From Wagga to the world, Australian exporters to gather in the Riverina after a bumpy few years for shipping

Wagga may be more than four hours from the nearest ocean, yet the city will next week host the Australian Peak Shippers Association (APSA) Conference.

Paul Zalai is the director of the Freight & Trade Alliance (FTA) and explained that Wagga’s location provides unique proximity to Australia’s two biggest ports.

“It’s a really interesting region because it’s a major centre of agriculture product, but it’s also one of the few areas in Australia that’s got contestable cargo,” he said.

“Shippers actually have the choice geographically of either exporting through the Port of Melbourne or through Port Botany.”

The conference brings together leading exporters, importers, regional producers, logistics providers and port and government officials.

Port of Melbourne’s business development manager David Bardos is based in Wagga and said the Murray-Riverina is an important region, exporting more than 160 thousand containers each year.

“The Riverina is home to international global brands such as Visy, Sunrice and Casellas and those are major manufacturers and producers,” he explained.

“They employ thousands of people and most of them are attached to linkages and direct access and connectivity from Wagga.”

It’s been a tough few years for the shipping industry with disruptions across the globe and lengthy periods of border closures at home.

Mr Zalai said it will be a great opportunity for the industry to reunite and share the learnings from the past couple of years.

“I think there’s been a real lesson for a lot of exporters and anyone in business really, on the risk of having all your eggs in one basket,” he said, reflecting on the impact of recent tensions with China.

“Industry, through necessity, has had to diversify. Some have done that successfully and others without the same level of success.”

A key focus of the event will be resilience and Mr Zalai said speakers such as Travis Brooks-Garrett from Malec Transport will show how they adapted to a changing world.

“They were completely reliant on the logging industry and exporting to China and we’re probably the biggest exporter out of the Port of Melbourne,” he explained.

“That dried up overnight but now they’ve used their transport fleet and completely diversified and are now a major transport operator for the likes of the cotton shippers and others who are having bumper years.”

The program will include a visit to the Riverina Intermodal Freight & Logistics (RIFL) hub site at Bomen which will soon be handed over to Visy Logistics.

“There’s been a lot of talk around the inland rail and connecting the regional and ag sectors through to our major ports,” Mr Zalai said.

David Bardos is looking forward to the discussions and said the potential for future growth in the Riverina was “massive”.

“A lot of organisations that are at critical mass in terms of employment are looking at expansion and growth potentials out of the region and that’s just going to add additional opportunities for the Riverina in progressing to become one of the best regions in Australia,” he said.

The APSA Conference will be held at the Wagga RSL on the 30-31 August.