NTC chief Nick Dimopoulos has used the 2012 ALC Forum to call on Australia’s ports to assume a greater role in the supply chain
By Anna Game-Lopata | April 2, 2012
National Transport Commission Chief Executive Nick Dimopoulos has used the 2012 Australian Logistics Council Forum to call on Australia’s ports to assume a greater role in the supply chain.
Dimopolos told participants at Forum session on national transport reform Australia must create nationally significant supply chains or face crisis.
“We all know the freight task is growing rapidly, with container trade set to increase from 5 million TEUto 18 million in the next 10 years,” Dimopoulos says.
“What I’d like to see is port authorities taking on the role of supply chain managers rather than just being landlords for port precincts.
“There is an enormous amount of information that resides with the ports,” he says.
By way of example, Dimopoulos pointed to the role ports played in the Hunter Valley, where stakeholders worked together over two years to increase coal throughput by 20 percent .
In addition the Port of Valencia operates its supply chain using a paperless system, where real time information enables trucks entering to average waiting times of just 35 seconds compared up to 4 hours in Australia.
Dimopoulos also argued for transport to go the way of energy, telecommunications and
water
by undergoing market-based pricing reforms.
With a total infrastructure backlog of $770 billion, of which $85 billion represents transport, he says the current system for funding infrastructure isn’t working.
“Forty years ago there were 7.5 people of working age supporting each person over the age of 65, currently it’s around 5 people,” Dimopoulos says.
“Forward 40 years, that number is going to halve, stripping $100 billion out of our GDP.
Where are we going to find the dollars we need for infrastructure?
“Governments can’t do it alone, it’s a physical impossibility,” Dimopoulos says. “The private sector is needed, so how can we be competitive?”
“Transport is just about the only sector that hasn’t undergone some kind of market based reform based on pricing.
“As a result, currently there is a disconnect between road revenue and spending decisions. There is no link between what freight operators are paying and the quality of the roads,” Dimopoulos says.
“We do need some kind of user-pays pricing mechanism; that’s the only way were going to attract private capital. It needs to be transparent otherwise in 5 years well still be talking about the same issues we are today.”
While Dimopoulos concedes COAG is currently working on user-pays reforms for heavy vehicles, given freight vehicles represent just 5 percent of road users, he argues the reform needs to extend to all light vehicles.
“In the last five years Australia’s productivity has fallen into negative territory compared to OECD countries, which despite their problems have clung to a productivity of around 0.7 percent.
“Part of that productivity decline is the result of congestion.”
“Research shows the same thing; citizens want more infrastructure with better services without a willingness to pay,” Dimopoulos says.
“Everyone understands it is tough politically but the issue is what are we going to do? We do need some pricing reform.”
Dimpopolos also added his voice to many other industry leaders calling on government to start implementing solutions.
“We have many plans reforms and reviews, many of them very good reports with
roughly the same solutions,” he says.
“What we are lacking is implementation. We’re not very good at implementation. We need a cultural shift to make things happen.
“Let’s just get it done.”