Today I am travelling to London to visit the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and meet with a range of other transport leaders to represent Australia’s transport ambitions.
As a member state, Australia plays a vital role negotiating and influencing the IMO’s framework of standards that underpin a safe, efficient, secure and environmentally friendly international shipping sector.
The visit will allow me to reinforce Australia’s role as a member state ahead of elections to the IMO council later this year, and highlight the benefits we would continue to bring to the council if re-elected.
This is critical to support our region’s maritime trade links and access to international markets, particularly as a coastal state that relies on shipping for 99 per cent of our freight transport.
As well as meeting with key partners at the IMO and participating in its election of a new Secretary-General, I’ll take the opportunity to share ideas and leverage experience from the United Kingdom on a range of fronts – such as transport delivery and decarbonisation.
This includes visiting a terminus station of a new high-speed rail line and the headquarters of the UK’s first high-speed railway, as well as meeting with local leaders who are driving the decarbonisation of aviation and sustainable aviation fuels.
I also look forward to visiting the Northumberland Development Project to discuss lessons learnt from integrating a major sporting facility with urban redevelopment such as housing, community infrastructure and businesses.
I will then continue on to Singapore, to accelerate implementation and promotion of technologies for decarbonising shipping under Australia and Singapore’s Green Economy Agreement.
This includes progressing discussions on the establishment of a Memorandum of Understanding between our two countries to cooperate on low-emissions solutions for maritime and port operations, to drive both our goals for greener shipping.
I look forward to these meetings and visits to signal Australia’s transport ambitions and progress, while learning from the experience of our international partners.
