In March this year, the State Government announced the establishment of a Shipping and Supply Chain Taskforce. The taskforce will examine a range of matters including opportunities to develop coastal shipping and a ‘national strategic fleet’, the multi-modal responsiveness towards disruptions in vital WA freight supply chains, opportunities to improve supply chain co-ordination, service quality at WA ports, and local training and career development opportunities.
The taskforce has since invited CME to make a submission on the subjects with the scope of the taskforce, specifically raising CME’s perspective on any issues and opportunities therein. A draft of the Shipping and Supply Chain submission has been circulated to members for review and CME welcomes all feedback from members.
Thank you to all members who contributed feedback thus far. We look forward to continuing to engage members on shipping and supply chain matters.
Contact: Adrienne LaBombard, Manager – Industry Competitiveness
Email: A.LaBombard@cmewa.com
Expression of interest – Supply Chains Interest Group
CME continues to seek expressions of interest from member companies for the Supply Chain Interest Group. The interest group was formed at the Infrastructure Reference Group workshop held in February this year, with a view to informing CME’s advocacy on supply chain-related matters. In addition, the interest group will inform CME’s participation and advocacy through external forums, including the Freight and Logistics Council and engagement with the WA Shipping and Supply Chain Taskforce.
The interest group primarily exists as a contact list and will meet only as required. CME will also maintain an Aviation Interest Group for continued engagement with our airline members on relevant matters.
If your organisation has an interest in these areas, please send nominations for the Supply Chain Interest Group to Liz Crompton, Policy Adviser – Industry Competitiveness, L.Crompton@cmewa.com.
Submission to the proposed Fifth Access Arrangement for the Western Power network
On 22 April, the Industry Competitiveness team lodged the CME submission to the proposed Fifth Access Arrangement (AA5) for the Western Power network with the Economic Regulatory Authority. The submission sought to address three priority areas in Western Power’s access arrangement which were identified as having a direct existing or future impact on the Western Australian resources sector, including the energy network transformation, responding to climate change, and network tariffs and pricing.
Key recommendations from the submission included:
- Further clarity to be provided on how the AA5 will accommodate future increased demand scenarios and enable business certainty in commercial asset investment and infrastructure planning
- Implementation of an interim review process to ensure currency and alignment of infrastructure and asset investment plans with industrial customer requirements during the AA5 period
- Further clarity to be provided on how the ambitions for renewable energy incorporation will intersect with the development of industry, and the role of Western Power in both the Sectoral Emission Reduction Strategy and State Infrastructure Strategy
- Ongoing maintenance of oversight on the total costs and charges billed to stakeholders, and the avoidance of any pricing signal distortion from the utilisation of deferred revenue.
Thank you to all members who contributed to this submission. If members have any further queries or concerns related to the submission, please reach out to Liz Crompton.
Contact: Liz Crompton, Policy Adviser – Industry Competitiveness
Email: L.Crompton@cmewa.com
