Australian governments and project sponsors "need to embrace new forms of infrastructure financing", the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, said in a speech at the National Press Club yesterday.Rudd did not elaborate other than to say that "this forms part of an important agenda of work".Rudd's speech had as its theme "the challenge for the Australian Government to accelerate a new national competitiveness agenda that boosts our long term productivity growth", including the "need to aim for a productivity number with a two in front of it."More broadly, on infrastructure, Rudd said that "Infrastructure Australia is doing great work. For the first time in the nation's history, a national infrastructure priority list has been developed on the basis of a rigorous cost-benefit analysis.""Major projects are underway across road, rail and ports, and urban transport."More projects should be underway [soon], such as the Cross-River Rail project in Brisbane."Rudd also plugged the National Broadband Network - "the new infrastructure of the 21st century, which of itself becomes a massive productivity driver for firms."In its "National Infrastructure Plan", released in June, Infrastructure Australia called for more innovation to address the "funding gap".IA called for "consolidation of Commonwealth funding sources into a national infrastructure fund with a single assessment and prioritisation process" similar to recent reforms in Queensland.The agency also called on the Federal Government to "provide seed or viability gap funding to bridge the gap that prevents an otherwise commercially attractive project with strong economic benefits from proceeding."Other ideas included: "Taking on some project risk or providing project guarantees in certain circumstances, for example, guaranteeing patronage risk, establishing an insurance provider, or guaranteeing a portion of private sector debt for a private-public partnership."It also suggested "providing a portion of lower ranked debt, to reduce the risk and cost of the remaining private debt."IA also wants much more "recycling" of capital, meaning the sale of publicly owned assets to private operators (such as the sale of some ports in NSW and Hobart Airport).