The journalist highlights the extensive experience of Spanish companies in the sector as one of their strengths in Australia.
The 2018 Australian Leaders Program featured four experts in the infrastructure and transport sector. As part of its proactive communications strategy, the Council Foundation regularly publishes interviews with its participants.
Jenny Wiggins has been a journalist at the Australian Financial Review since 2010, based in Sydney. She is in charge of the infrastructure and transport section.
- From a media perspective, how do you think Australians perceive the government's infrastructure and transport policies in recent years?
I think people want better transport. They want traffic-free roads, trams, high-speed trains... They want to be able to get to work faster and make quicker journeys. That's why there's a certain level of frustration with governments that haven't planned enough for the future. They should have been planning 20 or 30 years ago, thinking about today. So there's some pressure on the current government to get moving and build new transport infrastructure.
- What are the country's main needs in this area?
We need more rail systems. Light rail is very popular; it's been very successful on the Gold Coast (Queensland). In Sydney, where I live, the Inner West Light Rail is operating beyond capacity. People can't get on in the mornings, so there's a demand for more trains. It would be fantastic if more light rail lines were built, even despite the problems the George Street line has faced. I think it's a very popular mode of transport, and it would be wonderful to see more of it in Australian cities.
There's also a need for faster regional trains to connect second-tier cities: from Newcastle to Sydney, from Sydney to Wollongong... not high-speed rail, though. While that would be fantastic, it's very expensive for Australia, as we don't have a large enough population to sustain it. But it would be good to have something halfway between regular service and high-speed rail. Something a bit faster than what we have now.
Despite the differences between the two countries, do you think there are any similarities between Spain and Australia?
Spain has very efficient trains and a very extensive rail network that has been developing over the last 20 years. I think that Spain, in addition to providing rolling stock, could be helpful in planning lines and usage patterns, as well as providing insights into how many people use the trains, and so on. Even with different populations, I think it would be very useful in terms of future planning. Our governments, at both the state and federal levels, change every three years, and they don't usually plan for the long term.
- As part of your work, you've been able to analyze the work of international companies on Australian infrastructure. What impression do you have of Spanish companies?
All multinational companies are very similar. Companies like Ferrovial are very professional and competent. Some Spanish companies, however, are not very transparent with journalists. Some Australian investors tell me they don't want to invest in them because they don't really know what they're doing. They don't explain it clearly or they don't provide all the financial details that people are looking for.
A key difference between Spain and Australia is that Australian companies are expected to be very transparent, to talk to journalists, and to provide a lot of information. In that respect, perhaps Spanish companies are somewhat less transparent.
- After what you've seen throughout this Leaders Program, has your perception of the sector in Spain changed at all? What aspects of these visits impressed you the most?
I had been to Spain before and knew the sector was good. I think I now have a better understanding of the level of expertise. Knowledge of infrastructure in Spain is very broad, covering everything from roads to trams, high-speed trains... There seems to be a great deal of engineering expertise. And I think I can say that Spain builds world-class infrastructure. I would have liked to spend more time discussing infrastructure financing. In Australia, there's a big problem in determining how to make a service profitable, what percentage should be subsidized by the government... We've talked about it on several occasions, but I would have liked to discuss it at length.
As for what I found most interesting, I think everything was great. I really enjoyed the Barcelona leg of the trip: the meeting with members of the City Council and the visit to the Superblock project, the visit to the new Barcelona Metro line and the Port of Barcelona. The CAF factory was also very interesting, as was the meeting at the Elcano Royal Institute. I appreciated the breadth of the conversation about Spain and how frank and open they were. As a journalist, I particularly enjoy debates. I liked the technical visits, but they were a little less interesting for me because I don't have a technical background. But it was still good to learn about everything.
Check out the summary of activities for the Leaders Program 2018
