The Business Council of Australia (BCA) has thrown its support behind the Federal Government’s proposed Moorebank intermodal terminal
November 6, 2012
The Business Council of Australia (BCA) has thrown its support behind the Federal Government’s proposed Moorebank intermodal terminal.
BCA President Tony Shepherd has penned a letter to Infrastructure and Transport Minister Anthony Albanese, backing the Government’s strategy to form a government business enterprise (GBE) to oversee the development of the site and the transfer of it to private sector ownership.
“This is a model that could be used for similar projects where intergovernmental complexity and market factors make it difficult for the private sector to produce the optimum outcome and government is in a better position to deliver the project for eventual private sale,” Shepherd says.
He says the BCA has asked the New South Wales Government to provide all possible support for the project.
The Government is currently reviewing candidates for the GBE chair and board and is expected to announce the names in the next few weeks.
Subject to planning and environmental approvals, the Moorebank facility is expected to open in 2017. It is intended to improve freight container capacity and allow rail to transfer goods through Sydney.
The Federal Government says the terminal is needed to accommodate the growth in container volumes and to prevent traffic gridlock in Sydney around its port and on its roads.
The project has faced strong community opposition, but Albanese says the intermodal terminal will generate $10 billion in economic benefits, take 1.2 million trucks a year off Sydney’s roads and inject $135 million annually into western Sydney’s economy.
