and
increase industry diversity.
In the six years since then, the construction sector has been heavily impacted by evolving market conditions, including:
significant supply chain risks and inefficiencies, exacerbated by COVID-19, extreme weather events, inflation and geopolitical instability;
a surge in construction insolvencies – the twelve months prior to June 2024 witnessed the highest number of construction insolvencies in the past decade;1
rising labourshortages and skills gaps in the construction sector, especially in residential construction and the roles of construction managers, carpenters, and civil engineering professionals;
fiscal and labour capacity constraints, which limit delivery of concurrent major projects in the infrastructure pipeline – the Infrastructure Australia Market Capacity report anticipates a shortfall of almost 98,000 skilled construction workers in NSW for public infrastructure in 2025.2 However, in counterpoint, tapering public infrastructure spending is rumoured to have led to layoffs across the construction sector as a whole;
a reduced ability to attract investment;
increased focus on environmental, sustainability andsocial policy objectives; and
technological advancements.
The Principles seek to refresh the Ten Point Commitment in light of these changing market conditions. Infrastructure NSW and its member agencies are also devising an implementation plan to ensure that the Principles are implemented effectively, although a release date for this plan is yet to be announced.
The next chapter: the Principles for Partnership with the Construction Industry
Before diving into the detail of the Principles, there are two key differences between the Ten Point Commitment and Principles in the NSW Government’s approach to setting down principles for partnership with the construction industry:
While the Ten Point Commitment focused on government commitments, the Principles place a much greater focus on collaboration between government and industry. Each principle has three components: (1) the objectives to be achieved, (2) the actions that the NSW Government commits to, and (3) the actions that industry partners are invited to take. As such, the Principles go further than its predecessor by inviting actions for participants, not just government.
While the Ten Point Commitment focused on streamlining and optimising the procurement and delivery process for infrastructure projects in NSW, the Principles have a much broader focus on the general health of the construction supply chain in NSW, with four of the seven Principles geared towards developing a healthy, sustainable, local industry and a workforce that can attract and retain employees. The Principles also integrate other social and sustainability goals, including in relation to housing and decarbonisation.
Turning to the detail, the seven Principles are:
The NSW Government has committed to promoting the local construction industry by signalling early opportunities for local manufacturing, establishing new functions to boost participation (such as the Future Jobs and Investment Authority), mandating tender weighting towards local content, job creation, SME participation and ethical supply chains, expanding the Industry Capability Network portal and providing opportunities to the local workforce. It remains to be seen how mandating tender weighting towards local content at the state level will interact with Australia’s obligations under its free trade agreements.
The Principles also prioritise the development of local off-site and prefabricated manufacturing to support the delivery of the NSW Government’s housing objectives.
The Principles aim to support worker safety and wellbeing by improving safety and culture in the construction industry. Notably, the Principles include a government promise to update the WHS Management Guidelines for Construction to reflect the need to protect psychosocial safety, in addition to physical safety. This Principle seems particularly germane given the Federal Government’s decision to place the construction arm of the CMFEU into administration after allegations of corruption and bullying resurfaced in August last year.
The Principles also request that industry partners update their subcontract and supply chain arrangements to include safety and wellbeing expectations. The NSW Government will consider a company’s performance against this metric when awarding future work opportunities.
This principle seeks to simplify procurement processes, and in turn, boost productivity, by committing to:
enhancing tender processes to reduce the cost of bidding (for example, by allowing reliance on technical documents);
involving stakeholders earlier in project development to avoid over-engineering (which may involve capping the amount of pre-tender, internal design at, for example, 30%);
streamlining government processes by harmonising requirements and standards with other jurisdictions (for example, in the area of trade qualifications) and promoting whole-of-government GC21 (D&C) standard form contracts; and
encouraging innovation in contractual arrangements and exploring uses for modern methods of construction (eg prefabrication).
