Adam Marshall uses parliamentary speech to lambast 'unfair embargo' on Newcastle port for choking off north west farmers

That's according to Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall, who used a speech in parliament this week to throw his support behind a campaign to loosen the shackles restricting the Port of Newcastle.

Independent MP for Lake Macquarie Greg Piper gave notice on Wednesday that he would introduce the 'Port of Newcastle Extinguishment of Liability Bill 2022'.

The legislation comes in response to growing agitation against a deed binding the port, which was imposed in 2013 as part of the privatisation of Port Botany and Port Kembla. Successive deeds require both the government and the Port of Newcastle to compensate NSW Ports if the port exceeds a cap of 50,000 containers of traffic a year.

READ MORE:

Mr Marshall told NSW parliament the cap could easily be breached in a bumper harvest.

"The north west of the state, including a large section of the Northern Tablelands, boasts the very best grain-growing areas in this country, if not the world," he said.

"Yet despite a long-established rail network from the farm gate, from which we can take containers straight to the Port of Newcastle for export - increasingly so with the special activation precinct at Moree - it is cheaper to put that harvested grain onto the back of trucks and drive it across our strained road networks and into Sydney for shipping through the congested Port Botany.

"As would be guessed, that adds a substantial cost to shipping and sucks profits right out of our rural and regional areas."

The MP said the caps create an "artificial monopoly" by making expansion of the Newcastle port "financial unviable".

"Our grain growers and regional manufacturers cop it in the neck," he said.

Want more local news? Subscribe to the Leader to read it here first

"We are the ones who pay the price."

In a recent report, the Productivity Commission found the rules had raised the cost of shipping.

Mr Marshall estimated a new container terminal in Newcastle would slash the cost of grain rail freight by between $16 and $22 a tonne.

Port of Newcastle chief executive Craig Carmody encouraged state MPs to back the bill by the independent member and applauded Mr Piper for his effort.

"There's a growing awareness in government that NSW can't afford a further 43 years under a container monopoly - a position underlined very clearly this month by the Productivity Commission," Mr Carmody said.

"We encourage other Members of Parliament to put the interests of their constituents first and join Mr Piper in calling for an end to the container embargo at Newcastle."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: