Shipping Australia has made an extensive submission to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into Australia’s Maritime Logistics Systems.
There has been much commentary on ocean shipping and Australia’s maritime logistics system and our submission tackles much of this commentary head on.
Interested readers can review the submission here.
A draft report is due from the PC in late May; a second round of submissions is then due in July followed by public hearings. A final report to government is due in August.
Contents include:
• Overview of the volume and value of Australia’s trade
• Economic importance of Australia’s trade
• Explanation of how Australia’s trade is carried / overview of ocean shipping industry in Australia
• Explanation of the various trades – dry bulk, liquid bulk, general cargo, container, vehicle trades etc
• Port volumes
• Private property rights – importance of and application to Australian maritime system
• Supply chain resilience in Australia – diseases, labour unrest, maritime instances, financial crises, wars
• Inappropriate development proposals at Fremantle – wheeled vehicle trades
• Complaints over ongoing container hire fees (so-called container detention fees)
• Various port-related fees – terminal handling charges, terminal access charges, wharfage, navigation services
• Competition law – Part X; the block exemption for liner shipping
• Empty container management issues; trucking issues
• Australia’s protectionist coastal shipping regime and why it should be scrapped
• Critique of the proposed Australian national fleet concept using the U.S. Jones Act as a comparator
• Need for satellite national transport account in the national accounts
• Port performance – metrics
• Port performance – important factors for a ship operator (total turn-around times, to-berth times, crane rates and the like)
• Port induced delays to shipping
• The World Bank / IHS Container Port Performance Index
• Comparison of the performance of highly comparable ports around the world
• Industrial relations matters – industrial disruptions, consequences for the Australian economy
• Industrial relations matters – reasons for ongoing poor port performance
