Beasley said Australia’s pipeline and gas industries had very bright futures and he predicted a highly active period of development over the next five years.

“The past five years has been a very exciting period for pipeline development and the next five years will be equally as active,” Dr Beasley said.

“Industry activity is already heightened by developments across Northern Australia, including the Trans Territory Pipeline and the recent scaling up of effort on the PNG Gas Pipeline,” he said.

“Together with the long awaited expansion of the Dampier-to-Bunbury pipeline in Western Australia, these projects represent important opportunities for this country to expand infrastructure and develop new gas markets.”

However there was still much work to be done, particularly on the economic regulatory front, Beasley said. However he was optimistic that APIA was moving on the right direction on these matters.

“The direction set out by the Productivity Commission in its recent review of the Gas Access Regime and the outcome of appeals against incorrect regulatory determinations, completely vindicate the stance APIA has taken on behalf of the pipeline industry over the past five years on these matters,” he said.

One of APIA’s biggest achievements during Beasley’s tenure had been successfully negotiating with the Commonwealth Government for the implementation of a 20-year tax depreciation life for pipelines, according to Beasley.

“The original proposals from government clearly indicated that this industry faced a 50-80 year tax depreciation life for pipeline assets, which would have been untenable,” he said.