AusRAIL, Market Sectors

Corrigan gazes through a looking glass darkly

<p>Patrick chief executive Chris Corrigan today likened the logistics industry to characters in <em>Alice in Wonderland</em> , suggesting there were strong elements of the surreal about the manner in which the various elements of the industry go about their business.</p> <p>In a highly whimsical address at the AusIntermodal 2005 Conference, Mr Corrigan said the industry expends an inordinate amount of energy staring into the looking glass in search of a way forward.</p> <p>He said the industry loves a committee. The Government is all pervasive in the industry and government-funded studies have long been &#8220a favoured white rabbit&#8221. </p> <p>Mr Corrigan said he was aware of 15 or more government-funded inquiries affecting the industry in the last year.</p> <p>In the past, waterfront reform had been the prevalent white rabbit, he said. There had been decades of debate that had accumulated libraries of literature on the subject, yet nothing had been achieved.</p> <p>Reform was achievable, he said. But through action, not words.</p> <p>After the waterfront battle of 1998, the industry needed to move on, but instead of getting on with business, &#8220we quickly returned to the routine of morbid introspection&#8221, he said.</p> <p>Committees and studies have become a full-time occupation, Mr Corrigan said. He had seen 20 industry studies in the last 18 months. </p> <p>&#8220This is an industry about which far more is written than known,&#8221 he said pointedly.</p> <p>Mr Corrigan called on his colleagues in the industry to abandon the introspection and instead take control of their businesses instead of waiting for government decisions.</p> <p>&#8220Nobody knows better than industry how best to improve efficiency,&#8221 he said.</p> <br />