Freight task crucial to Rudd in election build-up

By Rob McKay

In a speech in Adelaide on January 21st, which appeared to set infrastructure and transport minister Anthony Albanese as pivotal to the election strategy, Rudd emphasised that the country's freight-related needs were “truly staggering”.
He insisted that meeting the freight task was about policy coordination and reform to provide the right incentives for private sector investment as well as being about Commonwealth investment.
“That’s why in 2010, the transport priority for the Council of Australian Governments will be freight transport,” Rudd said.
“Infrastructure Australia is currently focusing its work on two new strategies: a national ports strategy and a freight network plan.”
Infrastructure Australia's identified principles for strategic plans include:
.coordination along the supply chain as a major field for productivity improvement for business;
.the freight network as not simply about individual road and rail projects, but a set of “nodes” interconnected by road, rail, sea and air links; and
.the case for dedicated road and rail freight infrastructure has become stronger to minimise conflict with passenger transport and economic losses.
Infrastructure Partnerships Australia has commended Rudd's focus on road and rail transport reform as a key to meeting future transport needs and maintaining international competitiveness.
The peak infrastructure body's executive director Brendan Lyon said Rudd's position was in tune with his group's aims.
“Australia’s freight task is set to treble by 2050 and without significant changes to policy and how money is invested in our road and rail networks, existing and new bottlenecks will become entrenched and urban congestion will get worse,” Lyon said.
"Transport accounts for up to 10 per cent of the cost of any goods or services and we need to address the escalating cost of moving goods around the country as a national priority.”
He said that urban congestion was costing Australia $9bn annually but that would soar to $20bn annually by 2020 without smarter use of road and rail transport to convey goods and services.
“IBIS World figures commissioned by IPA found that we will need to spend $62.5bn per annum by 2050 – four times what we are spending now – to alleviate congestion and meet the growth in demand driven by the growth in population,” Lyon said
“The freight and the transport sectors also make up 14 per cent of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions due to the reliance on road transport and the sector will be key to the national effort to meeting emissions reduction targets.
“Government and transport planners need to start boosting the competitiveness of rail along the east-west and north-south corridors to start shifting freight off road and on to rail.”
IPA has called for a single national body to develop national freight policy and identify key priority areas for investment.
It also wants a development of a cross-modal, integrated freight strategy to help boost productivity growth.

Source: Lloyd’s List Daily Commercial News – www.lloydslistdcn.com.au