When did Moorebank intermodal terminal become Moorebank Logistics Park?
The words “intermodal terminal’’ were hardly heard at all when when the Minister for Finance Mathias Cormann and the Minister for Infrastructure Darren Chester held a sod turning ceremony last Thursday to mark the start of construction.
But Moorebank Logistics Park got a big run at every opportunity.
According to the ministers, this was also about fewer trucks on the road, and about thousands of local jobs.
There was no talk of all the trucks in and out of Moorebank Avenue taking the shipping containers to their ultimate destination.
And there wasn’t much talk about the local residents who are opposed to the project because they believe it’s in the wrong location.
But the media present, some of whom caught the bus service laid on by the intermodal proponents, did not miss the opportunity to ask the politicians about it.
According to the transcript provided by Mr Corman’s office this is what was said during a media Q&A on site last Thursday morning:
REPORTER: There were a few Moorebank residents concerned about this project from the get go. There is still a couple out of the gate you might have noticed coming in. What is your message to residents who are still worried about the noise?
MATHIAS CORMANN: Well, our message is that we have worked very hard with the Moorebank Intermodal Company and the project has worked very hard to engage with the local community. We have made adjustments to the project to accommodate local concerns. In the end, this is a project of national significance, which will deliver significant economic and employment benefits to this part of the world. We have really worked very hard to make sure that all of the reasonable concerns that have been raised with us along the way have been able to be addressed, including changing the access arrangements to the site for example.
REPORTER: Minister Cormann, you mentioned the fact that today marks a point of no return. Does the fact that a residents group has launched legal action dampen or cast a shadow over the project?
MATHIAS CORMANN: This project has been a long time in the making. All of the relevant approvals have been obtained and it is now full steam ahead. We really need to get this project delivered, so that Western Sydney, Sydney, NSW and Australia as a whole can benefit from all of the economic opportunities that will come with this.
REPORTER: Why was the new terminal needed?
MATHIAS CORMANN: This is all about making sure that we get containerised products through the Port of Botany more efficiently. In particular as Chris Corrigan said, out of our regional areas, in an efficient way through the broader Sydney metropolitan area to the Port. It is about making sure that we have fewer trucks on our roads. It is about making sure that product can be moved more safely at a lower cost and with lower emissions incidentally too. This will provide significant employment in this part of the world, about 6,800 jobs once this facility is in full operation. It will contribute to Australia’s international competitiveness as a trading nation.
DARREN CHESTER: It is great to be here with Mathias and this is a terrific example of the Federal Government working in partnership with industry on a project that will not only change people’s lives, it will save people’s lives. By reducing congestion, improving productivity and reducing road trauma this is a project which will deliver great outcomes for Sydney, but also for all Australians. We have a growing freight task in our nation and we need to deliver products to markets in the most effective way we can and this project will do that. At the same time it will create local jobs, so it is a great project and it is terrific that we have been able to work together with industry to begin this very first stage of delivering it for all people in this region.
During his speech, Mr Cormann spoke of “the Moorebank Logistics Park, one of Australia’s most important freight infrastructure projects to address urban congestion and improve national freight connectivity.
“Moorebank Logistics Park is expected to deliver over $11 billion in economic benefits over the coming 30 years, including $120 million a year for the economy of south-western Sydney,’’ Mr Cormann said.
“Once operating at full capacity, the precinct will remove thousands of heavy truck movements from Sydney’s congested roads and the nation’s highways, reducing the total distance travelled by trucks in Sydney by approximately 60,000 km per day by 2030.
“The precinct will also deliver significant job creation with the precinct employing as many as 6,800 people when operating at full capacity and over 1,300 jobs to be created during the construction phases.’’
The real story is how much and how long the citizens of the south west have been treated with contempt as a riverside residential area is planned to be buried under the most polluting heavy industrial use.