Association: Foreword: Ports Australia

Appointed CEO of Ports Australia in 2007, David Anderson says initiatives designed to expand the association's reach, combined with greater government interest in the ports sector is steering the country's ports toward a future better equipped to facilitate robust growth in trade.
Ports Australia represents ports and marine authorities in Australia and has existed in one form or another since the first interstate harbor conference held in Melbourne in 1916. The former Association of Australian Port & Marine Authorities changed its name to Ports Australia in October of 2007 and, in February of this year, became a public company limited by guarantee under the Corporations Act of 2001.
"The board and members were enthusiastic about adopting the new look and business model in keeping with our national character and activities. In addition, unlike our former name the new brand Ports Australia is immediately recognizable," says Anderson, who has extensive industry experience. He previously ran a national trucking association and also served as Chief of Staff to two Federal Government transport ministers.
"I've been involved in transport policy and advocacy for quite awhile. Today it's all about supply chains. Australian governments, at federal and state level, are now thinking about and working more cooperatively on whole supply chain efficiency, rather than dwelling in their traditional areas of responsibility, and that's a very good development," Anderson says.
With 31 members covering the country's 70 ports, Ports Australia is a crucial player in the national transport scene. All government-owned ports, some privatized ports and most state marine regulatory authorities are association members, as is the Royal Australian Navy which has a strong, strategically based link with the port community.

IDENTIFYING ISSUES
Anderson says Australia's ports were largely involved in portside issues for many years. "Of recent years, it's safe to say, the association has become much more outward looking in its engagement in keeping with the growing expectation that ports are well positioned to be more proactive in total supply chain management. We now discuss and develop positions around landside freight corridors, addressing land use conflicts, and broader port and city planning issues as well as safe navigation, pilotage and port regulation," Anderson says.
Developing integrated supply chain solutions to efficiently move products to and from ports throughout the country is a primary focus. Utilization of emerging technologies to gain higher productivity from existing infrastructure is another.
"The safe and efficient movement of freight through cities is among the most challenging. Road and rail access issues are serious endeavors that must be tackled. If we don't address that in a serious way, we could have real problems that will impact our trade performance for the next decade or so," he explains.
Anderson says the Coalition of Australian Governments (COAG) is applying new found energy to transport reform and Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has announced plans to institute a national port strategy. "Ports Australia is closely involved in the development of the strategy which will have a strong focus on determining how the federal and state governments can be more proactive in improving planning and regulation," Anderson says.

CHANGING CARGO
Australia historically relied on its agricultural base and primary exports such as wool and grain. Anderson says that has "changed markedly in the past two or three decades. Now we are very much a resource-based economy, reliant on sales to overseas markets of raw materials."
Today, Australia's ports move large amounts of coal, iron ore and other commodities to Asia. "We've become an important player in terms of providing those commodities to the world market. We're very much dependent on the long-term growth of the markets in China and India," Anderson notes.
Port Hedland in Western Australia is projected to quadruple capacity from 130 million tonnes of iron ore to between 500 and 600 million tonnes in the coming years. Compounded annual growth in container trades across ports is projected at 4 to 7 percent for the next 20 years.
Australia will soon become the world's fourth largest producer of liquefied natural gas (LNG). "There are massive developments around LNG and offshore petroleum and related services industries," says Anderson. "There is accordingly a renewed focus on our capacity to prevent and clean up spills." To that end, Australian governments and oil companies have worked in partnership to stockpile dispersants at the coastline and have developed a national response model that is much admired.
"The oil companies work very well with the governments, including on joint exercises, to make sure the infrastructure and materials are available and the organization is in place when there is a need to respond to incidents," Anderson says.

SAFE AND SECURE
"We have, for a very long time, had very good institutional arrangements in place to address the safety of life at sea," says Anderson, adding that "Australia's maritime responsibility is roughly about one-fifth of the world's surface." Australia has a total of 25,893km of coastline and the largest area of ocean jurisdiction on earth.
In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Australia implemented a rigorous maritime security protocol unmatched by any country other than the United States.
"We have legislation that covers ports, offshore platforms and other maritime-based facilities that requires owners to submit a security plan that has to be approved by the Office of Transport Security," Anderson says.
Ports are assigned a security level dependent upon their traffic location and other factors. Certain vessels such as cruise ships and chemical tankers are classified high-risk. "We work very closely with industry and government on these matters to deliver realistic outcomes we can both own," Anderson says.

SAILING INTO THE FUTURE
"Our members have a very positive culture toward sharing knowledge and information and helping each other out on a range of operational and other matters. Managers from key areas get together under the auspices of Ports Australia and talk about best practices and everybody learns from each other's experiences," Anderson says.
"Our organizational settings are very good. We have taken on an appropriate level of assertiveness about the role of ports in the national economy and positioned our constituency with government to secure policy and regulatory settings that better facilitate the operational efficiency and development of ports," he concludes.

To learn more about The Ports of Australia please visit : www.portsaustralia.com.au