Review of port competition and regulation
The Council of Australian Governments at its 10 February 2006 meeting decided that each jurisdiction will 'review the regulation of ports and port authority handling and storage facility operations at significant ports... to ensure they are consistent with the (agreed) principles'.
The broad objectives of the review were to ensure that:
- Significant ports in Queensland are managed efficiently and, where appropriate, allow for competition in the provision of port and related infrastructure facility services.
- Significant ports in Queensland maximise the opportunity for competition in up-stream and downstream markets, and do not misuse market power.
- Economic regulation is only introduced if there is a clear need, and only if these objectives cannot be achieved without regulation.
A discussion paper and an addendum to the discussion paper were prepared which presented significant issues for which comments were requested. The discussion paper and addendum were released by Queensland Transport for public consultation in September 2007. A total of 13 submissions were received from:
- Asciano Limited (PDF**, 67KB)
- BHP Billiton Mitsubishi Alliance
- Central Queensland Ports Authority
- Mackay Port Authority (PDF**, 37KB)
- Maritime Union of Australia (PDF**, 109KB)
- National Bulk Commodities Group Inc (PDF**, 60KB)
- Port of Brisbane Corporation Limited (PDF**, 233KB)
- Ports Corporation of Queensland Limited(PDF**, 37KB)
- QR Limited (PDF**, 150KB)
- Queensland Competition Authority(PDF**, 62KB)
- Queensland Resources Council (PDF**, 117KB)
- Shipping Australia Limited (PDF**, 1MB)
- Westfarmers Coal.
The final report was reviewed by an external consultant from Clayton Utz in Melbourne specialising in areas including competition law, trade practices, national competition policy, and regulatory affairs.
Download the complete documents:
- Port Review Discussion Paper (PDF**, 668KB)
- Port Review Addendum (PDF**, 694KB)
- Port Review Final Report (PDF**, 1MB)
**While this department has taken every possible precaution with the creation of these files, they are downloaded and used at your own risk. Adobe Reader is required to open and print Portable Document Format (PDF) files and is free to download from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html. Various tools to enable access to these files for people using a screen reader can be found at http://access.adobe.com. Further information is available from our "Help with downloading, reading and printing PDF" web page.
Last updated 24 April 2008
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