Transcript - Press conference - Brisbane Airport

GERT-JAN DE GRAAFF, BRISBANE AIRPORT CEO: Good morning ladies and gentlemen and welcome to Brisbane Airport for this festive occasion. First, I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land on which this airport has been built and is operating, as well as where the new Australia Post and StarTrack facilities are going to be built - the land of the Turrbal and Jagera people. I’d like to acknowledge their Elders past, present and emerging.

This is a very festive occasion. Today we're going to announce the development of a new facility here at Brisbane Airport, a facility that will be very, very different from all the others we've been building so far. It will be the largest industrial building ever opened at this airport with almost 34,000 square metres. That's not the only unique point, it's also positioned in this part of the airport we call Airport Industrial Park, and that's a part of the airport that is very well connected by sea and land as well as air. There are very good connections route-wise to the North, the South and CBD, very close proximity to the Port of Brisbane and most importantly, obviously, at the airport and this facility will have direct access to what we call our Airside terminal. That's very important because that will enable Australia Post and StarTrack to handle freight in the most convenient and easy way. We've got aircraft parked where they can be loading and offloading air freight and then through the facility where sorting of parcels are taking place. On the other side of the facility, we see trucks coming in and out to offload those parcels and take them away. It's very important for Brisbane Airport, not only from that perspective, also very important for Brisbane Airport in terms of employment and jobs creation.

During this construction, we will have 1500 people working on site and when the facility has been opened, 200 more people will join the Brisbane Airport community, consisting currently of about 20,000 people working on the airport, growing into 30,000 in 2032. This is all part of a program we call Future BNE. Future BNE is a five plus billion dollar investment the Brisbane Airport Corporation is investing in transforming the airport from what it is today, and it’s a really good airport with very good other facilities as well, into by far the best airport in the country by 2032. We'll make sure we're ready for the Olympics and Paralympics when they're here.

I would like to introduce three more speakers to you. The first is Michelle Rowland, she's the Minister for Communications. She will be speaking after me, then Anika Wells, Minister for Aged Care and Sport and a neighbour of the airport here in Lilley, and last but certainly not least, Paul Graham, the CEO and Managing Director of Australia Post. A fantastic partner, a fantastic customer and I would like to thank him and his team for making all of this possible so far, and making sure we deliver this facility on time for an opening very, very soon. Thank you.

MICHELLE ROWLAND, MINISTER FOR COMMUNICATIONS: Thank you so much and I'm delighted to be here today because Australia Post is a cherished national institution. What we are seeing here with this $50 million investment in a new parcel facility right here at Brisbane Airport, is a reflection of the importance that the Albanese Government places on Australia Post and its ability to continue delivering for consumers and businesses into the future.

We know that the rise of eCommerce has meant that Australia Post needs to change. That’s why since coming to office, the Albanese Government has been closely engaged with Australia Post and other stakeholders, including its workforce, to ensure that we modernise the Australian postal system so that is fit for purpose now and into the future.

This is an important reflection of that – it means that in a state like Queensland, where we have more people living outside its capital city than in it, we can service those communities so much better and make sure that we are responsive not only to their needs, but also that we drive productivity in this State – and right around Australia.

This is a very important part of the Albanese Government's productivity agenda and modernising Australia Post is one of the key ways in which we can achieve that, and benefit the whole economy.

So, I'd like to hand over to my most excellent Ministerial colleague Anika Wells, who is also the local Member for this area.

ANIKA WELLS, MEMBER FOR LILLEY: Thanks so much Michelle for choosing us. As the Federal Member for Lilley, and an avid online shopper…. [aircraft noise], please enjoy the ambient soundscapes and Lilley with us this morning.

As the Federal Member for Lilley and a regular, enthusiastic online shopper, I'm really pleased to say this new $50 million parcel facility is being built here in our electorate. The Brisbane Airport precinct is a vital business hub for us on the Northside with over 6,600 aviation workers and more than 425 local businesses who operate in this precinct. 1 in 70 Queensland jobs are enabled by the Brisbane Airport, and while there are nearly 24,000 people working in this precinct now, it's anticipated that that will grow to more than 60,000 people by 2050.

I also welcome the sustainable features of the new facility, including solar power and battery storage. This is the first time Australia Post has invested in battery storage, and I congratulate them on embracing renewable energy, like many of Northside businesses already have. It’s great to see this kind of significant investment on the Northside, and the local jobs that this new Australia Post Facility will deliver to our community. I’ll hand over to Paul.

PAUL GRAHAM, AUSTRALIA POST CEO AND MANAGING DIRECTOR: Thank you, Ministers. Thank you Gert-Jan and it’s great to be here.

$50 million investing in the future of Queensland, the fastest growing state when it comes to eCommerce - 73% growth since 2019 in eCommerce, the number one poster child when it comes to shopping online and that's why we're making this investment. As Minister Wells said, this is going to be a sustainable facility with a five-star green rating.

