NZ Shipping Sector: Shipping report highlights ship-road freight divide
October 29th, 2009
NZ Transport Agency (NZTA) is distancing itself from the recently released report it commissioned into freight transport which claims road transport is receiving an effective subsidy of $1.5bn per annum. NZTA spokesman Andy Knackstedt says the opinions expressed in the Coastal Shipping and Modal Freight Choice study written by Rockpoint Corporate Finance are strictly those of the authors. He says the report is says the report “is one of several inputs which will help to inform the transport sector as it works to improve the efficiency of freight movements in NZ.” The problem is the report asserts road transport doesn’t pay its full costs, a view not held by Transport Minister Steven Joyce, but has nevertheless been seized upon by the NZ Shipping Federation.
Sam Buckle, the Federation’s executive director, says current transport policy around road transport amounts to a $1.5bn subsidy on the State Highway network, meaning road transport operators are only paying 40% of the costs of roading infrastructure. Not so, says Joyce. Road users will pay about $8.7bn in charges and tax over the next three years while the operating costs of the roading system amounts to about $5.2bn. However, Joyce concedes the back-of-the-envelope sums don’t include the contribution from rate payers for local roads or spending on new roads, and leaves out the estimated $1.1bn depreciation of the network over the next three years.
The question of an unequal playing field for different transport modes is grating for coastal shipping because the Govt chucked out Labour’s Sea Change strategy, and the $30m earmarked for the work aimed at boosting the share of national freight carried by sea. But Rockpoint does throw up some hope for shippers, saying those on coastal service stand to benefit from any consolidation of port operations which would lift the requirements for feeder services.
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