Melbourne Organisers

Tasman Asia Pacific is an economics consultancy specialising in infrastructure and public policy reform in the Asia-Pacific region. Our areas of expertise cover institutional and regulatory reform, models for private sector participation in infrastructure development and approaches to the combined public and private sector funding of infrastructure development.

TAP builds on a 25 year history of experience in infrastructure reform with a body of work in economics, policy and government reform undertaken by Tasman’s consultants, network and predecessor organisations. TAP Chairman Dr. Michael Porter, founder of the Centre for Policy Studies at Monash University subsequently led Tasman in leading roles on economic restructure, fiscal reforms and policy advice, beginning in Victoria in early 1990 and throughout Asia during subsequent years.

Our history of project work spans all major infrastructure sectors and 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, including China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Fiji and Samoa. We have led major projects with contracts of US$1 million and above sponsored by the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank, as well as AusAID and individual sponsoring governments. Currently we are working on a major AusAID-funded study under the ASEAN Secretariat looking at the key barriers to and solutions for power interconnection and trade across the ASEAN member countries, as well as some advisory work on sovereign debt management to the Asian Development Bank and individual governments. In 2003, we completed a major study on institutional arrangements for toll road development in Indonesia sponsored by the World Bank and the Public Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF) as well as advisory work on financing arrangements and risk analysis for major infrastructure projects for series of private clients.

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The Allen Consulting Group was formed in Melbourne in 1988 to provide independent economic and policy advice to business and government.
The firm now has 50 staff operating in offices in Melbourne, Sydney,
Canberra, Perth and Brisbane.

ACG has played a major role in infrastructure reform and regulation in Australia over the past decade. We have advised Governments, regulators and businesses on policy and regulatory matters in the electricity, gas, water, rail, roads, ports, airports, telecommunication, postal and banking industries.

Issues that ACG has advised on include price and access regulation, regulatory cost of capital and asset valuation, design and interpretation of regulatory frameworks, community service obligations, private-public partnerships, corporatisation and privatisation, competition and industry structure, environmental and public safety regulation and economic and environmental impacts including greenhouse.

ACG was the principal adviser to the COAG on the gas reform program including the development and implementation of the national gas code. We have advised Australian regulators on a series of landmark regulatory decisions, including the major electricity and gas decision by ORG/ESC in Victoria. We undertook the economic cost-benefit analysis for the CitiLink project. We have been involved in advising on the proposed water reform in Victoria.

ACG has undertaken a range of international projects including on infrastructure and financial reform in the Asia Pacific. ACG undertook as part of a consortium (including Freehills) a series of studies for the APEC Energy Working Group on best practice principles for energy reform.

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Deacons is a leading, full-service commercial law firm with offices and affiliates located throughout Australia and Asia. It provides legal and commercial services to leading financial institutions, corporations, governments and public authorities, as well as private businesses and individuals. It has a track record in managing projects of various sizes, nature and complexities. Deacons offers a comprehensive and well-established network of 1,600 staff throughout Australia and Asia, supported by a cohesive national management and administration structure ensuring the resources, technology, management and progressive thinking of an international organisation.

Deacons provides a wide range of legal and advisory services to both private corporations and governments. The advice supplied includes general commercial and corporate advice, as well as regulatory policy advice. Deacons regularly acts on large-scale transactions in the energy, resources, water, transport, health and telecommunications sectors. Deacons has a practical and commercial appreciation of the implications of regulatory reforms and technological advances in the dynamic telecommunications sector and has a demonstrated capacity to act on a wide range of matters.

In addition to its regular and ongoing commercial work, Deacons has recently been appointed the project manager for AusAID's AU$25 million, 5-year economic governance facility in Indonesia, the Technical Advisory Management Facility III (TAMF III), based in Jakarta.

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Freehills is one of Australia's largest law firms with offices in all the major Australian cities and in Singapore, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. Freehills also has correspondent offices in Jakarta, Indonesia (Soemadipraja & Taher) and Kuala Lumpur (Lee Hishamuddin).

Freehills has played a key role in the deregulation and restructure of utilities in Australia since the early 1990s with major projects including the deregulation, restructure and privatisation of the electricity and gas supply industries in Victoria from 1993 through 1999. Freehills has also advised on the restructure of the Western Australian electricity industry.

Freehills has also had a substantial role in the creation of such infrastructure projects as the Melbourne CitiLink tollway and several other tollways in New South Wales.

Freehills advised the Federal Government on the sale by privatisation in 2003

In Asia Freehills had advised on matters such as the first water desalination project for Singapore, the special purpose legislation for the restructure of the Singapore electricity supply industry, the restructure of the Korean electricity supply industry including the separation of the generation sector, the drafting of the pool rules for the proposed Philippine power pool, InterGen's proposed merchant IPP project in Singapore and several large energy mergers and acquisitions especially in Korea.

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