The taskforce released a discussion paper on Friday, highlighting the primary focus of the taskforce would be to assess Australia’s bulk commodity exports and the performance of the supporting road, rail and port infrastructure.

“Our coal industry is under the microscope at present because there are a large number of

ships sitting off Dalrymple Bay in Queensland,” ABARE director and taskforce chair Brian Fisher said.

“The question is whether this is symptomatic of more widespread infrastructure problems in Australia or is the product of special one-off factors. This is what we need to analyse.”

Fisher earlier this week highlighted regulatory arrangements as an important part of the

deliberations of the taskforce, particularly where governments had a role in regulating

prices.

“We have to be sure that the public policy levers have the right settings. Price regulation is not a surrogate for negotiated commercial outcomes,” he said.

Written submissions are due by April 22.