ALC

More than 70 per cent of Australia’s agricultural produce is exported.

STATES WILL SHAPE STRATEGY’S SUCCESS

The release of the National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy by Ministers attending the Transport and Infrastructure Council (TIC) meeting in Adelaide on 2 August was an important moment for Australia. For the first time, Australia now has a clear set of actions for improving supply chain efficiency which all governments nation-wide have committed to pursue.

However, although we have agreement, we still need action to make certain that the Strategy becomes what ALC has always said it must be – a dynamic blueprint that delivers tangible results for Australia’s logistics operators. The TIC meeting also resolved to have all governments return to the next meeting scheduled for November with implementation plans, setting out the infrastructure investments and regulatory reforms they will pursue to give effect to the National Action Plan released in conjunction with the Strategy. In ALC’s view, these implementation plans must clearly spell out how, when and by whom actions will be delivered, so that progress can be measured and all jurisdictions can be held to account for the delivery of their undertakings.

THE NEED FOR ACTION IS CLEAR It is impossible to understate how central the successful implementation of this Strategy will be to sustaining our standard of living in Australia. The price we pay for consumer goods, our international competitiveness, continued growth in exports and the liveability of our communities are all inextricably linked to our ability to move freight efficiently, safely and cost effectively. Achieving this is already a challenge that logistics operators face every day – and the challenge is only going to grow. Research undertaken to support the development of the Strategy shows that the size of Australia’s freight task will increase by 35 per cent between now and 2040.

This is partly due to growth in Australia’s population, but also to changing consumer behavior and expectations. The growth in e-Commerce is a particularly notable factor, with the number of purchases growing by 20.2 per cent in just one year, between 2017 and 2018. The relative decline of local manufacturing means we are bringing in more goods to meet the day-today needs of domestic consumers and businesses. Some of Australia’s largest

KIRK CONINGHAM ALC CEO

imports by value are motor vehicles, computers and household appliances, refined petroleum and medications.

At the same time, growing markets for Australian goods, particularly in the Asian region, are driving demand for our exports – and placing pressure on our freight networks as producers seek to get goods from point of origin to overseas markets as efficiently as possible.

At present, 77 per cent of Australia’s

agricultural produce is exported, as is 75 per cent of our coal and 98 per cent of our iron ore. In total, our exports account for 21 per cent of Australia’s GDP. Sustaining growth in exports is going to be crucial in allowing Australians to maintain the standard of living to which they have grown accustomed, as world population growth, technological change and an increasingly competitive global trading environment all combine to challenge our traditional ways of doing business.

NATIONAL ACTION PLAN The National Action Plan that underpins the Strategy identifies four key focus areas, as follows: • Smarter and targeted infrastructure investment; • Enable improved supply chain efficiency; • Better planning, coordination and regulation; and • Better freight location and performance data. As the lead jurisdiction on the development of the Strategy, the Commonwealth has already undertaken to several new significant initiatives. In particular, ALC has welcomed its focus on the establishment of a National Freight Data Hub and the commitment to developing a set of National Planning Principles, both of which are initiatives that have been long-standing priorities for many in the logistics sector.

The Commonwealth Government has also advised that as part of its implementation plan, there will be updated mapping of key freight routes and hubs. The National Action Plan also contains commitments from the Commonwealth to several other notable actions, including: • Benchmarking performance of key import and export supply chains against international competitors; • Developing a national framework for High Productivity Vehicles (HPVs); • Convening a National Urban Freight Planning Forum in 2019/20; and • Developing a Transport Sector Skills Strategy.

STATE AND TERRITORY GOVERNMENTS As has been consistently noted throughout the development of the Strategy, it is a ‘national’ initiative, as distinct from a Commonwealth one. Although the Commonwealth has taken the lead to date, we are now at a point where state and territory governments need to match their support for the Strategy in-principle with real commitments to actions that will support its effective and efficient implementation.

Consequently, it will be imperative for the implementation plans that states and territories present to the November 2019 TIC meeting to contain concrete deadlines for achieving actions, commit to real investments in freight infrastructure and regulatory reform, and clearly identify the relevant Minister or agency responsible for delivering each action. In ALC’s view, it is not acceptable for governments to simply present a list of existing infrastructure projects, or point to their existing freight plan and claim it is an ‘implementation plan’ for the National Strategy.

The logistics industry has made a considerable investment in supporting the development of the Strategy, working with governments at all levels to identify the right priorities and offering suggestions for genuine policy reform. It is not unreasonable for our industry to expect a return on that investment by requiring that the implementation plans to be tabled by state and territory government clearly spell out specific actions under each of the four key areas set out in the National Action Plan.

GOVERNMENTS MUST CONTINUE TO ENGAGE INDUSTRY ALC is especially pleased that the Strategy commits to working with the industry throughout the implementation phase.

For that process to succeed, it is critical this industry engagement is regular, meaningful and robust, so that industry’s concerns are listened to and acted upon by governments at all levels. In particular, governments must address the freight needs of our exporters, including the agriculture and resource sectors, given the centrality of these supply chains to Australia’s continued prosperity and international competitiveness.

Providing implementation plans that commit to concrete actions, real investment and proper lines of accountability for delivering outcomes will be essential if governments and industry are to ensure their collaborative efforts to date result in a Strategy that delivers for the industry – and for consumers. ■