Jennie George (Throsby, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Environment and Heritage) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The port at Port Kembla in the electorate of Throsby is a crucial feature of our regional economy and a vital link for our coal and steel industries. In 2005-06 the port handled almost 26 million tonnes of cargo. Under the New South Wales ports growth plan our local port is preparing for new roles, in particular the transfer of motor vehicle imports from Sydney. The planned expansion has had great support and investment from the state government of New South Wales, who have invested in new berths and new cargo facilities. We see this as a great regional opportunity for businesses to grow—and with that we hope there will be a commensurate growth in employment opportunities, particularly for the young people of Illawarra given that the unemployment rate continues to hover around 40 per cent for teenagers seeking full-time employment.

The planned expansion will not only substantially increase capacity but also inevitably place pressure on existing road and rail infrastructure. In this context the debate about the completion of the Maldon-Dombarton rail link has been revisited, most recently by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Transport and Regional Services in its very significant The great freight task report. In evidence before the committee cogent arguments were put in support of the completion of this freight rail link. I am particularly indebted to my colleague Sharon Bird for her work to ensure that the rail link was encompassed by the recommendations that were made by the committee, in particular the recommendation to establish a critical port infrastructure fund. The member for Cunningham knows the importance of this issue to our region, and I am delighted that she had the opportunity to progress that issue on behalf of all who live and work in our region.

While work started on the rail line 20 years ago it was never completed. It was argued at the time that the economics may have been marginal and that it would have had to rely exclusively on the coal industry. Today the outlook is quite different. With the transfer of vehicle imports from Port Jackson to Port Kembla and continuing growth in international shipping it is certainly time to review and consider the merits of completing the rail line. Recently the shadow minister for regional development, Simon Crean, came to the Illawarra and we had a roundtable discussion with the major stakeholders locally. The one issue that really got everybody’s attention was the Maldon-Dombarton railway. I believe that the business case for the completion of the Maldon-Dombarton freight rail line will no longer rely just on the coal industry. The $140 million expansion of Port Kembla means that there will be opportunities to move vehicles and container cargo from the Sydney basin to Wollongong.

It is estimated that throughput at Port Kembla into the future will include up to 250,000 cars annually, up to 50,000 containers and 125,000 tonnes of break bulk cargos. Fifty per cent of cars imported will go from the wharf at Port Kembla to Minto or Ingleburn in south-west Sydney for predelivery inspection. With south-west Sydney rapidly developing into a major industrial and freight distribution centre it would certainly benefit from a completed Maldon-Dombarton rail link. This would not only reduce congestion but also reduce delays and costs on road. Modern road infrastructure like the M7 and inland ports like those at Enfield and Moorebank are critical to south-west Sydney’s future economic development and its job creation potential. In that regard I think there is much to merit the completion of this rail link, in particular for the electorate of my colleague the member for Werriwa. I hope that we will soon see the return of a Labor member in the electorate of Macarthur.

Modern, efficient infrastructure is critical to establishing a seamless intermodal freight network that links all the region’s ports, including Port Kembla. We know that modern infrastructure will improve transport productivity and ease urban congestion. I commend the recent decision by our shadow minister for transport and roads to provide funding of $300,000 to the Port Kembla Port Corporation to commission a prefeasibility study into completing this important freight rail line. I think this decision shows that Labor is committed to regional economic development and has a vision for the future that complements the state government’s—(Time expired)