Coal terminals reject Rudd plan for infrastructure support

Queensland’s privately-operated coal terminals said they would reject any offer to publicly fund their export infrastructure, despite a record east coast vessel queue amid peak demand. Federal opposition leader Kevin Rudd visited the port of Hay Point last week as part of a tour of Queensland’s coal network, including a tour of the Blackwater coal system, as Australia’s major coal ports work through a backlog of 150 waiting ships. Mr Rudd used the 57 coal ships waiting at Hay Point as a backdrop for a promise to invest more federal funds into port infrastructure to help move $23bn of Australia’s coal each year. &#8220That’s why we’ve got to make sure that our ports are in fantastic, first class order,&#8221 Mr Rudd said. &#8220It’s a difference between ourselves and Mr Howard’s Government. &#8220Mr Howard’s Government’s view is that this is all up to the private sector, or blame the states. &#8220Our attitude is, this is a key role for the national government as well.&#8221 But the BHP&#47Mitsubishi Alliance (BMA), which owns and operates Hay Point Coal Services, and Babcock &#38 Brown Infrastructure, owner of Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT), both knocked back any suggestion they needed federal support. Sam Banano, BMA’s operations, ports and business improvement vice president, told Lloyd’s List DCN that the company had already invested billions of dollars into its own infrastructure. A second stage expansion would be completed by mid year and would take the terminal’s capacity from 34m to 44m tonnes a year. Mr Banano said Hay Point did not need federal assistance and he questioned any suggestion that federal funding could be provided without strings attached. &#8220I can’t imagine that in my wildest dreams,&#8221 he said. &#8220We’ve got a private port facility, so it’s up to other users to decide. &#8220We’re not interesting in becoming a public facility.&#8221 BBI’s Jeff Pollock told the ABC last week that it had spent $1.3bn to begin with to boost DBCT from 58mtpa to 85mtpa. The expansion had been underpinned by long-term contracts with mining companies. "We are financing that expenditure,&#8221 Mr Pollock said. &#8220We don’t need public money.&#8221 Mr Rudd said port infrastructure investment was a key role for the Federal Government. &#8220I look at the fact that some 20% of the world’s biggest coal carriers are currently lying offshore from Australian ports today,&#8221 he said. &#8220I think we need to do something as a nation to make sure that our national port infrastructure and rail infrastructure is equipped for the future.&#8221 Mr Rudd said he would look closely at the missing rail links in southern Queensland, but did not rule out requesting support from the Queensland Government. &#8220So, we’ll be talking to the state governments, we’ll be talking to, of course, the mining industry itself and talking about how we can get 80 km worth of missing track laid as soon as possible," he said.

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