ALC welcomes “common sense” report from Productivity Commission

The Australian Logistics Council (ALC) has said the release of the Productivity Commission report Shifting the Dial: 5 year productivity review provides a welcome injection of common sense into the national conversation about transport and urban planning policies.
The report noted that urban congestion is already costing Australia’s economy $19 billion each year, forecast to rise to over $31 billion by 2031 if remedial action is not taken.
The Association described the Commission’s observation that “infrastructure decisions could be enhanced by taking out the ‘Utopia’ factor in their preparation” as “sound advice for policy-makers at the federal, state and local government levels.”
“The message in this report is very clear,” said ALC Managing Director, Michael Kilgariff. “Unless we take definitive and practical action to address issues such as urban congestion and the efficiency of our transport networks, the nation’s economy and the wellbeing of its citizens will suffer.
“Freight Doesn’t Vote, ALC’s submission to the Discussion Paper on National Freight and Supply Chain Priorities – contains a comprehensive range of practical ideas drawn from the freight logistics industry that can help to address the challenges which the Productivity Commission has identified.”
“It is particularly pleasing to see the Commission making recommendations that align with many of ALC’s long-established policy positions,” Kilgariff added. “Including better alignment between freight movement and planning, that infrastructure proposals be subjected to a public cost-benefit analysis, that road funds be established from hypothecated road-related revenues, and that state and territory governments consider adopting a road user charging pilot program.
“As ALC has consistently said, policies which restrict or ban the movement of freight vehicles in particular areas, and especially in CBDs, are neither realistic nor desirable. It is heartening to see the Productivity Commission has drawn a similar conclusion, and calls upon governments to address the ad-hoc and anticompetitive planning policies that have given rise to the congestion problems that now bedevil our cities and their surrounds.”