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SYDNEY, March 28 (Reuters) - Australia's federal, state and territory governments said they will coordinate efforts to sell off state-owned assets, opening the door for local and overseas investors to take a slice of an estimated A$100 billion ($92.58 billion) in infrastructure.
The governments want local superannuation funds, which manage some A$1.7 trillion, to increase ownership of roads, rail, ports and power stations now being sold off by cash-strapped state governments to fund new spending programs.
Large overseas superannuation funds such as the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan - owner of the A$2.3 billion Sydney Desalination Plant - have already identified Australian infrastructure as an attractive investment option because of reliable returns and the ability to withstand economic shocks.
On Friday, state, territory and federal treasurers said in a statement that they would commit to an asset-selling partnership with the federal government to "help overcome the fiscal constraints governments face to increase the pipeline of projects".
Federal treasurer Joe Hockey said the federal government may offer large financial incentives to states and territories which sell assets and reinvest the proceeds in new infrastructure.
"I have no doubt that the states will find it very hard to resist what the Commonwealth is prepared to offer them for the recycling of state government assets and investment in new productive infrastructure that's going to create jobs and improve the capacity of the economy," Hockey told reporters in Canberra before the meeting.
On Wednesday, federal treasurer Mathias Cormann said the government would float state-owned health insurer Medibank Private by mid-2015 to fund infrastructure, in a sale expected to fetch about A$4 billion.
($1 = 1.0802 Australian Dollars)
(Reporting by Byron Kaye; Editing by Christopher Cushing)
((byron.kaye@thomsonreuters.com)(+612 9373 1815))
Keywords: AUSTRALIA INFRASTRUCTURE/