The Australian Logistics Council (ALC) is urging the NSW government to strengthen freight protections in its draft Statewide Policy for Industrial Lands.
It warns that without clearer safeguards, the frameworks risks undermining supply chain efficiency, resilience and decarbonisation objectives.
The ALC says it supports the development of a NSW industrial land policy but says it must deliberately balance housing growth with the operational requirements of freight, ports, intermodal terminals and last-mile logistics networks.
In its submission to the NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, the ALC highlighted mounting structural pressure on industrial land supply. Only around four per cent (approximately 564 hectares) of Sydney’s zoned industrial land is currently serviced and undeveloped. At the same time, the NSW freight task is projected to grow from approximately 455 million tonnes in 2021 to around 609 million tonnes by 2061.
National industrial vacancy rates remain tight at approximately 2.8 per cent, reflecting constrained supply conditions that limit expansion, increase rents and increase costs across freight networks.
The ALC’s submissions identifies several strategic risks in the policy, including incremental re-zoning of last-mile industrial precincts and infrastructure se quenching gaps that leave zoned land undevelopable in practice.
ALC CEO Dr Hermione Parsons says industrial land policy must reflect the operational realities of integrated freight systems.
“NSW’s freight task is forecast to grow by more than 150 million tonnes over the coming decades. Protecting strategically located industrial land is not optional — it is fundamental to maintaining supply chain reliability, managing congestion, strengthening fuel security and enabling emissions reduction,” Parsons says.
“Ports, intermodal terminals and surrounding industrial precincts operate as interconnected freight networks. Planning frameworks must recognise these operational relationships rather than treating industrial land as interchangeable or surplus.”
Parsons says failure to embed freight-specific safeguards would increase heavy vehicle kilometres travelled, raise metropolitan logistics costs and weaken long-term investment certainty in nationally significant supply chain infrastructure.
The ALC is welcoming ongoing engagement with the NSW government to refine the policy settings and deliver a framework that supports housing growth while preserving the freight capacity required to sustain economic productivity and supply chain resilience.