A comprehensive review of the Ports and Maritime Administration Act (1995; NSW) and the Port Botany Landside Improvement Strategy has been announced by the NSW State Government.
The review will tackle inefficiencies and support NSW industry and jobs growth, the NSW Government said.
The State’s three trading ports have grown to contribute more than $6 billion to NSW’s economy each year – examining the regulatory framework that underpins the effective operation of the ports is important to ensure the State continues to be internationally competitive, the NSW Government said.
The independent reviewer is Ed Willet.
Mr Willet was formerly an Associate Commissioner of the Papua New Guinea Independent Consumer and Competition Commission. He was also formerly a member of the NSW Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (IPART) where he led work developing IPART’s regulation of energy networks and on the NSW Energy Savings Scheme. He is a former commissioner of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), where he led work, in particular, on Telstra’s structural separation arrangements, significant determinations on Telstra’s fixed line network and mobile termination charges, arrangements for the migration of customers onto the National Broadband Network (NBN) and NBN Co’s special access undertaking.
He was a member of the Australian Energy Regulator and the National Competition Council among other previous roles.
“This review will look at how we can improve efficiency and operations at our ports and I will make recommendations to the Government on any changes to the Act or PBLIS,” Mr Willett said.
The review will consider:
- Whether the policy objectives of the Act remain current and whether the terms of the
Act remain appropriate for securing those objectives. - Whether any changes to PBLIS (in the Act, Regulation or Mandatory Standards) are
required, considering:
(a) what PBLIS has achieved;
(b) what PBLIS is currently achieving;
(c) any unintended impacts of PBLIS; and
(d) whether PBLIS remains the best approach for promoting the economically
efficient operation and use of and investment in land-based port facilities and
port-related supply chain facilities. And, if so, whether these arrangements are
appropriate, and if not, what are the alternative options.
The leasing arrangements at Botany, Kembla and Newcastle will (largely) not be considered and stevedore charges are also out-of-scope.
According to the NSW Government, Mr Willett will be releasing a discussion paper in the coming months, and will begin stakeholder engagement in 2022, recognising that Christmas / New Year is the peak period for the freight industry.
The second stage of the review will consider stakeholder feedback and assess whether the objectives of the Act and PBLIS remain valid, and if so, whether their terms and structures remain appropriate for meeting those objectives. An Options Paper outlining the assessment will be released to facilitate stakeholder discussion and feedback.
Stakeholder feedback on the Options Paper will inform the Final Report, which will include Mr Willett’s recommendations to the NSW Government.
For more information on the review go to visit : yoursay.transport.nsw.gov.au/hub-page/pamareview
