FAQ
Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy
Frequently asked questions
What is the purpose of the Great
Barrier Reef Ports Strategy?
What does the Great Barrier Reef
Ports Strategy mean for me?
The Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy presents the
vision and principles guiding the Queensland
Government’s approach to future port development
and planning in the Great Barrier Reef coastal zone
to 2022.
The Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy represents an
opportunity to have your say on how Queensland
port development can better strike a balance
between economic development and environmental
protection.
The principles contained in the Great Barrier Reef
Ports Strategy outline the Queensland
Government’s commitment to ensuring that port
development in the Great Barrier Reef region occurs
in a balanced and incremental way to support
economic development while maintaining the
outstanding environmental value of the reef.
Consultation questions have been developed to
guide responses. Respondents are encouraged to
provide responses relevant to their region, industry,
community and local ports.
The strategy has been released as a consultation
document that asks for feedback on ways the
Queensland Government can work with industry
and stakeholders to optimise the use of existing port
areas and minimise environmental impacts of future
port development.
Results of consultation will inform a Queensland
Ports Strategy and the strategic assessment of the
Great Barrier Reef Coastal Zone. The Queensland
Government is currently undertaking the strategic
assessment in accordance with the Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
How can I have a say on the
Queensland Government’s Great
Barrier Reef Ports Strategy?
The Queensland Government is seeking your input
on the Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy.
The closing date for submissions will be 14
December 2012.
Submissions can be made by:
Online:
Email:
Post:
www.getinvolved.qld.gov.au
[email protected]
GBR Ports Strategy Project Manager
Department of State Development,
Infrastructure and Planning
PO Box 15009
City East QLD 4002
A written submission form, fact sheet and further
information is available at
www.dsdip.qld.gov.au/gbrportstrategy or call 13
QGOV.
What if I live outside of the Great
Barrier Reef region?
The Great Barrier Reef and the effective operation
of the ports adjacent to this icon are important to the
social and economic wellbeing of all
Queenslanders. Consultation on the Great Barrier
Reef Ports Strategy is open to everyone and all
interested people are encouraged to have their say.
As results of consultation will inform a Queensland
Ports Strategy, responses can also relate to ports
outside of the Great Barrier Reef region.
What does the Great Barrier Reef
Ports Strategy say about new port
development?
The Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy is built on five
guiding principles:
Principle 1: Strategic use of ports to facilitate
economic growth
Principle 2: The right balance between economic
development and environmental protection
Principle 3: Maximise efficiency throughout the port
system
Principle 4: A whole of network approach
Principle 5: Clarity and transparency in port
planning.
The Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy states the
Government will restrict any significant port
development, within and adjoining the Great Barrier
Reef World Heritage Area, to within existing port
limits for the next 10 years.
Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy
What is the time horizon of the Great
Barrier Reef Ports Strategy?
The Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy is to 2022.
The strategy’s time horizon has been set to a period
within which generally reliable demand forecasts
can be made and recognises the transformative
effect that technological advances may have on the
use and operation of Queensland’s ports over the
next decade.
A Queensland Ports Strategy will be developed
drawing on the results of consultation. While the
structure of this strategy will be finalised after this
consultation period, it is anticipated that the strategy
will take a longer term view of port infrastructure
planning and development.
What does the Great Barrier Reef
Ports Strategy mean for current
project assessments?
The Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy is a high level
document that does not make statements about
individual ports. As such it does not preclude or preempt any government decision regarding any
projects currently under active assessment.
Port projects are currently subject to assessment by
the Coordinator-General through an environmental
impact statement (EIS). There is no proposed
change to the EIS process as a result of the Great
Barrier Reef Ports Strategy. Project EISs will
continue to identify and assess the potential
environmental, social and economic impacts of
projects. EIS process will also continue to include
public consultation.
How does the Great Barrier Reef
Ports Strategy relate to the UNESCO
decision?
