Greg Piper is not one to throw hand grenades at the government on the floor of Parliament, so it is a measure of the importance of Newcastle's proposed container terminal that he chose to do so this week.
The Lake Macquarie MP gave notice on Wednesday that he planned to introduce a bill which would remove a clause from Port of Newcastle's agreement with the government which requires it to pay compensation for any container movements over a set cap.
Labor and the Nationals had flirted with the idea of forcing a debate on the matter, but neither had got around to pulling the trigger.
Eventually, Mr Piper felt he had no choice, especially after a Productivity Commission report last week found "artificial barriers" like the penalties restricting freight capacity in Newcastle "make no sense and should be removed".
As reported in Friday's Newcastle Herald, the issue has the potential to divide the Coalition in the lead-up to the March election, but it is unclear whether the timing of Mr Piper's intervention is ideal from a political standpoint.
With the Coalition's hold on government under threat from a somewhat revitalised opposition, Nationals MPs may choose to pull their heads in and stay united, regardless of the now-public opposition to the port deals from Upper Hunter's Dave Layzell and Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall.
Unlike the independents' successful campaign to legalise voluntary euthanasia in May, this will not be a conscience vote.
Only a dozen or so sitting days remain before the election, but Mr Piper hopes to bring his bill to a vote nonetheless, perhaps by moving successfully to suspend parliamentary standing orders which prioritise government business.
The independent is confident Labor and the entire crossbench will vote to debate and pass the bill.
It will be interesting to see how Mr Marshall, Mr Layzell and other Nationals members vote. Will they cross the floor?
Mr Marshall was planning to bring a similar bill to Parliament on Tuesday but did not. The Newcastle Herald understands he took the issue to cabinet last week but was shot down.
If the matter is not resolved before Parliament is dissolved, it would not be a surprise if Mr Piper quickly reintroduced his bill in April. Likewise if the bill is voted down and Labor wins in March.
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