With the advent of COAG reforms in the late 1990s requiring full commercial return from public infrastructure', and the tightening regulatory compliance for any project that involves the development or modification of any natural resource, it has become increasingly difficult for the private sector to contemplate development and/or ownership of new large-scale water supply infrastructure._x000D_
The hurdles that must be overcome often seem insurmountable even before a detailed understanding of the project challenges can be developed. Australia has prospered over the last 50 years in an environment where regional development, including mining, has been encouraged by high commodity prices, a well-trained and available labour force and abundant spare capacity in the necessary infrastructure, in particular rail, power and water. Unless future infrastructure is created in advance of, or closely following, demand, this prosperity may be in jeopardy._x000D_
This paper presents a snapshot of today's project development challenges, and with reference to some recent case histories, argues that owing to their unique background, culture and status, water utility government owned corporations (GOCs) are well-suited to fulfilling the demand for new water infrastructure._x000D_
FORMAL CITATION:Noonan, P, 2006. The role of government owned corporations in developing new water infrastructure, in Proceedings Water in Mining 2006, pp 123-126 (The Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy: Melbourne).