Crucial check on resilience needed in post-Covid world

Fluctuating lockdowns maintain their oppressive grip on Australians across the country, however, light is appearing at the end of the tunnel with vaccination rates rising rapidly.

Australia’s ports have felt the strain during Covid-19, however domestic links have remained strong

As I write, fluctuating lockdowns maintain their oppressive grip on Australians across the country; however, light is appearing at the end of the tunnel with vaccination rates rising rapidly. This means a post-Covid world is on the horizon, bringing with it the need for crucial post-mortems examining our resilience as a nation, resilience which is heavily upheld by our domestic supply chain.

Australia has not been immune to the strains applied by the global pandemic crisis through its heavy tampering with production rates, supply and demand patterns of consumers worldwide, and the ability to haul goods across the world’s blue highways.

Although the domestic supply chain has remained strong. The parts which link port to supermarket shelf have continued to move, as have those linking Australia’s wealth of export materials from all corners of the country to ports for shipping out to the world.

There is no doubt Australia is exposed by its vulnerabilities and their time for investigation will come when the aforementioned post-mortems begin.

Ports Australia CEO Mike Gallacher

Our nation continues to heavily rely on foreign-flagged vessels for its imports, exports and coastal shipping, with now 15 Australian-flagged vessels in operation. Australia would be left exposed with serious gaps in its ability to haul goods to and from our ports if one or more of those major international shipping lines halted its movements to or from our country.

Ports Australia has highlighted constantly throughout the pandemic the need for greater direction from the highest levels of government. The seesaw act of states and territories setting their border restrictions is far too unpredictable for industry to prepare themselves adequately before trying to move their personnel across borders, or to conduct a desperately needed international vessel crew changeover.

That’s not to say border restrictions are unwarranted; though, if they are indeed necessary, we will need a serious reconsideration by the federal government as to how they mediate the states and territories to avoid such inconsistency and confusion in future.

These vulnerabilities, while needing thorough future consideration, have not prevented the supply chain from doing its job, but it’s all been at a cost. In our haste to protect the people inside our borders, seafarers by the hundreds of thousands have remained stranded on-board ships throughout the Covid-19 pandemic due to the significantly hindered ability to conduct crew changeovers or take shore leave.

The end to their struggles is hopefully nearing as the restrictions which have rendered them stuck are slowly being lifted, but complacency must be avoided. The nature of a seafarer’s work does not offer the choice to avoid places around the globe where Covid-19 is running rampant or where vaccination rates are lagging, meaning we will continue to have vessels turning up at Australian ports with Covid-19 cases on board.

As the fortunate nation we are, we must contribute however possible to more jabs finding their way into the arms of these international citizens.

Pandemic aside, the importance of sustainable practice and planning as a priority item on ports’ agendas continues to grow exponentially. Ports are no longer mere gateways of trade, they must be partners with their surrounding natural environment, residents of their local community, and fosterers of positive corporate governance.

Ports are reconsidering their impact on a far more holistic level, turning their focus to issues like how they engage with their community, particularly with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and how reconciliation action drives positive progress.

Our nation’s ports are located in some of the world’s most beautiful locations, all rich with the history and culture lived by the traditional custodians of the land. We believe it’s important we examine and share the partnerships between ports and First Nation’s peoples to understand what we’re doing right and how we can empower one another to do more as an industry. To do this, Ports Australia is publishing an online resource containing a map of Indigenous Australia which highlights ways ports are building those relationships and moving forward in their reconciliation action.

Ports Australia will be holding its biennial conference in March next year, an event typically host to an intersection of industry professionals, government regulators, and parliamentarians. The event holds extra significance for the industry in light of where we will hopefully be by then with Covid-19, providing a chance to genuinely reconnect with colleagues from across the supply chain and to facilitate collaborative critical thinking, dissecting the turbulence of the previous two years.

I would like to conclude by taking the opportunity to congratulate and thank the workers across our sector who often go unnoticed despite the criticality of what they do, especially during such challenging times. From the peak body for ports around Australia, your service is appreciated, and we will continue to serve you as best we can.

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Mike Gallacher is the chief executive of Ports Australia.