More than $100 million has been allocated for preliminary work on Victoria's second container port
April 4, 2013
Victoria is
a step closer to getting a second
container port, with $110 million promised for preliminary work to progress the Port of Hastings development.
Victorian Premier Denis Napthine, who recently relinquished the ports portfolio to lead the state, announced the funding yesterday, alongside new Ports Minister David Hodgett.
The multi-billion dollar Port of Hastings development is
hoped to provide capacity for 8-9 million containers, almost double the container capacity of the Port of Melbourne (pictured).
Napthine says the State Government will provide $110 million over the next four years to complete work to start building
the container port with land-side transport connections at Hastings.
“Decisive action is being taken to build a second Victorian container port and ensure this state remains the freight and logistics capital of Australia,” he says.
The State Government hopes to get private investment in the project.
The state’s funding package will allow:
- completion of preferred scope
- design work
- transport connection planning
- preliminary work to support environmental approvals processes
- business case development
- procurement and delivery strategies.
Hodgett says Port of Hastings will complement Port of Melbourne, which is undergoing a $1.6 billion expansion of container and automotive capacity.
He says import and export trade is performing strongly with more than $82 billion in trade handled through the Port of Melbourne last financial year, including 2.58 million containers.
“This container trade is continuing to grow between five and six per cent annually and is expected to double in the next decade,” he says.
Port of Hastings Development Authority (PoHDA) will be responsible for planning for Port’s development.
PoHDA has already started initial scoping investigations.
According to the state’s government containerised trade in Victoria is predicted to quadruple by 2035.