Australia’s $4B Push to Fix Flawed Global Infrastructure Before It Fails
Australia has committed A$4 billion to boost infrastructure across the Pacific through its financing facility. The move comes as global construction spending is set to hit US$17.5 trillion a year by 2030. Yet without better oversight, up to US$6 trillion could be wasted annually due to corruption and mismanagement by the end of the decade.
Weak governance in early project planning has already led to costly failures. Examples include the Jakarta-Bandung High-Speed Rail, Sri Lanka’s underused Mattala Rajapaksa Airport, and Kenya’s debt-laden Mombasa-Nairobi Railway. These cases highlight how poor decision-making can derail infrastructure investments before construction even begins.
To tackle the issue, Transparency International Australia launched the Infrastructure Corruption Risk Assessment Tool (ICRAT) in 2021. The tool helps civil society groups spot risks early and push for fairer project selection. After pilot tests in Indonesia and the Solomon Islands in 2023, its findings were shared with local governments to improve planning. Australia’s own infrastructure programmes, like the Solomon Islands-Australia Community Partnerships and Indonesia’s KINETIK climate initiative, now serve as models for better practice. The country is also expanding ICRAT’s reach, rolling it out to four new nations in Africa and Asia. The goal is to give communities a stronger voice in decisions that affect them. Early checks and public pressure can prevent waste and ensure projects actually meet their goals. Evidence-based assessments, public campaigns, and coalition-building have all helped increase scrutiny over politically sensitive deals.
The expansion of ICRAT and Australia’s funding push aim to cut corruption risks in major projects. With global infrastructure spending rising sharply, better oversight could save trillions each year. The focus now shifts to whether these tools will be adopted widely enough to make a real difference.
