Chairman of the Spatial Industries Business Association (SIBA), Gary Nairn, has said that the Federal Budget’s emphasis on accelerating infrastructure should be welcomed by its members.
“Our members are involved in every aspect of infrastructure from initial planning right through to the delivery of the project so the additional spend across Australia highlighted by Treasurer Joe Hockey is good news,” Gary Nairn said.
“Much of the initial investment in infrastructure will be the acquisition of spatial information from aerial photography, LiDAR or ground based technologies so our SIBA members will be at the forefront of this investment. For example, the big spend on roads will particularly see our mapping and surveying companies increase their activity.
“Many SIBA members will also benefit from the 1.5% reduction in company tax and will be particularly pleased with the announcement of $1 billion to address red tape reduction,” he said.
“But announcements need to be followed up with action. With the overwhelming majority of SIBA members being small businesses, bureaucratic red tape is a huge cost to our member companies so they will be looking for real reductions from this announcement.
“While the reintroduction of indexation on fuel excise will have some impact on our members’ costs, the government’s commitment to use the additional funds on infrastructure is welcomed,” Gary Nairn added.
“And the delay in increasing superannuation payments will also assist our members manage the current tight economic situation in many parts of Australia.
“With new companies entering the emerging spatial industries, the $484m Entrepreneurs Infrastructure Program will be of assistance to the ‘start-ups’.
“Using spatial information to work smarter is a catch cry of our industry and SIBA encourages the Federal Government to do likewise as it rolls out its infrastructure investment over the coming year,” Gary Nairn concluded.
SIBA is the national peak body representing the surveying, mapping, GIS and location intelligence industries.
I should note here that these thoughts are not those of the Spatial Source editorial staff.
