Business Plan

The funding and investment implications of the initiatives proposed by this review require a clear resolution. Accordingly, a Business Plan will be drawn up to integrate public and private investment sources.

The plan will analyse the commercial viability of each project, and set out the key business opportunities and risks. It will also examine the interplay of government and private sector funding to schedule the financial commitments required for each project.

Financial modelling will examine the impact of any variations in the key assumptions about each project and provide flexibility in the evaluations over time.

The financial model will include general profit and loss and balance sheet information and will develop detailed cash flows for each project. It will list capital expenditure requirements, revenues, operating expenditures, working capital and ongoing funding from both private and public sectors.

Business planning will also focus on the provision of adequate funding for maintenance and minor new works.

The financial capacity of agencies like the National Capital Authority will be largely defined by the need to manage investment on behalf of the Commonwealth in existing infrastructure, landscape and heritage assets. The maintenance and preservation of this extensive range of existing assets and new assets that will arise from this review will take priority in the Authority’s budget process. Some minor works will also be implemented through the Authority’s ongoing Works and Reconstruction Program.

Although the Commonwealth Government can provide additional capital funds for the development of new assets, access to these funds is in competition with other pressures on the Federal budget.

It is not expected that the Commonwealth will be able to provide all the funding required to deliver the initiatives of this review. New revenue streams will therefore need to be developed. These may include the introduction of user charges for commuter car parking in the Zone and there may also be opportunities from leasing of premises for restaurants and cafes.

Any calls on additional Government funding will focus on major new works.

The implementation of the Parliamentary Zone initiatives will inevitably involve more significant reliance upon the private sector. Examples of potential areas for investment include:

patronage of projects of national significance and interest such as the reconstruction of the Old Parliament House Gardens, and the reconstruction of the Reflection Pool fountains (which already includes funds bequeathed by an individual)
financial contributions by community groups for some new works, especially commemorative works (as is already the case for most memorials) or other works associated in some significant way with these groups
sponsorship by individuals or community groups of special projects and events
joint ventures to deliver new cultural institutions or programs such as the construction and operation of the National Aerospace Centre. This approach will require the undertaking of due diligence on each of the project components under the scrutiny of external probity auditors, in addition to the usual finance and budgetary controls

Projects considered viable for private sector investment will be professionally documented, with key marketing objectives and outcomes. In this case, the Business Plan will identify and integrate market profiles with the various proposals.

The most likely outcome is that the place of the people will be developed and maintained using a variety of revenue and capital injection methods. The Business Plan initiative will provide a framework within which decisions can be made about which approach is best for each project.