ON the face of it, the federal and state governments seem to be in cahoots regarding a Newcastle container terminal. Why else would the federal Department of Infrastructure, in response to a legitimate FOI request by the Newcastle Herald, send 160 pages of useless, blacked-out, redacted text? ('What are you trying to hide', Herald, 30/8).
One reason might be that, at present, the federal Labor government has little interest in the vexed issue of a Newcastle container terminal. It has only been in power for 100 days or so. It has more important issues to deal with, such as the tax regime, rising cost of living and redesigning and rebooting the industrial relations system.
