Infrastructure manager Minerva Advisory has pouredcold water on recent tax incentives to make it easier for infrastructureinvestment in Australia, saying the Government needed to fundamentally changethe structure of underlying investment.
Speaking at a BNP Paribas Investment Partnersand Antin Infrastructure breakfast in Melbourne, managing director of MinervaLee Burnell said the tax incentives announced in the last budget were notenough to encourage investors to invest more in core infrastructure.
“There are not enough deals available to satisfythe domestic appetite for infrastructure, and I think importantly, theredoesn’t seem to be a solution bridging the gap,” Burnell said.
Heavy investment was needed in greenfieldinfrastructure, but offering tax incentives did nothing about the problems oflack of operating history, construction risk, and the lack of early revenue, hesaid.
While the biggest super funds in Australia werecapable of funding infrastructure projects because of their sheer size, smallerfunds and institutional players were unable to secure exclusivity in aninfrastructure project because of the scarcity of smaller deals available,Burnell said.
That made it likely that participants wouldincur breaking deal costs, he said.
That was a real problem for both investors andfund managers, Burnell added.
The pace of economic growth in Australia is expected to “grind higher over coming quarters” off the back of lower inflation, falling interest rates, and a robust labour market, Deloitte has said.
The superannuation sector has welcomed confirmation that a controversial US tax provision will be removed.
A new analysis from environmental finance group Market Forces has reportedly discovered that AustralianSuper is on the b...
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has held talks with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, intensifying efforts to resolve concerns over section 899 of the proposed “Big Beautiful Bill” in the United States.