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Speaking at the 2005 Transport Colloquium conference in Canberra on Wednesday, transport minister John Anderson said he believed it was time for the Federal Government to "build on the success of our waterfront reforms and extend AusLink to include the effective planning and regulation of Australia's major export ports".
Anderson's plan would see the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) take control of the country's port facilities.
He said there were a number of ports where important decisions about infrastructure spending have taken far too long, and a single government regulator was needed which had with transparent processes and tight deadlines, because of the ports' critical importance to Australia's national future.
"At Dalrymple Bay, Queensland's regulatory processes took over a year and a half. In Sydney, the approval process for expanding Port Botany is dragging on, while exporters suffer," he said. "The Sydney Ports Corporation has recognised the need to expand port capacity, only to see the issue become bogged down in inquiries and debate over how much capacity is actually needed."
The announcement precedes a major report on Australia's infrastructure and export bottlenecks, which is due to be handed to the Government tomorrow.
"In AusLink, we made it clear that Australia needs to plan its major transport links from one end of the supply chain to the other. We cannot stop at the port gates any longer," Anderson said.
"We need to involve the port owners, users and operators in the joint planning that will underpin the future development of our transport system, so all the investments along the supply chain - road, rail, intermodal facilities and ports - take place when they are needed."
Queensland transport minister Paul Lucas told the ABC that national regulation of the country's ports was a heavy-handed approach, and that there was no new money in the recent federal budget for Australia's infrastructure, anyway.
New South Wales ports minister Michael Costa said Sydney's ports were highly efficient with excess export capacity predicted for the next five years.
"The Australian Government has always had the power to make laws for our export ports, under the trade and commerce power in the constitution. We have not needed to use it until now, but I believe that we now have to take action in the national interest," Anderson said.
