We need one that will satisfy the needs of the Nintendo generation that will soon dominate the lives and culture of our cities. For most of this century, infrastructure was of a vanilla flavour - gas, electricity, water, motorways, sewerage that served everyone in the same way. There were never an intention that infrastructure could be customised - it was one size fits all. Today the story is different. We need an infrastructure that deals with a society of networks - virtual and real.
Transport is one priority.
The other is the infrastructure of the information age. Bill Gates was very keen earlier in the decade to talk about frictionless capitalism, by which he meant a marketplace without physical barriers. That's the sort of strategic infrastructure that needs urgent funding. It's interesting that we have a Federal Minister for Regional Services, but no focus and certainly no budget for co-ordinating the development of vital infrastructure in our major cities. And yet, both politicians and business have talked about the need for greater international competitiveness for more than a decade.