History - 2002-2007

With greater understanding of its clients’ requirements, QTC customised its lending products, establishing client specific debt pools for larger borrowers to give them complete flexibility and increased capacity to manage the risks inherent in their debt portfolios.

To provide more targeted support on clients’ major projects, QTC established a secondment program in 2002. By placing its employees in key strategic and operational roles, QTC added support and expertise to these businesses while gaining valuable experience to contribute to QTC’s own operations.

In 2005, QTC joined with the Local Government Association of Queensland to establish LG Infrastructure Services Pty Ltd, with the aim of providing assistance to local governments in evaluating and delivering infrastructure projects in a cost effective and efficient manner.

In 2006 and 2007, QTC extended its services further to assist and support local governments through the completion of financial sustainability reviews of 105 local governments. One of the most significant projects undertaken by QTC to date, these reviews allowed individual governments to identify business opportunities and risks to develop appropriate business strategies and better plan for the future.

Image: Southbank Institute of Technology redevelopment project, 2006. Shown on page 23 of the Queensland Treasury Corporation Annual Report 2005–2006.

As the scale and scope of QTC’s financial advisory services continued to grow, QTC found itself providing advice ranging from interest rate risk management through to assistance with a variety of procurement projects.

QTC also found its advisory services sought to assist on an international level, when from September to November 2001, it was engaged by The Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the Australian Government agency responsible for managing Australia’s overseas aid program, to undertake a review of the debt obligations and debt management practices of the Papua New Guinean Government.

The review, as required by the World Bank, included a detailed analysis on the existing structure of the public debt, the identification of its main contingent liabilities and its guarantees, and the identification of risk management strategies with respect to the identified exposure risks. This assisted the Papua New Guinean Government in meeting the new loan requirements of the World Bank.

In addition to this project, QTC had a series of meetings with representatives from the Indonesian Ministry of Finance, to assist their establishment of a debt management office.

QTC also continued to assist the Queensland public sector with financial and risk advice on a number of major projects with significant outcomes for the State’s economic development and growth. QTC was engaged to work on an increasingly diverse range of projects with increasing complexity. For example, in the 2002-03 financial year alone, QTC provided its expert advice to projects including the redevelopment of Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium, the Australian Magnesium Corporation’s proposed processing operation, the Queensland Ambulance Service subscription scheme, the expansion of the Townsville Power Station, the Southbank TAFE redevelopment, the sale of the Brisbane Markets Corporation and the Gateway Bridge duplication.

QTC’s advisory services today remain strategically focused on delivering quality service and value to its clients and to Queensland. As our clients’ operations become more complex, QTC is committed to assisting its partners across the public sector in the delivery of successful financial outcomes and added value to their operations.

Image: Cardwell Shire Council’s Mission Beach Sewerage plant. Shown on page 30 of the Queensland Treasury Corporation Annual Report 2004–2005.

LG Infrastructure Services (LGIS) was formed during 2005 to provide access to centralised skills, resources and solutions that would otherwise not be available to individual local governments, at a lower cost than other alternatives.

Launched on 31 August 2005, the LGIS joint venture between QTC and the Local Government Association of Queensland provided targeted support to the procurement of local government infrastructure development. Providing advice and assistance to local governments in evaluating and delivering infrastructure in a cost-effective and efficient manner, the LGIS joint venture was the first of its kind in Australia, playing an integral role in the preparation and management of infrastructure throughout Queensland.

Following its launch, LGIS was engaged on numerous assignments to provide advice and services to local governments for projects such as refurbishments of council chambers, delivery of sewerage and waste water treatment plants, negotiations with mining companies in relation to water supply, property development and the upgrade of airports.

Through coordination and collaboration of local governments to procure infrastructure together, LGIS captured economies of scale and scope that were previously unable to be achieved by local governments in Queensland, within a framework of better risk management. In the 2006-07 financial year, for example, LGIS exceeded expectations by delivering advisory services for projects with a capital value in excess of $3 billion, as well as a number of major regional infrastructure projects— including the $90 million South-East Queensland Pressure and Leakage Management project and the $32 million Home WaterWise project. In January 2009, LGIS also began the delivery of the ClimateSmart Home Service on behalf of the Queensland Government, providing energy efficiency services to Queensland homes.

Today, LGIS is uniquely placed to help local governments achieve the best quality and value in infrastructure and other large-scale projects. Through LGIS, QTC works with LGAQ to better understand the circumstances behind various desired outcomes, with a view to designing and evaluating cost-effective and efficient infrastructure solutions. LGIS incorporates procurement, project management, tender administration, and project delivery services, drawing on improved bargaining power, increased economies of scope and scale, and the collective knowledge and experience gained through projects facilitated for Queensland’s local governments.

In the 2006-07 financial year, QTC assisted the State and its clients with the financial and risk assessment of key water infrastructure projects proposed for Queensland, following a period of sustained drought. These included the Gold Coast Desalination Project, the Southern Regional Water Pipeline and Western Corridor Recycled Water projects, and the Wyaralong and Traveston Crossing dams. QTC also provided advice to the Queensland Water Commission and Queensland Treasury in relation to the purchase of bulk water and treatment assets of the South-East Queensland local governments, and the implications for funding the delivery of infrastructure assets, management of risk and water pricing.

In the same year, on behalf of Queensland Treasury, QTC fulfilled a number of key roles in the sale of retail energy assets by the State, in the lead-up to the deregulation of the Queensland electricity and gas markets. These sales represented a major investment in Queensland’s future energy needs, and contributed more than $3 billion to the Queensland Future Growth Fund for investment in new water infrastructure, transport, clean coal technology and renewable energy initiatives.

In May 2006, QTC’s Chief Executive, Stephen Rochester, was seconded to Energex’s retail arm, Sun Retail Pty Ltd, to prepare that organisation for sale. During this time, Stephen maintained a strategic involvement in QTC’s operations and resumed his full time role with QTC in February 2007.