The Federal Government has released a “refreshed ” version of its National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy, along with a new National Action Plan, which the it says is needed more than ever as the it claims that Australians.need supply chains that are resilient and able to withstand disruption.
The government added that freight networks have experienced significant setbacks from major upheavals including; COVID-19, other geopolitical shifts, a multitude of extreme weather events and worker shortages since the strategy was first released in 2019.
Australia’s freight task has been projected to grow 26 per cent between 2020 and 2050, and the government says that support for the sector is vitally important.
The Federal minister for infrastructure transport, regional development as well as Local Government Catherine King said that without a viable and reliable freight networks, Australia stops.
“The journey of goods from farm-gate, factory or port to the shopping aisle or building largely goes unnoticed, except in those rare instances where something in the supply chain goes wrong,” said Minister King.
“As industry and consumer demands grows, it’s vital our roads, rails and ports can accommodate increasing freight movements with resilience, efficiency and emissions-reduction front of mind,” she added.
A review of the existing strategy found that its foundations remained strong and recommended that the strategy be refreshed with a smaller number of nationally significant actions.
This updated strategy underscores the importance of the sector for the national economy and the refreshed strategic freight priorities.
The government said that the strategy sets the agenda for a collaborative approach to deliver actions by governments and industry across freight modes. It outlines four priority areas, including productivity, resilience, decarbonisation and data in order to support more efficient supply chains.
it said that accompanying the strategy, the new National Action Plan, which it flags outlines a set of actions that government and industry will work together to deliver over the five years.
It said that each of the actions is underpinned by the need for safety, which remains the top priority for the Albanese Government.
The government said that key actions include developing a national freight resilience lan to ensure a consistent and coordinated response to significant supply chain disruptions, developing a freight infrastructure investment framework to guide infrastructure investment decisions in freight networks across Australia, conducting safety research on batteries and zero emission power technologies for freight vehicles and locomotives as well as promoting the uptake of safety and productivity boosting technology and lastly modelling the current and future freight and supply chain network, to consider what is needed to support its efficiency and effectiveness into the future.
The government tells us that to access the refreshed National Freight and Supply Chain Strategy and new National Action Plan you can visit:www.freightaustralia.gov.au/.