It will be particularly interesting to see which NSW Government departments, if any, allow reliance on tender documents and choose to cap pre-tender design, given this has been a point of discussion between government and industry for some time now.
This principle also focuses on opportunities to harness digitisation to increase productivity by streamlining data creation and management, and deploying digital tools in project design, procurement and delivery.
The NSW Government has committed to improving diversity and ensuring high-quality training across the construction industry. Practically, this will be implemented by prioritising construction skills in the 2024-2028 NSW Skills Plan and supporting vocational training courses, amongst other things.
This Principle aligns with a nationwide push to increase skills in the construction industry – the Federal Government committed $90.6 million towards upskilling the construction and housing sector in the 2024-25 Federal Budget, and is considering the implementation of a National Energy Workforce Strategy after receiving submissions during August and September 2024 on the same.
The Principles’ overall focus on investing in skills and jobs is made explicit in Principle 5, which aims to enhance industry culture and diversity (and therefore retention). Women only constitute 2% of qualified construction trade workers in Australia – this is a marginal improvement from the ‘1-2%’ recorded in the Ten Point Commitment (but less than the ‘doubling’ that was targeted in that Commitment). The NSW Government proposes to introduce a Culture in Construction Taskforce and pilot programs under a draft Culture Standard for the Construction Industry to collate data and implement measures to improve diversity. It will be interesting to see how this Principle will play out in the NSW market, given the rolling back of similar diversity, equality and inclusion programs in the US federal and private sectors.
The NSW Government is also proposing a whole-of-government Contractor Performance Reporting system to deliver enhanced insights into culture and diversity in the industry. In an effort to promote work-life balance, industry partners have been asked to adopt workforce flexibility plans, with a view to achieving working weeks of ≤50 hours per week and a five-day work week where possible, or a 5 in 7 day work week. While this is a noble ambition, the Principle does not explain how industry partners will be supported to achieve this ambition in light of the increasing prevalence of painshare/gainshare models and the long-staying ‘stick’ of liquidated damages for late delivery, which incentivise timely completion.
Like the Ten Point Commitment, the Principles reiterate the NSW Government’s focus on achieving value for money, and delivering projects on time and on budget. However, the Principles also acknowledge that contractors have been facing increased financial capacity constraints and, as such, seek to foster collaborative risk allocation and transparency in relation to financial capacity to ensure the sustainability of each project throughout its lifecycle.
To achieve this, the NSW Government has committed to:
monitoring the financial capacity of its contractors, with a view to identifying and mitigating capacity risks;
sizing its contract packages to accommodate a diverse range of contractors;
improving the guidance available to contractors in relation to financial capacity assessments; and
tailoring its security requirements to contractors’ financial capacity risk profiles and revising payment frequencies, where appropriate, to assist with cashflow.
At this stage, there are still open questions about whether ‘tailored’ security means that contractors will be required to put up less security (to alleviate financing costs) or more security (to guard against contractor insolvencies). However, a shift in government payment frequencies would certainly support the construction industry by improving cash flow and reducing reliance upon (and the cost of) lines of credit. A new gold standard in public infrastructure contracts may lead to a shift away from monthly payment terms more broadly.
The Principles acknowledge that decarbonising infrastructure delivery will be critical to the NSW Government realising its commitment to net zero by 2050, and its interim emission reduction targets of 50% and 70% by 2030 and 2035. As such, the NSW Government has committed to considering the carbon impact of each project in its existing infrastructure decision-making processes and challenging the need for new infrastructure, where possible.
The NSW Government will also provide a consistent approach to measuring carbon across different asset types and will mandate a measurement of embodied carbon emissions to be included in the business case, planning approval, design and procurement and practical completion requirements of each project. These commitments sit alongside the measures in the Decarbonising Infrastructure Delivery Policy and Measurement Guidance, released by the NSW Government in April 2024, and join the groundswell of momentum towards better carbon reporting and transparency in both the government and private sectors (see our Insight on mandatory climate-related financial disclosures).
