Australia’s state and territory governments will be asked to approve the national ports strategy proposed by Prime Minister Julia Gillard at a meeting of the Council of Australian Governments in February.
The strategy for overhauling the country’s ports has been outlined by Transport and Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese, who is in charge of the plan’s implementation.
Under the strategy, port operators will have to publish 15 to 30 plans detailing the projected growth in trade activity and the necessary infrastructure to facilitate it.
Local government bodies will be mandated to deploy methods of curbing encroachments on ports and their rail and road links.
Australia’s ports will also be compared with other international ports through a national data collection method.
Several Australian business groups, unions and port operators have expressed their support for the national ports strategy, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
