THE elevation of Denis Napthine to Premier brings a massive blow to the campaign for a new container port between Werribee and Geelong, the opposition claims.
Dr Napthine, the former ports minister, has long said Victoria’s next port will be built south-east of Melbourne at Hastings, despite mounting pressure from industry groups and western suburbs councils calling for it to be constructed west of Werribee South.
Last November the opposition pledged to prioritise a site in the west, possibly near Point Wilson, if it won the next election. Labor listed the west’s superior road and rail infrastructure and proximity to industrial precincts in Laverton North and Truganina as the main reasons.
Shadow treasurer and Tarneit MP Tim Pallas said there was now an “even clearer policy divide” on the issue with Dr Napthine at the helm.
“He’s made very clear his view — despite my effort to encourage him to look at this matter critically, openly and transparently — that he’s not interested in listening to the freight and logistics industries telling him loud and clear that the western suburbs is what they want.
“They don’t want to move to the south-east and take thousands of jobs with them, and there would be an enormous government cost pressure associated with trying to build up the transport link through the south-east to service a megaport 78 kilometres from Melbourne.”
Wyndham and Geelong city councils have joined the chorus of support from industry groups like Toll Holdings, Avalon Airport and the Wyndham Industrial Liaison Committee for the state’s second port to be built in the west.
But Dr Napthine said the government was committed to building the next port in Hastings with a port in the west between Point Cook and Geelong a third, long-term possibility up to 50 years away.
