Barnaby Joyce has admitted that Chinese ownership of the Port of Newcastle hampered the former Morrison government from enabling a container terminal there.
As the Newcastle Herald reported on Tuesday, the Morrison government was close to announcing a $250 million infrastructure package to establish a container terminal at the Port during the election campaign.
Then prime minister Scott Morrison reportedly backed the plan, but, as the Newcastle Herald reports today, "senior forces within the government" squashed the announcement.
Hunter residents would be forgiven for wondering who these "senior forces" are and what agenda they have.
The government's agenda for the Hunter must be to do everything it can to diversify the economy, with the region set for decades of upheaval as the coal industry declines and renewable energy rises.
Mr Joyce had been due to announce the port funding on May 6.
"To be quite frank, we didn't want to be seen to be giving a whole lot of money to the Chinese government," Mr Joyce told the Herald. "We had to make sure the technical and legal issues that surround it weren't confounded by foreign ownership."
This followed a report in the Australian Financial Review last month that the federal government could be forced to buy out a Chinese part-owner of the Port of Newcastle over the planned nuclear submarine fleet.
Concerns about Chinese ownership of the port have been mounting for some time, but the port must diversify to reduce its reliance on coal. The foreign ownership issue, then, needs resolving sooner rather than later.
Another matter is that coal mining interests have reportedly campaigned against the port's transformation plans over concerns they'd create uncertainty over port access for the coal sector.
Lobbying by the fossil fuel sector to protect and enhance its interests is nothing new, but the world is changing and this sector can't be protected forever.
There's also the thorny issue of the NSW government opposing a container terminal in Newcastle. Deeds signed when Port Kembla and Port Botany were privatised in 2013 require these ports to be compensated if container traffic at the Port of Newcastle exceeds a cap.
This unfair and unreasonable situation isn't doing the Hunter any favours. Let's hope the newly elected federal Labor government can do the region a big favour and resolve this issue once and for all.
Federal Labor policy calls for the removal of the deeds, allowing the Port of Newcastle to build a container terminal. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese previously said common sense is needed with this issue and economic activity and efficiency at the port should be maximised.
Mr Albanese should also use maximum efficiency to resolve this matter swiftly.
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