THE opposition has promised to build a massive container port between Geelong and Werribee if it wins the next election, scrapping plans for a $12 billion terminal on the other side of the bay.
In a policy decision that places it at odds with the state government, Labor last week claimed the plan to develop the port of Hastings was flawed, despite supporting the idea when it was in government.
The opposition’s jobs and investment strategy warns the Hastings proposal – long seen as a preferred option for a second port because it is naturally deep and already functioning – would fail to cope with a surge in container trade by 2050.
The document states Hastings would likely cost about $12.5 billion to develop over 15 years. Along with the already announced expansion of Webb Dock, it means more than $14 billion would be spent on separate ports expected to run out of space within 40 years.
“The result for Victoria will be multiple constrained ports, far removed from the main transport and freight hubs, requiring substantial invasion of urban amenity, particularly in Melbourne’s south-eastern and inner western suburbs,” the document states. Premier Ted Baillieu said Labor’s scrapping of its support for Hastings was an attempt at political point-scoring.
“It is absolutely extraordinary that they could backflip in this way when for 10 years they have failed to make any investment being committed to a second container port at Hastings,” Mr Baillieu said.
As reported by the Weekly, there have been calls for a port near Point Wilson instead of a port at Hastings, given ample available land and berthing capacity, superior road and rail infrastructure and proximity to industrial distribution areas. Wyndham and Geelong city councils, Avalon Airport and regional industry groups have backed calls for a new container port in the west.
Wyndham Industrial Liaison and Development Committee chairman Mick O’Donnell said the location of Melbourne’s second major port was imperative.
“Upgraded port facilities adjacent to the most intensive commercial area in Australia is more logical than the remote Hastings.”
Mr Baillieu said the government had already admitted the benefits of having a port in the Bay West area but said it was viewed as a third, long-term possibility up to 50 years away.
