Mr PALLAS (Tarneit) —  The  matter I wish to  raise is for the  Minister  for Ports. The action  I seek  is for the minister to announce the government’s long overdue plans to deal with  the short to medium-term container handling capacity constraints at the port of Melbourne. The port of Melbourne’s container handling facilities are expected to reach full capacity by 2015. In June 2010  the former Labor  government  announced  a market-sounding approach to  provide  advice  to government  on how  that  additional capacity  should  be met. Submissions  from industry  closed  in  September  2010.   Over  16  months   later  the  Baillieu government’s  dithering is putting  the  port  of  Melbourne’s  pre-eminence  as Australia’s largest container handling port at risk.

ANL has described the growing capacity constraint as nothing short of  a crisis. Its website says:

  … ANL sees a crisis  in port capacity right now.  Unlike the ports of Sydney  and Brisbane,  which have new facilities under construction, Melbourne has yet  to even announce any new short-term capacity increase or development.

ANL managing director John Lines is quoted as having said:

  I know  the  PoMC  has been looking  at  it,  I know the  government  has been  considering it, but we need a decision.

The Baillieu government and Minister Napthine need to bring the navel  gazing to an end and explain to the people of Victoria how they intend to act to deal with this crisis in port  capacity. With the port of Hastings now up  to 15 years and $10 billion away  from container handling capacity,  Victorians need a  short to medium-term  solution.  The Minister  for  Ports himself  has  conceded this. In September 2011 at the Victorian Transport Association’s Freight Week he said:

  In the  short to medium term, however,  we cannot escape the fact that we must  find capacity for another 1 million in TEU prior  to getting  Hastings up  and  running as a container port.

  … we’re examining all the options before making a public announcement, but I  expect to be able  to  give  you  an  indication of the government’s direction  later in the year.

Here we  are  at the end of  the  second month of  2012  following  the Baillieu government’s gap year of fecklessness, and there is still no decision two months after  the promised indication  of a government direction.  In its annual report dated 26 August 2011 the port itself states on page 6:

  To enable the port of Melbourne to meet future  freight  demand, PoMC recently  provided  the government with a major study that outlined in detail  the  need  for increased container capacity …

It has provided that material to the government. The report continues:

  Government consideration of this proposal is expected in early 2011-12.

Here we  are  with  three-quarters  of  the  financial  year gone, and still the Baillieu  government   dithers.  The   Australian   Competition   and   Consumer Commission’s annual report  warned in November that  the port of  Melbourne  may reach maximum  capacity by  2015, at  a time  when Brisbane and  Sydney will  be commencing new port operations. As time passes and nothing happens, the Baillieu government is squandering Victoria’s  port and logistical  advantages. Decisions need to be  made, communities consulted and  infrastructure built to ensure  our economic wellbeing. Melbourne’s  inner city communities  need to be assured that the Baillieu  government has  a plan  that will  enable the port to continue  to manage  the  growing  freight  task  while  at  the  same  time   providing  the infrastructure necessary to  ensure inner urban  amenity. That means  the  truck action  plan and WestLink are integral requirements for any plan to  expand  the port of Melbourne’s capacity.

See Tim’s speech in Hansard here.