Stop for a minute and imagine what we could build with another $4 billion in the infrastructure pot.

Evidence from the Lane Cove Tunnel case in the Supreme Court last week provides the community with a rare insight into the behind-the-scenes machinations of infrastructure selection, development and delivery in Australia.

The Lane Cove Tunnel fiasco has shown the problems that occur when governments do not properly oversee infrastructure delivery. Credit:Bloomberg

So far, we’ve heard that Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s close adviser Tony Shepherd was involved in driving up traffic forecasts, that incentives were used to lure investors and that large payments were made back to the NSW government – all to keep politicians, construction companies, investors and consultants happy.

Where were the community’s needs or views in all of this? With so many competing and hidden agendas you could be forgiven for thinking you were reading a run-down of the next episode of Utopia, the ABC’s latest satire on nation building.