DCN April 2019 Edition

Josephine Laduzko from the Department of Agriculture, Paul Zalai from Freight and Trade Alliance
and Teresa Lloyd from Maritime Industry Australia, discuss the finer points of the biosecurity levy
This, she said, would be “a game changer
for rail, overcoming a key operational
constraint on using trains to move export
containers from regional Victoria to
overseas markets”.
“Better use of rail is one of the
conditions imposed by the government in
our lease of the Port of Melbourne,” the
minister said.
“However it is also a key step in
maximising the capacity of the Port of
Melbourne.”
Ms Horne also noted a commitment
in the Victorian Freight Plan to look at
regulating access charges at the Port of
Melbourne, “in particular, to making sure
the charges for trains do not disadvantage
exporters who opt for rail over road”.
PRESERVING FREIGHT CORRIDORS A
FOCUS, SAYS DEPUTY PM
Deputy Prime Minister Michael
McCormack has pledged to protect the
nation’s freight corridors from urban
encroachment.
Mr McCormack also discussed the
National Freight and Supply Chain
Strategy and also talked of the big projects
transforming the country including inland
rail and the Western Sydney Airport.
“Given that we are shaping the future of
all Australians, it is important that we get
it right,” Mr McCormack said.
“Amongst the priorities must be
the protection of freight corridors and
precincts from urban encroachment and/or
incompatible developments, that’s critical.
“We all know that. Governments of all
political persuasions are always pressured
by people who may just move into an area,
who may… then build a house and wonder
about planes going overhead or have a farm,
have it broken up into several blocks and
then wonder why the freight train wants to
have a line there.
“We need to protect those freight
corridors at all cost.”
He said the government “had the runs
on the board” leading into the next federal
election, particularly with the turning of
the first sod on the inland rail project.
Responding to criticism by Labor’s
Anthony Albanese about the lack of
connectivity between Acacia Ridge and
the Port of Brisbane, Mr McCormack
I don’t see how putting our fuel supplies into
the hands of a known militant union is a way
of improving resilience.
Rod Nairn
said the government would work with the
Queensland government to make inland
rail operate effectively.
NSW SETS THE TREND FOR RAIL USE,
SAYS MAURICE JAMES
QUBE general manager Maurice James
heaped praise upon the New South Wales
government for supporting the growth of
rail in and around Port Botany.
He contrasted this performance with
Melbourne where he argued too little
had been done to reduce the dependence
on trucks.
“What we have seen in Australia for the
last five to 10 years is one government with
a focus on rail and that has been the New
South Wales government,” Mr James said.
Mr James noted the NSW government
had pushed the federal government to
commit to duplication of the track into
Port Botany.
“I contrast that with Victoria over the
last 10 years until the last six to 12 months
that wasn’t really focussed on rail in a port
sense,” he said.
“We had a port authority in government
ownership that really didn’t believe in
metro port shuttles.”
Times were, he said, finally changing.
“We now have a privatised port (of
Melbourne) with, as part of legislation, an
objective to go back to government with a
rail strategy and it is very encouraging to
hear,” Mr James said.
Nationwide, Mr James said rail had
been efficient when it had been verticallyintegrated,
particularly evidenced by the
mining industry.
“The reality is the majority of the rail
networks are fragmented, multi-user,
multi-customer networks,” he said.
“What we have seen are governments
generally rating rail much lower than road.
We heard [earlier], road upgrades are often
driven by passengers or by votes and rail
wasn’t driven by that.”
Mr James said more freight on rail was
an important part of ports’ social licence
to operate.
“What we’ve seen is ports being
privatised, we’ve seen ports with plans
to significantly increase their volume,”
he said.
“Their social licence to operate in
the communities around them is driving
them and this will drive a modal shift
around road to rail in order to satisfy that
social licence.
“Rail will never exceed road in and out
of our ports. It will though, play its part in
significantly growing the volumes that go
in and out of our ports.”
thedcn.com.au April 2019 27