Freight Rail, Safety, Standards & Regulation

Australian freight “just not up to scratch,” Hockridge says

Aurizon, Lance Hockridge - Photo Aurizon

Aurizon boss Lance Hockridge has publicly denounced the state of the Australian freight sector in a speech to some of the nation’s most powerful business and political players.

Hockridge spoke on Thursday at the AFR National Infrastructure Summit, produced by the Fairfax paper and Rail Express parent company Informa Australia.

The Aurizon chief executive told the delegation Australians were “unaware” that a number of the country’s key freight systems, “are just not up to scratch due to neglect, regulatory overload and short-termism”.

He said consumer giants like Apple, Amazon and Procter & Gamble were successful because of their great supply chains, which are the result of those companies putting “the needs of the customer first”.

“They provide reliability and quality,” he said, “not just the lowest cost.

“The supply chains of countries are no different,” Hockridge argued, “and should be judged by the same criteria.”

He said that while rail infrastructure for Australia’s mining sector was almost unparalleled, mining sectors were “facing strong headwinds”.

As for the other rail infrastructure, he continued: “Our grain supply chain is seriously inefficient due to ageing assets and a lack of alignment among participants.

“And our intermodal capability, the supply chain that keeps Australia functioning on a daily basis, is under severe strain, especially on the eastern seaboard.”

The freight boss urged decision makers to prioritise getting Australia’s freight rail up to par with the country’s global competition.

“As members of the freight sector, we’re in the global supply chain business,” he said. “Australia is in fierce competition with the supply chains of other countries and they are not standing still.”

He also pointed out a national benefit to freight infrastructure investment.

“It’s clear that our issues are intrinsically connected – the health of our cities, the lifestyles and economic wealth that Australians have come to enjoy – with the daily grind of the nation’s freight network. There’s a lot of serious work to be done and some issues of which we’ve dragged our feet for decades.”

Hockridge did say there were some flashes of optimism in recent times, however.

He praised last month’s Infrastructure Australia Audit, which he said “provided a welcome boost to the infrastructure debate,” and he said the recent Federal Budget’s preservation of an asset recycling scheme was “worthy”.

Last week’s Moorebank Intermodal Terminal confirmation was also a welcome sight for the freight industry, he added.

But he said these things were not enough.

He said a goal should be set for 30% of freight on the Eastern Seaboard to be carried by rail by 2025 (it’s currently around 15%).

He also called for a national freight strategy to be developed by the Commonwealth and the states.

He said a road pricing scheme for heavy freight was needed to put road and rail on par with one another.

And while approving of the idea, he guided the government to be careful when privatising the national rail network, “because privatisation alone is not the panacea for present ills,” he said.

“In a country of relative prosperity and unlimited potential, we often don’t want to hear the truth,” Hockridge concluded.

“Australia’s enduring success has bred complacency in many quarters – the ‘she’ll be right, mate’ attitude.

“Our roads, railways, ports and pipelines should be enablers of Australian competitive advantage and social amenity. But despite pockets of excellence our freight transport infrastructure is seriously underdone.”