Renewed commitments: the similarities between the Ten Point Commitment and the Principles
Some aspects of the Principles reiterate or build upon the NSW Government’s existing commitments under the Ten Point Commitment. For example:
Early market engagement: both the Principles and the Ten Point Commitment stress the importance of early market engagement to inform project design and delivery;
Collaborative contracting: while the Principles do not explicitly discuss collaborative contracting, they promote innovative contractual arrangements and benefit-sharing arrangements to improve productivity. Given the market trajectory, we expect that collaborative contracting is here to stay for a while yet (see our Insightshere and here on the rising trend of collaborative contracting);
Sizing of contract packages: both the Principles and the Ten Point Commitment recognise the need to offer contract packages that are accessible to a diverse range of contractors, including small and medium-sized firms. This echoes the move towards split and disaggregated procurements for Original Equipment Manufacturer (‘OEM’) supply and Balance of Plants (‘BOP’) civil works in the energy sector, whereby projects are divided into smaller packages to allow for greater flexibility (see our Insight on the split contracting trend in the batteries space);
Standardisation of contracts and procurement methods: both the Principles and the Ten Point Commitment encourage the standardisation of contracts and procurement methods, including by publishing ‘best practice’ guidance materials to assist tenderers and contractors;
Local skills development and manufacturing capacity: both the Principles and the Ten Point Commitment emphasise the importance of upskilling local workers and local manufacturing to address the ongoing skills shortages. The requirement to mandate tender weightings to support local content, local job creation and ethical supply chains in the Principles takes this even further than the Ten Point Commitment.
Shifting priorities: the differences between the Ten Point Commitment and the Principles
On the other hand, the Principles also herald some new areas of focus, with much stronger commitments around decarbonisation and workforce culture. The key differences between the Ten Point Commitment and the Principles include:
Decarbonisation: while the Ten Point Commitment is silent on decarbonisation, the Principles set out specific measures that the NSW Government will implement to track and report on embodied carbon within its infrastructure projects. This shift reflects the broader changes in global environmental commitments, regulation and stakeholder expectations in the last six years.
Gender diversity andequity:while the Ten Point Commitment acknowledged the need to boost diversity within the workforce, the Principles particularly focus on women’s participation in the construction industry. For example, the NSW Government has committed to considering a company’s progress towards citation by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) as a ‘Gender equitable employer of choice’ as part of the tender process.
Workforce culture: whereas the Ten Point Commitment sought to reward ‘high performing’ contractors exhibiting ‘key behaviours and values expected of good clients and contractors’, the Principles go beyond that by explicitly calling out the need to improve psychosocial safety and wellbeing on construction sites. Industry participants are asked to incorporate these expectations within their downstream and supply chain arrangements, and will be assessed on their performance in respect of future opportunities for work.
Financial sustainability: with the rise in contractor insolvencies in the last six years, the Principles purport to have a much greater focus on assessing and improving the financial capacity of contractor entities than the Ten Point Commitment.
Innovation and digital practices: the Principles have embraced the potential for digital tools to improve productivity much more explicitly than the Ten Point Commitment (which did not mention technology or digital practices at all). The Principles push for standardised data and baseline productivity metrics to be developed, alongside accelerated implementation of digital practices and tools across the lifecycle of the project.
What’s next?
While there is some overlap between the Ten Point Commitment and the Principles, the Principles demonstrate a clear shift in priority towards addressing some of the more structural issues facing the Australian construction industry (particularly around skills shortages, workforce retention and financial capacity).
Collaboration between industry and government (at both the state and federal levels) will be imperative in achieving a coordinated response to these structural issues and bolstering the local construction industry. Decarbonisation has also emerged as a key priority for partnership with the construction industry. This priority aligns with the increasing focus more generally on reducing emissions in hard-to-abate industries as corporations and governments chase down their decarbonisation targets.
