The managing director and CEO of the Australian Logistics Council, Dr Hermione Parsons is set to use an address to the ALGA National Local Roads, Transport and Infrastructure Congress in Cairns tomorrow to reinforce the critical role local government plays in the resilience of Australia’s supply chain logistics and freight transport network.
The ALC says that Dr Parsons will make the case that councils are not just on the edge of the national freight task but are an integral part of the infrastructure, planning and decision making system.
The Council tells us that Dr Parsons presentation on Fuel Security and Supply Chain Resilience will show that Local Government actually determines whether freight can move efficiently across the country and whether communities remain supplied during disruptions.
“Local government has an important voice in the national freight conversation because so much of the freight task ultimately lands at the local level,” Dr Parsons said.
“National highways, ports, airports and freight rail networks matter enormously, but every journey has an origin, the middle miles and a destination. Freight still has to reach a local road, an industrial precinct, a warehouse, a distribution centre, a supermarket, a hospital, a farm or a regional business.
“That means decisions made by councils can have an impact far beyond a local government boundary.”
The ALC said that councils control or influence local roads, bridges, heavy-vehicle access, industrial land, development approvals, freight precincts, emergency detours, and, increasingly, and that this is the infrastructure needed to support new freight energy sources.
the Council said that those decisions need to be recognised as part of the national resilience picture as far as its concerned
“Australia cannot have a resilient national freight network if the local connections do not work,” said Dr Parsons.
“A bridge restriction can change an entire freight route and the loss of industrial land can push freight further from the customers it serves,” she said.
“Poor first and last mile access adds time, cost, and complexity to every movement and during a major disruption, a local road or emergency detour can suddenly become nationally significant.
“Local government sees these issues on the ground every day and that experience needs to be heard when Australia is making decisions about freight, infrastructure, fuel security and resilience,” she said.
The ALC claims that roads carry almost 80 per cent of Australia’s non-bulk freight, making the relationship between national freight policy and local infrastructure impossible to separate.
the Council tells us that Dr Parsons will also discuss the lessons from recent fuel volatility and the need to think about fuel security as an end-to-end supply chain issue.
“Having fuel somewhere in the market is not enough, it must be imported, discharged, stored, loaded, distributed and delivered,” she said.
“That chain depends on ports and terminals, road and freight rail, depots, people, maintenance and access to the places freight needs to reach and local government is connected to many of those interfaces,” Parsons added.
The ALC says that the presentation will also look ahead to the energy transition and the role councils can play in enabling charging infrastructure, depot power, renewable fuels and the industrial land needed to support a changing freight task.
The Council says that it supports a mix of energy solutions, including electrification where practical, renewable diesel and greater use of freight rail.
Dr Parsons said local government should have a strong seat at the table as national freight and resilience policy develops.
“Councils understand their communities, their road networks and their local economies and they also understand what happens when those systems are disrupted,” she said.
“We want local governments to see themselves as active partners in Australia’s national supply chain, because they are,” Parsons emphasised.
“The decisions councils make about roads, access, land use, freight precincts, emergency planning and future energy infrastructure help determine how resilient Australia’s supply chain logistics and freight transport network will be,” she said.
“Local government’s voice is critical, and ALC wants that voice strongly represented in the national conversation,” Dr Parsons concluded.
ALC says that it is encouraging closer collaboration between industry and councils around five practical priorities: protecting freight routes and industrial land, planning for appropriate access to freight precincts, improving heavy-vehicle and first and last mile connectivity, enabling future freight energy infrastructure, and embedding freight into emergency and resilience planning.
The Australian Logistics Council claims that it is the national peak body for Australia’s supply chain logistics and freight transport industry, bringing industry and government together across road, freight rail, ports, airports, intermodals, warehousing, distribution, technology and major freight customers.
