Paul Little’s bold new plan to build western suburbs industry and employment

Former transport boss Paul Little has big plans to turn Melbourne’s west and Geelong into an industrial and employment powerhouse. What has he got on the drawing board?

Paul Little and his wife Jane Hansen in their Melbourne office. Picture: Stuart McEvoy

Billionaire transport guru Paul Little wants a new port at Avalon to accommodate next generation super-sized cargo ships and keep Melbourne moving.

The former Toll boss believes very fast trains between capital cities are also crucial.

His top infrastructure priorities were outlined during a wide-ranging interview with the Sunday Herald Sun.

Mr Little said the proposed new port, off Avalon, should include an innovative “land bridge” like those used in China and the Netherlands.

It would be built into an adjoining shipping channel and offer a 15m deep water draft to cater for super-sized vessels.

Paul Little. Picture: Mark Stewart

Mr Little said the idea would “drastically” cut the time to transport goods in and out of Victoria.

“The problem with the current port of Melbourne is we’ve got two bridges which get in the way of the big ships coming in,” he said.

“We’ve got the Bolte Bridge which stops the passenger ships coming in, the best place for our passenger ships would be at Victoria Harbour they can’t get under the Bolte.

“Even some of the large container ships today at high tide they’ve got to lower their navigation mast to get under the West Gate.”

Infrastructure Victoria two years ago identified the area around Avalon, known as Bay West, as a preferred site for a second port to be built by 2055.

Mr Little said the Port of Melbourne already at times struggled with ships carrying between 4000 and 5000 twenty-foot cargo containers.

Next-generation ships under construction carry between 10,000 and 12,000 containers.

Mr Little said the Port of Melbourne already at times struggled with ships carrying between 4000 and 5000 twenty-foot cargo containers. Picture: Aaron Francis

“You can easily take the land into the deep water and then all of a sudden instead of having a three- to four-hour transit from when you get through the heads to when you are tied up in the Port of Melbourne — you would be there in half an hour,’’ Mr Little said.

Mr Little — awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia for his service after building Toll from a company of 18 trucks to 45,000 staff in more than 50 countries — said he respected the hard work being done to fix Victoria’s infrastructure.

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He listed having standard gauge rail in regional areas and very fast trains between capital cities as other infrastructure priorities.

Little, who runs a ferry between Portarlington and Docklands, also thinks major waterways need to be opened up more to promote such services.

The suggestions were about “further enhancing” infrastructure work being done, he said.

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