Infrastructure NSW will track progress against the Principles for Partnership in its annual Progress Report, as it has previously done with the Ten Point Commitment.
Allens has advised the Queensland Investment Corporation (QIC) Real Estate team and QIC’s inhouse legal team on QIC’s circa $900 million sale of Westpoint Shopping Centre in Blacktown, New South Wales, the largest individual retail asset transaction in Australian history.
Australian property investor Haben and US investment manager Hines have partnered to acquire the shopping centre and neighbouring Kmart centre.
At the time of opening in 1973, the complex was one of the biggest in Sydney’s west and now features approximately 104,000 square metres of core retail space, 270 retail stores, co-working facilities and 4378 parking spaces. QIC held the asset for 34 years.
‘It was fantastic to work with the QIC team on this sale, which enabled QIC to realise value for its clients at the perfect time. It demonstrates there is demand for well-managed retail assets in strategic locations like Westpoint,’ said lead partner John Beckinsale.
Establishing renewable energy platforms and capital partnerships8 min read
As renewable energy developers look to expand their project pipelines and operational portfolios, many are turning to private capital sources to help fund their expansion plans. Increasingly, that capital is being sought through newly established platforms between developers and investors that jointly own the renewable projects through a legal ownership structure separate from the developer’s remaining business.
Establishing renewable energy platforms and capital partnerships requires a strategic balance of risk mitigation and the optimisation of growth opportunities in an increasingly competitive environment. Each platform and capital partnership is unique, necessitating customisation based on the objectives and risk tolerance levels of the parties involved. With robust planning and transparent communication from day one, these capital partnerships can help drive the energy transition while delivering attractive returns for investors.
In this Insight, we explore the key issues for developers and investors to consider when establishing a capital partnership for a new renewable energy platform.
Key takeaways
Commitment to the platform: each party should seek a form of commitment to the platform from the other. We are increasingly seeing both developers and investors be willing to provide that commitment in the form of an exclusivity undertaking, pursuant to which the parties are prohibited from developing or funding projects outside of the platform (subject to certain carveouts).
Operational model: new platforms are typically structured as either a standalone business or a simple ownership vehicle where operational functionality is outsourced back to the developer. Alignment between the parties on the preferred approach, and how it impacts key issues such as revenue strategy and exit, is a key to success.
Funding obligations: the parties’ funding obligations to the platform should be designed to ensure the platform receives sufficient funding to develop, acquire and operate projects. However, while certainty of funding is important, the parties should avoid rigid frameworks (which set out precise financial and operational criteria for investment in new projects), which run the risk of stifling growth (particularly when dealing with seasoned developers with a track record of bringing projects to market).
Governance and regulatory considerations: when evaluating potential investors/platform partners, developers should consider the regulatory implications relevant to each investor (in particular in relation to tax, FIRB, AFSL and ACCC requirements), and how those implications may affect the day-to-day operation of the platform.
Debt financing strategy: the platform’s debt financing structure must be adaptable to accommodate new projects and multiple funding sources, ensuring room for future growth without excessive lender restrictions.
Funding and compensation: any platform must be structured in a way that recognises the different initial and ongoing contributions from both the developer and the investor. In particular, developers should ensure they are properly compensated for the seed assets vended into the platform.
Key considerations
Commitment to the platform
Notwithstanding the specific technology focus of the platform, such as solar, wind, BESS, other forms of generation and storage, or all of the above, each party should seek a form of commitment to the platform from the other with respect to the relevant technology focus. While it might be expected that the developer provides a stronger form of commitment, limiting their ability to develop projects of the applicable technology outside the platform, investors are increasingly also willing to ‘put all their eggs in one basket’ and accept a form of exclusive commitment. This is often based on the understanding that, through diligence and alignment with the developer on key principles, the platform is their best means of investing in that technology in Australia. If an investor is willing to make such a commitment, establishing carveouts to ensure they are not inappropriately constrained is essential. Investors will often seek to ensure the commitment does not cover existing investments, projects outside the geography, investments via other funds and projects beyond a specific capacity range.
