The Australian Logistics Council (ALC) has welcomed an amendment to the Coastal Trading Bill 2012 agreed to on May 31st in the House of Representatives that recognises the importance of the efficient movement of freight.
The amendment means the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport may take into account the efficient movement of cargo between Australian ports when considering whether to grant a temporary licence to a foreign flagged vessel to engage in coastal trading.
ALC Managing Director Michael Kilgariff said that the ALC welcomed the amendment as it puts the efficient movement of freight on an equal policy footing to the maintenance of an Australian coastal fleet.
"ALC highlighted this important point in its submission to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Infrastructure and Communications to avoid the legislation potentially distorting the choice of how freight is moved," he added.
Mr Kilgariff noted that the amendment was particularly important in the context of a large and growing freight task, which is set to double by 2030 and to almost triple by 2050.
Photo: a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from Skellig2008's Flickr photo stream.