ALC Forum Challenges Government To Address Policies Hindering Supply Chain Efficiency
Speaking at the Australian Logistics Council (ALC) 2015 Forum, industry leaders urged the government to ensure their policies were helping and not hindering supply chain efficiency. They called on the government to make sure their policies were supporting the efforts of the industry to improve efficiency rather than hampering industry efforts.
ALC Managing Director,Michael Kilgariff said that policies concerning the logistics industry didn’t get the attention it deserves, despite being critical to every consumer and business.
He explained:
“The industry faces multiple threats to efficiency which must be acted upon to achieve much needed productivity improvements, which in turn is critical to boosting economic activity and reducing costs in the supply chain.
“One of the biggest issues to emerge from the ALC Forum was the concern expressed by many senior industry leaders about possible rental increases at the Port of Melbourne.
Speakers from the supply chain all reiterated that substantial increases in rentals at the Port would impact negatively on the national supply chain and the Victorian economy, affecting its overall competitiveness.
The ALC said it supported the long term lease of the Port of Melboure but agreed with the many CEO’s who expressed concerns around the significant rental increases. It agreed that this would have negative consequences across the supply chain.
Mr Kilgariff went on to explain:
“Fundamentally, industry demands and expects greater transparency and regulatory certainty in relation to the
possible sale or lease of infrastructure assets, such as the Port of Melbourne.“Resolving this issue is not only in Victoria‟s interest, it is in the national interest, and we look forward to the parties working together to ensure supply chain efficiency is not compromised as a result of any rental
increase,” he said.
The ALC Forum also highlighted the need to maintain momentum on road reform issues especially in the context of limited government budgets and growing fiscal pressures.
According to Mr Kilgariff there is a growing concensus among all parts of the logistics supply chain that the current system is unsustainable in the long term which would require properly considered reform geared towards spporting improved freight efficiency.
He went on to explain:
“We cannot afford to lose momentum on the need to put in place long-term sustainable reforms, and ALC will work with governments on behalf of the logistics industry to progress this issue further,” he said.
Some of the other issues covered by the forum included:
- The Intermodal Visibility Project – an initiative recently launched by ALC and GS1 to improve the visibility of products moving along the supply chain
- The announcement that the ALC is expanding its focus to encourage more women and youth to enter the industry, including a Women in Logistics summit.
- The inland rail project which would help Australia address the rising east coast freight levels in the future.
- A promise to incorporate into this years ALC Supply Chain Safety and Compliance Summit a series of actions captured at the Forum
