8 October 2018 – In an effort to boost the NSW economy the Government has moved to bolster the state’s freight movement with a new plan that it says will deliver a safer, faster, more efficient and sustainable offering.
Titled the NSW Freight and Ports Plan 2018-2023, the initiative will see $5 billion invested across the sector to support the growing freight task while managing growth and congestion across road and rail. The Government has also been quick to point out that the plan brings together policy makers, producers, operators, regulators and Government allowing for more coordinated and better freight planning.
According to Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight Melinda Pavey, more than three million NSW households and businesses utilise the freight network each day to move goods to markets nationally and globally.
“The amount of freight moved through NSW is set to grow by 28 percent to more than 618 million tonnes by 2036. To support this, the NSW Freight and Ports Plan 2018-2023 provides more than 70 initiatives for increasing capacity on the existing network, including building new infrastructure,” Mrs Pavey said.
“From big businesses to farmers, retailers to consumers – we all rely on our goods getting to us in a safe and efficient manner. For this reason the NSW Government has set firm targets to achieve faster, more efficient and higher capacity networks to remain competitive, support jobs and deliver economic growth across NSW.
“With freight and logistics contributing more than $180 million to the NSW economy every day, an increasing population and consumer preferences changing, the freight network will face increased future demand.
“This, compounded by a desire to have same day delivery for online goods, requires government and industry to have the freight network capable of working at full throttle.
“The NSW Freight and Ports Plan 2018-2023 highlights the government and industry plans for road, rail, air, shipping and pipelines and builds on investment from the 2013 NSW Freight and Ports Strategy,” Mrs Pavey said.
