ABSTRACT
By 2001 the state had invested about $450 million over seven years in operating expenses, infrastructure and subsidies with a longer term projection of up to a billion dollars of public investment.2 The early premise that the Docklands could be developed with minimal or no cost to the public purse was abandoned in order to attract the stadium. Public investment includes the bridge extensions of Bourke, La Trobe and Collins streets, as well as Docklands Park and Plaza, the new tramway, Wurundjeri Way, Grimes Bridge, Webb Bridge and decontamination costs. Other
costs include operating expenses for the Docklands Authority, the broadband digital network and public subsidies to attract the technology park and the film studios. The need for a new rail bridge remains, along with possible recompense to the CityLink operators for construction of the by-pass. Some of this expenditure is expected to be repaid through developer contributions, but developers have proven extremely reluctant to contribute to infrastructure beyond that necessary to construct their own precinct. By 2001 such returns totalled $26 million.3 Docklands development was premised on the prospect of little or no cost to the public purse. In reality the state has funded much of the project while ceding control to private interests.
