THE Australian Logistics Council has called for “action and implementation” rather than “review and duplication” in its submission to the independent review of Infrastructure Australia.
ALC has worked closely with IA and successive governments to deliver the National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy (NFSCS) and advance the development of the National Urban Freight Planning Principles (the principles), which together form a strong foundation for the future work of IA.
ALC CEO Dr Hermione Parsons said the review of IA should focus on ensuring the agency has the capacity to re-focus infrastructure investment on productivity uplift for the national economy and improved safety outcomes.
“It is appropriate for IA to take a whole of economy view and lead the other jurisdictionally based infrastructure advisory bodies to develop a coherent infrastructure pipeline for the entire nation,” she said.
“ALC strongly argues that it is critical the review delivers action and implementation, rather than review and duplication. There is already cross-jurisdictional agreement in place, in the form of the NFSCS and the freight planning principles.
“It is important that investment decisions are made through the prism of implementing these two important pieces of work,” Dr Parsons said.
The ALC said given the tight fiscal environment governments are operating within, constrained labour market conditions and global material shortages it is more important than ever to ensure strategic project investment.
“IA should embed the principles into project assessments to ensure any major infrastructure investment takes into consideration the needs of freight.
“From the work government and industry has already done, we know that we need to continue to deliver transport infrastructure, optimise the way we move freight and better plan for the future,” Dr Parsons said.
