The Australian Logistics Council (ALC) has indicated it is pleased the 2012-2013 federal budget recognises the importance of freight to Australia’s future economic prosperity.
“The Government’s proposal to develop a multi-billion dollar freight logistics hub at Moorebank in Sydney’s west shows a welcome reversal in the trend where freight is treated as the ‘poor cousin’ when it comes to infrastructure planning,” said Michael Kilgariff, ALC managing director. “ALC believes Moorebank is one of the jewels in Australia’s freight logistics crown, but the challenge is to ensure this key ‘inland port’ is developed in such a way that maximises its potential.”
He went on to expand on this, saying ALC’s desire is to see this important transport hub developed expeditiously and in such a way that maximises efficiency and productivity by capitalising on its strategic location near the M5/ M7 motorways and Port Botany rail freight line.
Michael Kilgariff also noted the budget’s $38 million allocation to establish national regulators for heavy vehicles, rail safety and maritime safety.
“This is a critical microeconomic reform that is estimated to be worth $30 billion to the nation over 20 years, and so ALC welcomes the Federal Government’s funding commitment to establish the three new regulators.”
He also said he looked forward to closer engagement with the Federal Government on the design of the Nation Building II program which is due to start in 2014/ 2015.
“The Nation Building II program must have a greater focus on making our supply chains more efficient, leading to lower prices on supermarket shelves which is important to help keep the lid on inflation and keep interest rates down.
“ALC looks forward to working more closely with Government to identify proposals for action to improve transport efficiency as it develops its Nation Building II program.
“This greater level of government/ industry engagement was a key recommendation of ALC’s recent report Towards an Efficient Freight Future, which also found there has been a lack of progress to address a number of key supply chain blockages and that further action is needed to ease constraints to transport efficiency.”
The report Towards an Efficient Freight Future is available on the ALC website at www.austlogistics.com.au