Supply chains are essential to the economy, the ability to move freight efficiently is vital, and Australia needs to protect and grow its capacity to move goods more efficiently, locally, and globally, Federal Transport Minister, the Hon Catherine King MP, has said in a speech recently.
Minister King spoke at the Australian Logistics Supply Chain Summit 2025 in Sydney on Thursday 21 August 2025.
She laid out the challenges, as she saw them, and took summiteers through the work that the government has underway to address those challenges.
“In recent years, our supply chains have seen a level of disruption not previously experienced. At the same time, we are grappling to maintain a skilled, portable and adaptable workforce. Digital technology and increased automation are impacting the way we work. And as we decarbonise our economy, we have to plan how to maintain our supply chains while transitioning to a clean-energy future.
“To navigate these challenges, it will take government, industry and unions working together,” she said.
Arguing that, as a result of the recent national work on productivity recently, it became clear that a “genuine network approach” is needed.
“Freight doesn’t stop at modal boundaries – a container that arrives at a port needs seamless connections through road and rail networks to reach its final destination. Currently, freight operators face different rules, permits and processes as goods move between states or transfer between transport modes. This creates delays, increases costs and reduces competitiveness. The message was clear – reducing this regulatory burden and creating consistent national standards would unlock significant productivity improvements across the entire supply chain,” she said.
She also explained that participants in the Round Table system highlighted that a network approach could deliver benefits in better integration between rail and port operations, co-ordinated planning for freight precincts and intermodal terminals, and ensuring digital systems can communicate across different transport modes.
She then discussed the launch of the refreshed National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy, which, she said, has an integrated approach at its heart.
“A near term priority under the Action Plan is to model the current and future freight network. We know that with increased demand will come increased stress. By modelling the network as a whole system, we can better understand where it works, where it doesn’t and how it will need to look to support future growth. This will allow us to really target where investments are needed the most,” the Minister said.
