[Greens-Media] Move to refer shaky economics of channel deepening to state upper house committee

[susan.pennicuik at parliament.vic.gov.au]

5 February 2008

Move to refer shaky economics of channel deepening to state upper house
committee

Greens MLC Sue Pennicuik will move a motion in parliament today to have the
economics of the channel deepening project examined in detail by the new
upper house Standing Committee on Finance and Public Administration.

"The cost estimates of channel deepening have more than quadrupled since it
was first announced," said Ms Pennicuik.

"The legal and financial arrangements between the Port of Melbourne
Corporation - a state owned entity, and the dredging company Boskalis
Australia Pty Ltd have not been made public. We have had to learn via the
European stock exchange that Boskalis will be paid half a billion dollars
to undertake the mega dredging project," she said.

"The PMC claims that it is costing it $250,000 every day that dredging is
delayed. The public has a right to know what sort of unsatisfactory
arrangement the PMC has entered into that allows monetary payments to a
private company before the environmental approval processes are even
completed," she said.

"We don't need channel deepening. The Port of Melbourne used to claim that
27 - 30% of ships cannot enter the Bay fully loaded. It has even used a
figure as high as 43%. No credible evidence has ever been advanced for
these assertions. Instead, the PMC’s own SEES states that only 3.8 per cent
of ships leaving or entering Port Phillip Bay need any sort of tidal
assistance. That means that 96% of ships do not require any assistance, or
deeper channels, to enter or leave the Bay," she said.

"My motion to refer channel deepening to the Finance and Public
Administration Committee will include, among other things:

      an investigation into the cost estimates of the project provided by
the Port of Melbourne Corporation (PMC) and reasons for the quadrupling of
those estimates since the project was           announced;

      the legal and financial arrangements between the PMC and Boskalis
Australia Pty Ltd and/or its parent company, Royal Boskalis Westminster NV;

      the veracity of the figures used by the PMC regarding the number of
ships that are currently, or projected to be, unable to enter and leave the
Port of Melbourne loaded to their desired       capacity; an analysis of
the projections of shipping size and volume and growth in container
movements through the Port of Melbourne relied on by the Government and the
PMC;

      an analysis of the value to the Victorian and local economies of
tourist and recreational businesses around Port Phillip Bay; and

      a comparison of the costs and benefits to the Victorian community of
channel deepening compared to alternative measures to accommodate larger
vessels in Port Phillip Bay."

"I will also move a motion to introduce a private members bill to prevent
toxic material that is proposed to be dredged from the Yarra River from
being dumped in Port Phillip Bay, and to amend laws recently introduced by
the state government which provide for the declaration of exclusion zones
during dredging. These zones are in addition to regular maritime safety
zones, which have served the Port well for a hundred years and will be used
to prevent the public from seeing first hand what is going on," she said.

The Greens are unconditionally opposed to channel deepening, because there
is no demonstrated need for it, it risks potentially irreversible
environmental damage to Port Phillip Bay, and because it will provide no
economic benefits to the people of Victoria.




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