27% of the facility's power will actually be derived from the solar panels and we are going to be storing that power so that we can use that facility 24/7. Access directly to the airport, integrating well with all the infrastructure that's being built around Brisbane Airport and the existing terrific infrastructure that we already use today, creating well-paying jobs, making sure that we're able to sustain the services that the customers expect of us not just now but well into the future.

There will be over 6 million people in the greater Brisbane area by 2032, and they'll continue to shop online as we've seen in the past. We're very, very excited about what we're going to build here, both in terms of new technology in terms of our ability to manage the growth that we anticipate going forward for Queensland, but also looking at how we can support Queensland manufacturers.

I was in the Gold Coast last week and saw three local heroes, as they would be called at a manufacturing head office in the Gold Coast, sending parcels all around Australia and indeed across the world - a fantastic contribution to local Queensland economy. So, we're very excited to partner with Brisbane Airport on this new opportunity, it's going to be good for our customers, good for our team and jobs and really good for the long-term future of the Queensland economy.

JOURNALIST: For the average Queenslander, how much faster does this mean they’ll be able to get their letters or packages?
 
GRAHAM: This’ll be a parcel facility, so it’s focused on our parcel business and obviously the more efficiently we can drive into our network, the more that we can guarantee the service levels that we have. We are finding customer want reliability over speed. Speed is important, but they don’t want it all the time, so this facility allows us to basically manage that flexibility.

So as volumes increase, this facility will have the ability to handle 175,000 parcels up to 220,000 parcels a day, so very significant volumes and obviously the more that we can put through, the more efficient we can be. Connecting with our broader domestic network will also ensure that Queenslanders get their parcels in the timeframe that they expect.
 
JOURNALIST: Australia Post does have a reputation for occasionally being a bit unreliable. What kind of difference can this make?

GRAHAM: Well, I challenge that reputation, but we do 2.2 billion parcels and letters a year, and occasionally we don’t get it right – and that’s not good enough. Again, this type of investment ensures that we’re able to plug gaps that we may have in our network with the use of not just the physical facility and the automation that goes with that, we’re also overlaying that with technology, making sure we’re giving people information about what’s happening with their package in real time, and if indeed we do have a service failure, they’re able to see that ahead of time and proactively manage that so we can deliver that to them in a new time frame.
 
JOURNALIST: How will this facility compare to other facilities in Australia? Is it going to be the biggest, or the second biggest?
 
GRAHAM: It’ll be – it’s not our largest, our largest is actually over in Red Bank in Queensland as well. So, we’re doubling down on our investments in Queensland, but it’s certainly a significant facility. Certainly, for Brisbane Airport, as I’ve mentioned, a very significant facility. It’s going to continue to – when we look at these facilities, we look at 10 to 15 year growth patterns, and this will continue to serve that growth pattern for the next 10 to 15 years.
 
JOURNALIST: So, this is unique, this one to Queensland because you mentioned it’s one of the more de-centralised states as well?
 
GRAHAM: Correct, more so than other states. Obviously, Brisbane, and the Greater Brisbane catchment is where the growth is, but we are seeing the population extend from the Sunshine Coast all the way down to the Gold Coast, and this facility really enables us to cater for that growth in the future.
 
JOURNALIST: So people who are getting parcels sent to Cairns, they’ll be flown into Brisbane and sorted at this facility, then sent up there?
 
GRAHAM: Correct, correct. We’ve got a complex network – it depends where the origin is, where the destination is, what the timeframe and the service for that parcel was, but this allows us to have another node in the network, and another automated node. What we’re doing is standardising that automation across our network so we can flow parcels more efficiently.
 
JOURNALIST: Will this be the first of this kind in Australia?
 
GRAHAM: No, we’ve got other similar facilities but we see technology continue to move all the time, not just in terms of the movement of data, but the physical way we set up these facilities. Our automation partners that we’re working with will take the newest, and latest and greatest technology to put in this facility. We then learn from that, and as we look at other facilities we contend with that technology to ensure first of all it’s the safest environment for our people, that we’re able to deliver the service commitments that our customers expect and obviously it drives a degree of efficiency for our business.
 
JOURNALIST: To what extent will this facility be automated? Will it be fully automated or will there be staff on-site?
 
GRAHAM: No, we’ll have quite a number of team members on site. We’ll have automation in terms of movement around the conveyer system, and feeding into that and obviously coming out the other end. But we’ll have the ability to get it straight off the tarmac, as you can see from our location, straight into the facility and then out to those customers. Likewise, those customers who are sending parcels from Queensland, [the parcel will] again be back into the aircraft and then out to the national network and the international network.
 
JOURNALIST: Okay, so the average Queenslander who gets a parcel through here, you said might not get it quicker, but it will be a more reliable process?
 
GRAHAM: Well, we’ll be able to ensure we’re fixing any gaps that exist in the current system.

You know our NPS score, what our customers tell us our service levels are was the highest it’s ever been through the Christmas peak. We moved a hundred million parcels, but yes, we’re not perfect, we have issues as a big complex network, but investments like this ensure we can plug any gaps that may be there and drive both efficiency and predictability.

Customers want reliability, if I click on my shopping cart, I want to know it’s going to be here in two days, three days or one day, whatever day they require it is.