Structuring your operating model
When establishing a new platform, developers have two primary operational model options to consider: standalone platforms and ownership vehicles. Each model has distinct characteristics, benefits and challenges that can significantly impact the platform’s success.
Standalone platforms operate as independent businesses with their own management teams and operational autonomy. For standalone platforms, a key focus should be on selecting the right management team. This process typically takes time, so it’s important to establish a robust transition plan in which the developer provides the necessary support until the management team is fully onboarded.
Ownership vehicles function through a network of development and service agreements where operational functionality is outsourced back to the developer. This model leverages existing capabilities within the developer’s organisation but operates under a separate legal structure.
Whatever the operational structure, a key to success is ensuring alignment between the developer and investor from the outset—particularly on headline issues such as revenue strategy (especially important for BESS assets, which offer a variety of potential revenue options, eg tolling agreements, Capacity Investment Scheme agreements, system support agreements, merchant operations, etc) and exit strategy.
Certainty of funding
As a vehicle designed to fund both seed and future projects, funding obligations are often the most heavily negotiated elements of platform arrangements. In an ideal scenario for developers, they would retain full control over financial investment decisions (FID) and funding decisions, allowing them to call for capital as needed. Meanwhile, in a perfect world for investors, they would have complete discretion over which projects their capital is used to fund.
To avoid potential deadlocks with respect to funding decisions, including through the exercise of veto rights, one approach is for the investor to make an upfront capital commitment. This requires them to fund a pre-agreed amount (at a pre-agreed valuation) for a set of seed and pipeline assets, which they diligence at the outset. Once this initial capital is provided, future funding can be provided on a pre-emptive basis, potentially tied to target return criteria and procedural milestones that must be met before a project is onboarded to the platform or funded via FID.
While this strategy helps prevent deadlocks that could hinder platform growth, it’s important to recognise that a one-size-fits-all approach may not be ideal. In our experience, rigid procedures around project onboarding and funding may not serve the platform’s best interests, particularly when developers have a proven track record of managing development and construction risks in a more flexible manner. Retaining flexibility with regards to milestone requirements to take FID may enable the platform to reprioritise projects in response to shifting market demands and opportunities.
Managing governance and regulatory requirements
When evaluating potential investors, developers should consider a range of factors beyond simply choosing the one with the deepest pockets. Issues such as Foreign Investment Review Board (FIRB) implications (particularly whether an investor’s involvement will characterise the platform as a ‘foreign government investor’ or FGI), Australian Financial Services Licence (AFSL) requirements and complex competition law concerns can create significant challenges for the platform if not addressed and managed at the outset.
Tax implications must also be considered. For example, upcoming changes to the foreign resident capital gains tax regime in Australia—specifically how ‘taxable Australian real property’ is defined in the context of renewable energy assets—may affect after-tax returns for foreign developers and investors.
These changes, expected to come into effect on 1 July 2025, could have substantial impacts on renewable energy platforms and should be closely monitored.
Implementing your debt financing strategy
The initial debt financing required to establish the platform and transition seed and early-stage assets to the platform will depend on the number and characteristics of those assets, including the technology type and whether the assets are operational or under construction, merchant or contracted, etc.
Whatever the makeup of that initial financing, flexibility for growth is key. In particular, the debt financing structure must be flexible enough to accommodate:
the inclusion of new greenfield and operating assets (with a focus on minimising lender consent rights);
construction financing for greenfield projects, either within the portfolio financing structure or separately financed outside the portfolio through an excluded subsidiary mechanism and brought in once the project is operational (subject to risk tolerance on a case-by-case basis); and
multisource financing options (including bank debt, private long-term credit and note issuance) with the necessary intercreditor mechanics.
Funding structure
The platform will need to be structured in a way that recognises the different initial contributions from both the developer and the investor. In most platforms, the developer provides seed and pipeline assets, while the investor supplies capital for the development and construction of those assets.
An investor’s capital contribution typically needs to be structured so that the platform can draw down the capital over time, on an as-needed basis to fund project capex. This can be achieved through various methods, such as partly paid shares or equity ‘catch up’ or ‘farm-in’ regimes, with the optimum approach usually driven by the investor’s requirement regarding governance rights from day one, FIRB considerations and any potential requirement to ‘return’ capital commitments in the future.
From the developer’s perspective, it is essential to ensure that they are properly compensated for the seed assets transferred into the platform. Whether that compensation takes the form of equity in the platform or proceeds from the transfer of assets, it would typically reflect (for each asset/project) all devex spent on the project, fees for the origination and development services provided and, where applicable, a development premium.
Key questions to ask
Asset strategy: what technology should the platform focus on? Solar, wind, BESS, other forms of generation and storage, or all of the above? Whatever the technology, what level of commitment is each party willing to give to the platform and what carve outs to the commitment are needed?
Operational model: should the platform be structured as a standalone business with its own management team and operational autonomy, or as an ownership vehicle that, through a network of development and services agreements, outsources operational functionality to the developer?
Funding obligations: what level of capital commitment is required from both parties at the outset? How will future funding needs be determined and agreed upon? Are there predefined criteria or milestones that need to be met for additional funding to be provided?
Governance and regulatory: are FIRB, AFSL, ACCC and tax requirements fully understood and planned for?
Debt financing strategy: how flexible is the debt financing structure in accommodating new assets and various stages of project development? Are there multisource financing options (ie bank debt, private long-term credit or note issuance) and how will the necessary intercreditor mechanics be managed?
Funding structure: how will initial contributions from both developer and investor be recognised within the platform structure? What methods (eg partly paid shares, equity ‘catch up’, farm-in regimes) will facilitate drawdown of capital over time? How will developers be compensated for seed assets transferred into the platform?
Allens has advised a syndicate of domestic and international lenders on its $722 million debt financing package to fund the development of Stages 1 and 2 of the Supernode battery energy storage system (BESS), Australia’s largest standalone BESS project financing to date.
The 520MW/1856MWh BESS, being developed by global investment manager Quinbrook Infrastructure Partners, is located adjacent to the central node of Queensland’s electricity network, allowing for efficient storage and redistribution of surplus solar energy.
The BESS will form part of a $2.5 billion hyperscale data centre, renewables and battery storage project at Brendale in Queensland which will offer significant low-emissions data storage capacity for domestic and international customers.
The syndicate of lenders includes Bank of America, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Deutsche Bank, Mizuho Bank and MUFG Bank. ICA Partners were the financial advisers to Quinbrook.
‘We are delighted to have advised the lenders on this landmark investment in Australia’s energy future, which will play a critical role in Australia’s energy transition by providing renewable capacity to the energy-intense, rapidly growing data centre sector,’ said lead partner Rob Watt.
Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
The ACT has ranked second in Australia by the World Wildlife Fund for protecting its tree habitat.
The ACT has ranked second in Australia for protecting tree habitat in a report by the World Wildlife Fund.
As part of the World Wildlife Fund’s Two Billion Trees project, each state and territory has received a Trees Scorecard outlining the current state of its forests and woodlands, performance against key pressures and opportunities for improvement.
The second-place ranking reflects concerted efforts to maintain and improve native vegetation and biodiversity in the ACT.
Over recent years the ACT has made great strides in enhancing protection and growth for its local tree population.
A major contributor to the high ranking is the ACT Government’s ban on native forest logging, and the commitment to urban tree infill targets.
The ACT is working to both reduce its emissions and mitigate the effects of a warming climate.
Planting and preserving trees in Canberra suburbs will go a long way towards protecting the community from the heat caused by long hot summers now, and into the future.
Protecting the ACT’s trees will ensure native wildlife continues to have access to food and shelter. This is integral to supporting these populations in the face of an increasing number of extinctions across the country.
