Performance axe hangs over Botany stevedores

The new minister, Paul McLeay, repeated prior warnings by his predecessor Joe Tripodi that government intervention would be considered if a voluntary agreement was not reached on procedures to improve landside access.

While Mr McLeay emphasised he was prepared to bring in regulations to enforce new procedures, he also revealed that several “fruitful” discussions had been held with stevedores to progress a voluntary agreement.

Port customers have been waiting for settlement of this issue for over six months, after Sydney Ports unveiled an action plan with a two-phase approach to rapidly improving landside logistics. In the first phase peak pricing levels and performance benchmarks were to be set, but the failure to agree on what these should be has stalled the process.

In the meantime, both Patrick and DP World have reported performance improvements in areas such as truck queues, but unless a formal agreement is signed the government appears committed to introducing mandatory benchmarks and peak prices that it has set itself. No timeline has been set however as to how long the government will wait.