Peak body offers 19 recommendations to boost transport and supply chain
Resources to ensure the National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy (NFSCS) is effective and investment in supply chain efficiency and safety are at the centre of the Australian Logistics Council’s (ALC’s) pre-Budget submission to the federal government.
The ALC, a long-term backer of the strategy, points out that federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s Budget in April precedes the NFSCS’s unveiling, making it crucial to the plan’s implementation and success.
“Our members understand that a national economy needs to adopt a consistent national approach to freight movement,” ALC CEO Kirk Coningham says.
“However, the best Strategy in the world counts for little if there are insufficient resources in place to support its delivery.
“Accordingly, ALC’s submission encourages the federal government to use this year’s Budget to establish the right frameworks to support the delivery of a Strategy that will meet the needs of our industry and the Australian economy as a whole.
“To help achieve this, ALC makes 19 recommendations addressing two core objectives – ensuring those responsible for implementing the strategy have adequate resources, and supporting specific infrastructure, safety and regulatory initiatives that will improve the performance of our supply chains.
“These include recommendations to support key federal agencies, as well as state and local governments, in delivering significant reforms around planning, corridor protection, road pricing and data collection that will allow us to better monitor performance and more effectively target infrastructure investment.
“Additionally, there are specific recommendations to support crucial infrastructure and regulatory initiatives, such as better freight rail linkages to ports, infrastructure to hasten uptake of electric vehicles in the freight sector, maintenance of the industry Master Code for heavy vehicle safety, and development of a National Rail Plan that will finally deliver the regulatory consistency the industry seeks.
“Implementing these recommendations as part of the 2019-20 federal Budget will significantly improve the efficiency and safety of Australia’s supply chains, and contribute to the delivery of a more effective National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy.”
Read NatRoad’s eight-point pre-Budget call to the federal government, here
The ALC wants ongoing financial support to the three levels of government to support the strategy, with attention also given to national road pricing reforms, the establishment of a High Productivity Vehicle Infrastructure and Education Fund (HPVIEF), along with proper backing for the National Transport Commission’s (NTC’s) Heavy Vehicle National Law (HVNL) review and the Bureau for Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Economics’ (BITRE’s) Road Freight Telematics Data Project (RFTDP).
It also seeks $100,000 per annum to fund the maintenance of the ALC and ATA Industry Master Code of Practice developed at the request of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator.
On the rail front, it continues to push for Inland Rail to fully and seamlessly connect the ports of Melbourne and Brisbane plus an examination of links to it with regional New South Wales ports.
The full submission can be found here.