NSW Opposition slams uncoordinated NSW spending

A lack of urgency and the non-use of an integrated freight plan had left many key road, rail and port projects in New South Wales unsynchronised, the state’s opposition leader Barry O’Farrell said yesterday (Monday, September 24). In an interview with Lloyd’s List DCN, Mr O’Farrell said the state Labor Government had not lived up to its 2007 election slogan “More to do, but heading in the right direction”. “There’s no shortage of plans, no shortage of ideas, there’s no shortage of knowledge of what needs to be done – what has been lacking has been any sense of either timeliness or urgency in actually making the decision and getting on with the job,” Mr O’Farrell said. “We’ve seen since the election a couple of decisions, but to quote Labor’s 2007 election strategy, those decisions are heading in the right direction but there is plenty more to be done.” At the top of the opposition’s list is the implementation of an integrated freight plan – a task Mr O’Farrell said the State Government should have prioritised long before it began making individual decisions on port and landside projects. “It would have ensured there were improvements to the F6 and M4 before [Port] Botany was earmarked for upgrading, and the F6 before Port Kembla was marked for upgrading, and would have provided the much awaited details of how to achieve the state’s goal of more freight on rail,” Mr O’Farrell said. He said the industry needed more certainty from the State Government, not more surprise decisions made without consultation. DP World has previously said that it had $43m of investment that would improve its operations at Port Botany, including helping the State Government achieve its targeted 40% freight on rail. But the investment still hinges on the State Government, which has repeatedly stalled in negotiations to extend the lease long-term. In emailed response to questions from Lloyd’s List DCN, NSW ports minister Joe Tripodi indicated that negotiations were still continuing. “The details of these lease and negotiations concerning the leases are commercial in confidence between the parties,” Mr Tripodi said. Mr O’Farrell was reluctant to weigh into the specific case of DP World’s Port Botany lease, but added that “the sector as well as other sectors deserves certainty through long-term planning and the development of long term strategies”. “A deferred decision that has you coming up against the expiration of the lease can have a significant impact on your business,” Mr O’Farrell said. “Those plans, visions and goals should be for a minimum 10-year period because the way the commercial world operates is that unless there is certainty, you can’t raise the capital on which to conduct your business. “It’s something this State Government simply hasn’t understood.” NSW should aim to have the most efficient supply chain in Australia, he said. Mr Tripodi rejected the accusation that the state needed an integrated freight plan, pointing to the state’s strategic plan which had seen significant expansion of Port Botany and Illawarra. “Both of these massive infrastructure projects have undergone extensive community and environmental consultation processes and it is shameful of the opposition to suggest that the community should be ignored and these processes disregarded,” Mr Tripodi said. Mr Tripodi said the State Government was working closely with the shipping industry, pointing to close relationship with industry groups and extensive access the industry had to the Government. “The NSW Government is not afraid to make the tough decisions needed to ensure the strength of our growing economy,” Mr Tripodi said.

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