New Port of Newcastle CEO's World-Class Container Terminal

BY XANTHE GREGORY

The Port of Newcastle's new CEO, Craig Carmody, has committed to developing a world-class container terminal for the port.

The aim of the development is to boost jobs and business opportunities in the Hunter region while reducing the number of trucks on Sydney's roads by increasing use of Newcastle's rail services.

Mr Carmoday said "we have received interest from domestic and global players who want to develop a state-of-the-art container terminal with productivity performance that will be unlike any other Australian port.

"The potential for a container terminal in Newcastle to diversify and grow the NSW economy is far bigger than the NSW government seems to realise."

The development of a container terminal comes as a reaction to the declining prospects of the coal industry in the future.

An economic model by Deloitte Access Economics has revealed that a container terminal in Newcastle will allow the Hunter region to grow, boost international trade and give Australian businesses a competitive advantage.

"However, we cannot proceed while the NSW government imposes an artificial restriction on port competition," said Mr Carmody.

The ACCC is currently investigating the NSW government's restrictions on developing a competitive container terminal at the Port of Newcastle, which has been slammed by local Labor MPs as a 'port rort.'