BY DAKOTA TAIT
The Former Agriculture Minister is backing a push for the Port of Newcastle to open to container trade and grain exports.
The Port of Newcastle is currently in the courts, disputing restrictions which make it financially unviable for the port to operate container traffic.
As part of privatisation agreements, the Port of Newcastle is required to reimburse Port Kembla, Port Botany, and the NSW Government for container traffic beyond a given cap.
Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall says the State Government could take action to resolve the situation, if they wanted to.
Farmers NSW Vice President Xavier Martin is welcoming the move.
He says opening up the port to more agricultural trade is an obvious decision.
"Many of the storages up-country are full to the brim, and so we've got a major task on getting the produce to the market," Mr Martin said.
"There's no point growing the fibre unless you can get it to your customer, and it's great that we've got transport and rail options, but the most efficient ones into the most efficient ports, such as Newcastle, are critical."
It's believed a multi-purpose deepwater terminal at Newcastle could create more than 15,000 jobs, both directly and indirectly, as well as $2.5 billion to the Commonwealth economy.
Mr Martin says it would benefit the economy in both the country and the city, and provide more certainty when it comes to planning.
"A vessel loaded with canola in Newcastle, is worth 20 to 30 percent than the pricing offered for a vessel loaded in Vancouver," Mr Martin said.
"These sorts of discounts, coming back to the farm gates, are affecting the returns on the economy, farmers, the whole community. The money just is not being efficiently returned."
"Even to deal with the constraints of the landscape, you know, if we are going to upgrade rail, for example, let's make sure that a tunnel through the range has the capacity to transport double-stacked containers. We need to get more efficiency into the port."