Whilst this report is a positive sign for the ACT, it also demonstrates there is more work that can be done.
The draft Action Plan to Prevent the Loss of Mature Native Trees in the Territory is currently being finalised following public consultation in 2022.
This plan will enable the ACT Government to implement the next stage of reforms to plant, preserve and protect trees in the territory.
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Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
Members of the ACT Policing Missing Persons team. Left to right: Senior Constable Colleen McKillop, Superintendent Scott Moller, and Detective Sergeant Emma Quade.
What happened to me? This is the question being asked by police this Missing Persons Week.
ACT Policing has a dedicated missing persons team responsible for investigating and collaborating with interstate teams to explore missing persons cases.
In Australia, 55,000 people are reported missing each year. While most are found within a few hours or days, the annual Missing Persons Week serves as a reminder for those who have not been found.
There are currently 14 long-term missing people in the ACT – people who have been missing for more than three months. These cases remain open and continue to be a priority for ACT Policing.
“There are various reasons why people go missing. There is no typical missing persons case or outcome,” Superintendent Scott Moller said.
“The families are still looking for the answers, they’ve got a lot of unresolved questions, as we do. We will keep pursuing these investigations until we have an outcome.”
“Some cases are resolved quickly, but that’s not always the case. Sometimes we end up with cases that are years and decades old,” Detective Sergeant Emma Quade said.
“We never close a case until we know what has happened. We find in unsolved matters, as time passes people are more inclined to provide police with information.
“We think that information is frequently overlooked. There are a lot of people that have information that they don’t consider to be relevant, but it is often minor things that is the key factor for us to be able to pursue a new avenue to locate somebody,” Emma said.
Missing Persons Week runs from 30 July to 5 August 2023.
If you have information regarding a missing person or would like to submit details into a missing persons case, please contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
You can provide information anonymously.
The ACT Policing team can be contacted directly via email at ACT-LTMP@afp.gov.au.
ACT 2023 Profile Missing Person: Robert (Robbie) Jacob
Year of birth: 1959
Age now: 63
Gender: Male
Height: 179cm
Build: Thin
Hair: Dark Brown, Grey
Eyes: Brown
Circumstances:
Robbie was last seen at the Civic bus interchange in Canberra City on Thursday, 12 November 2015.
Robbie regularly checked in with his children, often a few times a week, and if he wasn’t with his children, he was always around others in the community.
His daughter reported him missing after uncharacteristically not hearing from her father over the preceding weeks.
His left thumb has limited mobility, he has tattoos on both arms and at the time of his disappearance he had medical issues.
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Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
Andrew Rich from the Salvation Army, who have been engaged to deliver the Learner Driver Mentor Program.
The ACT Government has partnered with the Salvation Army to help disadvantaged learner drivers meet requirements to get their licence.
The ACT Government-funded initiative will be delivered as part of the Salvation Army’s “Drive for Life” program.
The Drive for Life program supports disadvantaged learner drivers to complete the requirements for eligibility to obtain an ACT provisional driver licence.
The program facilitates access to lessons with a qualified driving instructor and the option to complete learner driver programs such as the Vulnerable Road User Program and the Safer Driver Course.
The program also matches participants with volunteer driving mentors who provide them with more supervised driving experience before they get their licence. This can help them participate in education, employment and other aspects of community life.
Participants who meet the criteria for assistance are referred to the program through various agencies affiliated with the Salvation Army.
Local car dealership Gulson’s Cars Canberra has assisted by donating a Hyundai hatchback for participant use.
“Participants in the program will be matched with Salvation Army volunteer driving mentors and enhance their safe driving skills, working towards the 100 hours of supervised driving experience,” Salvation Army’s Oasis Youth Services Manager Andrew Rich said.
“We anticipate that we will work with between 30 to 40 young people over the next 12 months, regardless of where they are at in their journey to obtain their licence.”
