Inland rail links to the PoM are vital, says chief executive

Port of Melbourne chief executive Brendan Bourke told a Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport References committee hearing an integrated and connected freight supply chain system was vital.

"As the primary trade gateway for southeastern Australia, Port of Melbourne facilitates more than one third of the nation's container trade and is a key driver of the economy," Mr Bourke said.

"It is crucial, therefore, that the infrastructure which supports the movement of freight is connected to the Port.

"This entails the Inland Rail Project having a finalised intermodal terminal in Melbourne and a direct freight connection to the Port of Melbourne, including Webb Dock."

Efficiently connecting the Inland Rail intermodal terminal was a critical element of the 30 year Port Development Strategy, designed to deliver sustainable trade growth over the long term.

Mr Bourke told the hearing with an investment of more than $125 million, the Port Rail Transformation Project would enhance existing infrastructure and build new facilities.

"As the manager of the Port, we will continue to invest along with industry and government to support the efficiency of the port supply chain," Mr Bourke said.

Over the next 30 years, total container trade volumes through the Port were forecast to almost triple from three million twentyfoot equivalent units (TEU) per year to around 8.9 million by 2050.

Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack said in Melbourne recently, he was confident issues over the Inland Rail route would soon be resolved.

The freight rail project has already blown out in cost from its original $4.4 billion estimate to more than $14.5 billion.

Mr McCormack said the first of 13 sections of Inland Rail had been completed between Narromine and Parkes, NSW.

He said that meant spending of $110million, which had benefitted 99 local business.

"Whether they are a little ballast firm, or a rock quarry, which has expanded by two or three people, it's still money in their pockets," Mr McCormack said.

"During COVID it made all the difference between some of those businesses staying open and others having to shut forever."

He acknowledged the project now had a bigger price tag than initially planned.

"I don't want to live in a banana republic - some governments have that philosophy that they kick everything into the long grass," Mr McCormack said.

"I know when I became the Infrastructure Minister, we had an Inland Rail Project, it had a $9.2 billion budget.

"That was done on a desktop analysis, without all the intricate planning and engineering work that needed to be done."

But the more significant price tag came with the added benefit of making sure Australian companies benefitted from the additional money.

When he took on the project, no intergovernmental agreements had been signed.

"It's not easy to convince Labor governments, two out of three were Labor states, but they understood the benefits Inland Rail would bring," he said.

"We can talk about these things and procrastinate, but I'm getting on an building it."

Mr McCormack said he was confident issues of land access would soon be ironed out.

"When you have a 1700 kilometre corridor, it's going to have an impact on people's properties- there's no question," he said.

"But as we narrow the preferred route down from a five to six km stretch to a 60 metre corridor, that eliminates many of those farmers whose properties may have been impacted."