Paul Neville (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Minister for Transport and Regional Services. Would the minister update—

Honourable Members:

Honourable members interjecting—

Paul Neville (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Please! Would the minister update the House on the productivity gains achieved on the Australian waterfront as a result of this government’s actions?

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Minister for Transport and Regional Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the honourable member for Hinkler for his question. He represents two important Australian ports—Gladstone, which is one of the big-volume ports in Australia, and Bundaberg, which receives a large number of international recreational vessels as the first port of call—so he has a particular interest in the performance of our ports and in ensuring that our trade flows freely through those ports.

Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tell us the cost of containers!

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Melbourne Ports!

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Minister for Transport and Regional Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The reality is, of course, that it is very important for Australia to have a smoothly working port system. The BTRE, the Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics, is about to release a report in which it forecasts that the volume of non-container trade to pass through our ports in Australia will grow from 0.6 billion tonnes this year to 1.4 billion tonnes in 20 years time. A big proportion of that will be going through ports like Gladstone. In addition, it is forecast that there will be an even bigger increase, a 5.4 per cent per annum increase, over the next 20 years in the movement of containers, from 5.2 million 20-foot equivalent unit containers this year to 14.9 million TEUs in 2024—virtually a threefold increase.

When you think back to 1996, the rate of moving these containers across the port was stuck on 14, 15 or 16 containers an hour. In fact, when the Labor Party were last in office they told us that it was physically impossible to move them at a faster rate than 17 containers an hour—that was the absolute maximum rate that could be reached. Of course, we are now well over 27 containers an hour and doing very much better.

Michael Danby (Melbourne Ports, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Danby interjecting

David Hawker (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Melbourne Ports is warned!

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Minister for Transport and Regional Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Imagine what a crisis we would have in this country if we were trying to move 15 million TEUs a year with crane movement rates. How could we possibly get the freight across the ports if we were still operating our container terminals at the rate that Labor said was the maximum that could be achieved? The reality is that this government has made substantial reforms to facilitate trade, to get our ports working better. The bad news, of course, is that the Leader of the Opposition wants to roll back industrial relations reform. He wants to go back to 1996 and presumably 1996 container-handling rates, and that will bring our country to a standstill. Our trade will stop. Those are the kinds of policies that Labor is trying to put before the Australian people.