WHILE opinions as to how Victoria should accommodate bigger cargo ships vary, business leaders, politicians and academics all agree it is necessary for the state’s economic future.
Premier John Brumby has loudly proclaimed that dredging shipping channels in Port Phillip and the Yarra River is the only way to stop Victoria becoming an economic backwater “like Adelaide”.
But trucking magnate Lindsay Fox believes the best solution would be to develop the Port of Hastings in Westernport and provide rail links to Melbourne.
The CEO of shipping company Australian National Line, John Lines, said dredging shipping channels as far as Webb Dock at the entry to the Yarra River would allow for the growth of Victorian port facilities without releasing toxic sediment into the bay.
The director of Victoria University’s Institute for Logistics and Supply Chain Management, Peter Nagel, said a more holistic approach was required.
“Dredging the entry to the Port of Melbourne will address real issues that are relevant for the immediate future – larger ships are a fact and the port needs to accommodate them,” Dr Nagel said.
“Any plan to relocate port activities to Hastings is a long-term plan.”
