George Campbell (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I wish to make some comments in relation to the tabling of the report Workforce challenges in the transport industry. This inquiry commenced on the basis of looking at employment opportunities in the industry and the issue of shortages of skilled labour required by the industry. In terms of the period that this inquiry covered we only had a very superficial look at what is a very complex industry, with a number of different forms and modes of transport across our country. One of the startling factors that came out of the inquiry, which seems to be agreed upon by all sectors of the industry, including the department, is that our requirements for transport will double by the year 2020. That poses a very significant challenge to this parliament and to this country to commence to put in place policies in this industry to ensure that both the modes of transport are right and that there is a labour force in place to be able to manage those modes and operate those modes of transport by the year 2020.

The government has given the Australian Logistics Council the task of examining a draft report prepared by the department of transport that looks at transport requirements for the next five years and marshalling the responses from the industry to that draft report. It is essential, in our view, that they not just look at the next five years but start to examine the requirements for the next 20 years. There is a major challenge in this industry to do with training, particularly for truck drivers, and there are a whole range of issues, some of which are complex, that need to be addressed in that area. I am sure my colleagues Senator Sterle and Senator Hutchins will address that.

But there is also the challenge of looking at what direction we go in to face the 2020 challenge that faces this industry. Do we focus on building more rail infrastructure and seek to shift a greater proportion of our goods by rail than by road? Do we increase road transport? Do we look at using the natural infrastructure that exists all around the Australian coast and shift more of our goods by sea? We do not need to build roads 100 miles away from the coast because there are natural sea lanes that may help to satisfy our transport needs. When I was in Brisbane for another committee inquiry, I took the opportunity to talk to the Port of Brisbane Authority. They are doubling the size of the Port of Brisbane right at this moment. A huge amount of work is being undertaken to develop the port.

One piece of information I was able to glean from that visit is that something like 80 per cent of all containers that go through the port are delivered within 100 miles of the Port of Brisbane. That raises real issues about whether you move goods by rail or by truck. They said there is a major issue in Brisbane because of the interface between goods trains and passenger trains on metropolitan lines. The passenger trains obviously take precedence, and that is an inhibiting factor for the movement of goods by train. They also say that the size of container ships is going to double within the next five years—in fact, they are being built now. So, instead of ships carrying 3,000 or 4,000 containers, they are going to be carrying 8,000 or 9,000 containers. They said that, even if you were able to piggyback containers by rail, the most you would be able to add is another 230 containers.

So the intermodal interface is getting out of alignment because of the technology that is now being applied on ships and in other parts of the industry. That needs to be looked at. It is a major challenge that has to be faced up to. If we do not get it right, it is going to have a substantial impact upon the Australian economy and our capacity to increase our efficiency and productivity and to be able to match it with the rest of the world. I make the point because I think we need to see this report not as the conclusion of the transport issue but as a starting point to focus on the policy options that may be available to match the challenge into the year 2020. Those issues need to be addressed now. There are only eight or nine recommendations in the report, but they are key recommendations that need to be treated seriously. Interestingly enough, this is a unanimous report of the committee. It has the support of senators on the government side and senators on this side. It should be treated seriously by this government and looked at seriously by the department. Initiatives should be taken to ensure that the issues raised in the report start to be addressed in terms of building the physical and human infrastructure that is going to be essential to meet our transport needs in 2020.