T nHE long coast line and the peripheral settlement pattern of Australia give ports and sea transport great significance in the Australian transport system, quite apart from their absolute necessity in establishing freight (and passenger) contact with overseas areas. Until recently, however, little work had been done on Australian ports, notwithstanding their great growth in tonnage of cargo handled and in the facilities installed, especially after World War II. Among the ports with particularly steep rates of growth, Port Kembla, with its restricted hinterland and specialized industrial functions, is outstanding (Fig. 1). The growth of the port's cargo traffic serves as a mirror for the expansion of secondary industry at Port Kenibla, especially in the post-war period. Since the late nineteenth century a growing array of industrial establishments has been attracted to the Port Kembla area. Of greatest significance is the iron and steel industry which located at Port Kembla (in 1928) in order to take advantage of relatively low assembly and distribution costs which are products of Port Kembla's nearness to quality coal seams, and easy access to Australian markets and raw material sources via the port. Since World War I I the productive capacity of the steel industry at Port Kembla has increased to the point where, inl 1954, the 45-year-long domination of Newcastle as the major steel-producing center of Australia was usurped. The increase in steel production has been accompanied by major plant expansions and product diversification so that Port Kembla now possesses two fully-integrated steelworks (producing 2,162,000 tons of ingot steel per annumi, 61.6 per cent of the total Australian output) together with a number of associated and dependent plants and mills. The growth and diversification of the steel industry has been paralleled by developments in the earlier established nonferrous industries that are engaged in the refining and fabrication of copper and in the manufacture of sulphuric acid and superphosphate. In addition to, and often in association with these ferrous and nonferrous industries, a variety of other industrial concerns has been established in the Port Kembla area. In many cases these are a response to industrial demands (e.g., steel fabrication for factories) while others have been attracted by labor supplies and the rapidly expanding market (e.g., textile mills) of the area. Industrially, Port Kembla has been experiencing a period of vigorous growth, especially since World War II. Much of this expansion has been reflected in the port's trade particularly through the growth of its bulky raw material imports and finished and semi-finished product exports. The rapidity of the growth of port traffic and the primarily