The UNESCO World Heritage Committee decision
of July 2012 recommended that ‘the State Party
[Australian Government]… not permit any new port
development or associated infrastructure outside of
the existing and long-established major port areas
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within or adjoining the property, and to ensure that
development is not permitted if it would impact
individually or cumulatively on the Outstanding
Universal Value of the property’.
The Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy outlines the
Queensland Government’s commitment to restrict
significant port development to within existing port
limits for the next 10 years. This aligns with the
recommendations made by the World Heritage
Committee and focuses on improving the efficiency
of Queensland’s entire port network.
The strategy also seeks to raise the bar on
environmental performance by working with
stakeholders to improve environmental
management, particularly cumulative environmental
impacts. Feedback is particularly sought through
consultation on opportunities to meet the demand
for port capacity while minimising environmental
impacts.
How does the Great Barrier Reef
Ports Strategy relate to the strategic
assessment of the Great Barrier
Reef?
The Queensland and Australian governments are
working together to undertake a comprehensive
strategic assessment for the Great Barrier Reef
World Heritage Area (GBRWHA) and adjacent
coastal zone.
The Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy complements
the strategic assessment of the Great Barrier Reef
Coastal Zone being undertaken by the Queensland
Government.
Results of consultation on the strategy will inform
the strategic assessment as it relates to the
management and planning of ports, particularly the
protection of matters of national environmental
significance.
How does the Great Barrier Reef
Ports Strategy relate to the National
Ports Strategy?
The objectives of the Australian Government’s
National Ports Strategy include improving the
efficiency of port-related freight movements across
infrastructure networks, minimising externalities
associated with such freight movements and
influencing policy-making in areas relevant to
freight.
Four specific priorities have been identified as being
central to a National Ports Strategy:
 planning for relevant ports
 ensuring plans can be executed
 improving landside efficiency, reliability, security
and safety of container ports
 promoting clarity, transparency and
accountability.
The principles of the Great Barrier Reef Ports
Strategy are aligned to the priorities outlined in the
National Ports Strategy.
The National Land and Freight Strategy has also
been drafted for consideration by the Council of
Australian Governments. The strategy outlines
recommendations for meeting the forecast doubling
of freight movements by 2030. Integration across
jurisdictions, innovative funding structures like ‘user
pay’ models and finding new efficiencies in existing
infrastructure form some of the recommendations.
The Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy considers
these same issues and the results of consultation
will support the development of actions to support
the efficiency of Queensland’s freight movements
through a Queensland Ports Strategy.
How does the Great Barrier Reef
Ports Strategy relate to improving
shipping safety in the region?
Shipping through the Great Barrier Reef region is
highly regulated. Over the last decade the
Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy
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Queensland and Australian governments have
strengthened measures to manage the safety of
navigation and minimise the risk of shipping
incidents and their associated environmental
impacts. As a result, there has been a decline in the
rate and overall number of shipping incidents even
though shipping numbers have increased.
The North East Shipping Management Group, on
which Queensland is represented by Maritime
Safety Queensland, is developing the North East
Shipping Management Plan which will set strategies
for managing increased shipping numbers.
The Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy seeks
comment on opportunities for all stakeholders to
improve shipping management in the reef.
How does the Great Barrier Reef
Ports Strategy relate to the cruise
shipping industry?
The Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy
acknowledges the importance of the cruise shipping
industry to the Queensland economy. In 2011-12,
239 cruise ships visited Queensland ports,
contributing almost $600 million to the state’s
economy. The sector is an increasingly important
job creator, especially in regional areas, and
supports more than 2000 jobs.
It is important to consider the long-term planning for
and operation of the state’s ports to provide
adequate berths, passenger processing facilities
and supply chain networks. The Queensland Ports
Strategy will consider the needs of the cruise
shipping industry in future recommended actions to
improve port planning and development.
How does the Great Barrier Reef
Ports Strategy consider the social
impact of ports?
The Queensland Government recognises the social
and community impacts of port and associated
infrastructure development.
Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy
Proponents of resource projects are required to
assess the project’s social impacts and develop a
social impact management plan. This includes
assessment (and consultation) on:
 the social and cultural impacts of development
 the impact of workforce requirements during both
the construction and operation stages
 mitigation and management strategies for social
impacts, including cumulative impacts.
Consultation on the Great Barrier Reef Ports
Strategy seeks input on the important factors of
social and cultural planning.
The strategy also focuses on providing greater
certainty for all stakeholders, including communities
through consistent and best practice port planning
principles, including social planning. Managing and
preventing land-use tension is a focus for the
Queensland Government and the Single State
Planning Policy, as reflected in the Great Barrier
Reef Ports Strategy.
What does the Great Barrier Reef
Ports Strategy mean for tourism
operators and commercial fishing?
The Great Barrier Reef is recognised as a multipleuse area that supports a range of activities and
industries such as tourism, fishing, boating and
shipping. Ports adjacent to the reef support a vast
amount of economic activity including tourism and
commercial fishing.
The Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy is seeking to
address the needs of these activities through
mechanisms such as limiting significant port
development to within existing port limits over the
next 10 years. This helps to contain impacts on the
Great Barrier Reef and protect the environmental
values in undeveloped areas that support these
industries. Additionally through providing for greater
land-use planning to support future port
development, the strategy aims to provide certainty
to all industries and minimise incompatible
development.
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The Queensland Government is seeking input from
these operators to identify and provide for
appropriate planning to support the future
development of these industries within the Great
Barrier Reef.
The Abbot Point Cumulative Environmental Impact
Assessment (CIA) led by North Queensland Bulk
Ports (NQBP) was released for public consultation
on 23 October 2012. The CIA included a shipping
study undertaken by PGM Environment.
How were the shipping call forecasts
in the Great Barrier Reef Ports
Strategy calculated?
The CIA shipping figures differ from those
generated by DSDIP, due to the different statistical
methods used to model ship numbers:
The ship call forecasts up to 2022 in the Great
Barrier Reef Ports Strategy are based on an
econometric analysis conducted by the Department
of State Development, Infrastructure and Planning.
The model was based on an export-import led traffic
volume assessment approach. The model’s
estimates were used to run several simulations to
forecast the impacts of increasing volume of trade
on the number of ship calls. In addition to historical
trade volumes, forecast data from the Bureau of
Resources and Energy Economics about future
LNG and Galilee Basin coal exports was used.
Why are the forecast numbers in the
Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy
different to other forecast figures?
Shipping forecasts are difficult to make as the
number of ship calls is determined by many
variables, including: global demand for Queensland
exports; the rate at which supply can meet that
demand; and the rate at which Queensland
purchases international commodities. Fluctuations
in demand, competition between supply countries
and production constraints mean that shipping
forecasts change regularly.
 DSDIP modelling presents a high growth
scenario of approximately 6100 by 2022, with a
more likely scenario of between 5650 and 5900
 The PGM Environment study forecasts a
‘probable case’ of 7448 by 2020
DSDIP modelling was based on historical import
and export data. The PGM Environment modelling
considered both historical data as well as forecast
figures from individual ports that were based on
capacity rather than demand.
PGM Environment asked ports to provide forecasts
split across three categories: confirmed, probable
(including future projects with port allocations
determined) and theoretical maximum (all projects
in the public realm). The probable figures were
adopted in the analysis as the most likely scenario.
As the port-generated figures used by PGM
Environment presume that allocated capacity will be
exhausted, the figures are higher than the DSDIP
figures which are based on capacity demanded.
The PGM Environment study recognises this and
qualifies its forecast figure as being conservative
and likely to be on the ‘high side’.
Forecasts are always to be considered as indicative
rather than definitive. Different results in forecasts
can be attributed to differences in the applied
statistical method and assumptions made in the
analysis.
Great Barrier Reef Ports Strategy
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Department of State Development,
Infrastructure and Planning
PO Box 15009 City East Qld 4002 Australia
tel 13 QGOV (13 74 68)
[email protected]
www.dsdip.qld.gov.au/GBRportsstrategy