“Thanks Graham Gulson and Len Goodwin, a long-time supporter, for their shared donation of this vehicle. The donation of this car will enable young people to have a safe, maintained and insured vehicle in which to practise their driving skills,” Andrew said.
Graham Gulson from Gulson’s Cars Canberra and Andrew Rich from the Salvation Army.
Volunteer driver mentors needed
The program relies on volunteers to be driving mentors and Andrew urges Canberrans to consider becoming part of the program.
If you’re interested in becoming a mentor, applications can be made on the Drive For Life website. If successful, the Salvation Army will be in contact to start the process of becoming a mentor.
More information about the program and becoming a volunteer driver mentor can be found on the Salvation Army’s website: Salvationarmy.org.au
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Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
The ACT Government has committed to transition away from fossil fuel gas by 2045 and is developing a plan to help us get there.
To help Canberra prepare for an electric future, the ACT Government is developing the Integrated Energy Plan. The plan outlines the pathway to transform the ACT’s future energy systems and ensure a fair and equitable energy transition for all Canberrans.
An Integrated Energy Plan Position Paper is now available on Your Say Conversations website and the government is seeking feedback on the ACT’s approach to electrification. The paper focuses on key actions out to 2030, with a plan to review progress and release further stages of the plan in the lead up to 2045.
Finding a way to electrify and transition off fossil fuel gas is a complex challenge that will require action from the whole community.
Some key transition challenges that we are seeking feedback on include:
transitioning homes and businesses
how to best support those who can least afford to pay
building our future energy network to support increased electricity demand
how to decommission the gas network
finding solutions for hard to transition industry, businesses and buildings
how to attract the right skills and workforce to support the change.
Powering our city with 100% renewable electricity is the best pathway towards becoming a net zero emissions city. This is because the technology and skills to support electrification, for the most part, already exist and are readily available for our community to take up. It will also help energy consumers to save money, and maintain an affordable, reliable, and efficient energy system over the long term.
About a third of Canberra households are already experiencing the benefits of an all-electric home. Even more are embracing sustainable technologies such as solar panels and home battery systems. These developments show that our city is already electrifying and Canberrans are more than willing to embrace the change.
We also know that consumers are already moving away from gas. As more consumers transition off gas, people remaining on the gas network are expected to see higher energy costs. Managing our city’s transition off gas will not only help our climate, it will also make sure that the transition is fair for all Canberrans.
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Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services
Gugan Gulwan’s new home will support the delivery of expanded services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Canberrans.
A traditional Smoking Ceremony has been held to cleanse Gugan Gulwan Youth Aboriginal Corporation’s Wanniassa site, after the demolition of the old facility.
This ceremony is the next step in the delivery of the purpose-built facility for Gugan Gulwan.
Gugan Gulwan’s new home will support the delivery of expanded services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people, and families in a familiar setting.
Gugan Gulwan has served the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in the ACT for more than 30 years. The plans for the new facility have been developed through an inclusive co-design partnership, ensuring the design and construction process is guided by Gugan Gulwan’s cultural expertise and experience.
The design of the new facility was informed by consultation with individuals and families with connections and links to Gugan Gulwan. The ACT community also had the chance to have their say on the project through a public consultation process.
Concept render of the new Gugan Gulwan facility.
The ACT Government is committed to supporting Aboriginal community-controlled organisations to strengthen and grow, enabling them to deliver more services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Canberrans.
Commencement of site works marks an important step in delivering a building that will support Gugan Gulwan, its staff, and their work supporting Canberra’s First Nations children, young people, and families.
Key features will include a reception area, staff workspaces, youth work and homework spaces, function and exhibition spaces, art and music facilities and indoor and outdoor play areas.
The outcome of the tender process to construct the facility will be announced in the coming weeks.
In preparation for development of the new facility, Gugan Gulwan has temporarily relocated to Erindale Business Park, 2 Lansell Circuit, Wanniassa.