By Jennifer Perry
With the NTC currently the subject of a statutory review, Dimopoulos said its agenda spans only three years and is narrowly focused on trucks and rail freight. He said it also “largely ignores the 12 million cars and metro passengers which share the same networks and challenges.”
He went on to say that Government planning for transport infrastructure is often modally-focused and ends at State borders which makes “no sense” for businesses that plan their supply chains nationally and internationally.
“The silo mentality has to end. Clearly, we need some ‘new thinking’ on transport infrastructure policy and planning,” Dimopoulos said.
With the continued lack of genuine national markets in transport hindering Australia’s ability to compete on the world stage, Dimopoulos said that a national market in transport across all modes is “essential to encourage long-term investment in the right infrastructure and sweat more productivity from our ageing transport network.”
According to the NTC, a national market for transport would also support a sustainable, growing rail system “that adapts to industry needs, with better tracked speeds, quicker transit times, higher axle weights [and] improved service and reliability.”
The NTC’s recently released draft report on rail productivity recommended clear national objectives to assist Governments in funding the best outcomes instead of ‘picking winners’ in road, rail or shipping.
Addressing the challenge of moving goods and people safely and efficiently in Australia’s ‘sprawling cities,’ Dimopoulos said that independent, transparent advice to all Governments is the best way to coordinate an effective national policy response.
He said that practical options to solving this problem might include: integrating public transport services common ticketing technology platforms transit-oriented development road pricing fuel efficiency standards and scrapping tax incentives that encourage more car-use.
Moving on to supply chain planning, Dimopoulos said that from an industry perspective, infrastructure planning should be more responsive to the movement of goods and people “across all modes and along entire supply chains.”
“Poorly targeted and narrowly focussed investment simply shifts the problem further down the chain or across the border,” he said.
Dimopoulos pointed out that the Ministerial Council on International Trade had also identified the need to work cooperatively on national infrastructure priorities and develop more streamlined regulations.
“Are we planning land-use and preserving freight corridors to support future transport growth…or will we sell-off the land to housing developers and leave our kids a nasty legacy of transport bottlenecks?
“Unless national planning is addressed, it will become a drag on a recovering domestic national economy,” he said.
Dimopoulos told delegates that the Business Council of Australia believes the NTC can play a critical role in championing effective transport system planning.
“It’s not about a ‘great leap forward’ style of centralised planning, but a mechanism to work with all Governments to facilitate better national outcomes for the benefit of the entire community.”
He said that top public policy think tank, the Brookings Institution recently looked at the Australian model of reforming national transportation and recommended “a national transport commission and an Infrastructure Australia-like body of their own.”
Dimopoulos said that Australia has these foundations in place, but the reform program has to evolve further.
“It means planning and thinking further ahead across all transport modes and a re-commitment to national markets and long-term reform.
“Australia has to make some tough calls on complex national challenges and put stakes in the ground. We cannot afford to fall back on incremental change,” he concluded.
 
