Mr McClelland asked the Minister representing the Minister for Justice and Customs, upon notice, on 7 October 2003:

(1)  How many import containers pass through each of the following ports (a) per day, and (b) per year: (i) Melbourne, (ii) Sydney, (iii) Brisbane, (iv) Fremantle, (v) Newcastle, (vi) Hay Point, (vii) Port Adelaide, (viii) Gladstone, (ix) Townsville, (x) Kwinana, (xi) Port Botany, (xii) Port Hedland, (xiii) Bunbury, (xiv) Port Kembla, (xv) Geelong, (xvi) Portland, and (xvii) Launceston.

(2)  How many import containers are inspected or scanned by Customs at each of the following ports (a) per day, and (b) per year: (i) Melbourne, (ii) Sydney, (iii) Brisbane, (iv) Fremantle, (v) Newcastle, (vi) Hay Point, (vii) Port Adelaide, (viii) Gladstone, (ix) Townsville, (x) Kwinana, (xi) Port Botany, (xii) Port Hedland, (xiii) Bunbury, (xiv) Port Kembla, (xv) Geelong, (xvi) Portland, and (xvii) Launceston.

Mr Ruddock —The Minister for Justice and Customs has provided the following answer to the honourable member's questions follows:

(1)  (a), (b)

The following import container figures are for the 2002/03 financial year except for the Port Kembla figure, which is for the 2002 calendar year.

* The number of containers that pass through lower volume ports on a daily basis can vary significantly and therefore any figures provided would be arbitrary. For example, the 14 import containers that passed through Port Hedland in the 2002/03 financial year all arrived in one shipment. The 11 import containers that passed through Portland in the same period arrived in two shipments.

  The industry standard is to record container statistics in twenty foot equivalent (TEU) unit terms rather than the actual number of containers. Most international containers are either 20 ft (1 TEU) or 40 ft (2 TEUs). On average, the number of containers is equivalent to 75 per cent of the number of TEUs.

  Customs records do not distinguish between containers received at Port Botany and Port Jackson but record the containers for both ports together under Sydney. As such, figures are not available separately for Port Botany.

  Kwinana is not a port that facilitates containerised cargo.

(2) (a), (b)

All cargo imported to Australia, including containerised cargo, is screened by Customs.

The new Container Examination Facilities have not been operational for a 12-month period as yet. The figures provided represent activity from start-up date, which includes a ramp-up period. The contents of 10 per cent of the containers x-rayed in the Container Examination Facilities are unpacked and physically examined.

  The Melbourne Container Examination Facility examined 17,125 containers in the December 2002 to October 2003 period. Since August 2003, Melbourne has averaged 465 containers per week.

  The Sydney Container Examination Facility examined 13,140 containers in the March 2003 to October 2003 period. Since August 2003, Sydney has averaged 479 containers per week.

  The Brisbane Container Examination Facility examined 6523 containers in the February 2003 to October 2003 period. Since August 2003, Brisbane has averaged 278 containers per week.

The targets for the Container Examination Facilities, when fully operational are:

  Sydney and Melbourne -100 containers per day, or 26,000 containers per year in each port.

  Brisbane - 60 containers per day, or 15,600 containers per year.

  Fremantle - 50 containers per day, or 13,000 containers per year.

Container examinations in other ports for the 2002/03 financial year were:

  In the Port of Adelaide, 351 containers were examined, or around one container per day.

  In the Port of Townsville, 158 containers were examined.

  In the Port of Launceston, 115 containers were examined.

  In the Port of Newcastle, 42 containers were examined.

  Containers imported into Port Kembla, Port Hedland, Portland and Gladstone were screened but were not selected any for x-ray or for physical examination.

  No containers were imported into Geelong, Kwinana, Bunbury or Haypoint.