Queensland seafreight council calls for better planning approach

<p>The freight industry requires a more coordinated approach to planning in order to cope with the rapid growth of the southeast corner of Queensland, according to the Sea Freight Council of Queensland.</p> <p>The council’s chief executive, Trevor Jorgensen, said that while the freight industry was facing an increasingly complex task, it was also fragmenting, with more organisations emerging to represent participants at stages of the port, rail and road supply chain. </p> <p>He called for the creation of an advisory round table to bring the representative bodies and the government together to plan for the significant demands being placed on Queensland’s infrastructure.</p> <p>Mr Jorgensen said there were inefficiencies throughout the supply chain that could only be tackled with a joint industry approach. </p> <p>"The only way we can do that is by creating a high-level freight logistics advisory round table that includes not only the key groups within the industry but also the state government," he said.</p> <p>The freight task had doubled in the past two decades and was likely to double again in the next decade, he said.</p> <p>"We need to work together if we’re to make sure Queensland’s growth and productivity at least keep pace with the rest of the country, and the state becomes a more progressive leader in the competitive global export trade," Mr Jorgensen said.</p> <p>A key task of the advisory round table could be to encourage the port, rail and road system operators to work together to first, overcome their own inefficiencies and to second, identify emerging demands on the Queensland transport network. </p> <p>The group should also contribute to state government freight policy and infrastructure planning.</p> <br />