BY LAUREN FREEMANTLE

As the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission prepares to launch legal action against NSW Ports for a so-called ‘anti-competitive’ deal surrounding the Port of Newcastle, State Labor is looking to probe the matter further.

Opposition leader Michael Daley is committing to a full judicial inquiry into the Baird era deal, which essentially stops a container terminal being built in Newcastle for the next 50 years to the detriment of Ports Kembla and Botany.

The inquiry will examine the Liberal-National Government’s role in the privatisation agreement, amid claims the container terminal ban is stifling the Hunter of jobs and investment.

The opposition has already announced a judicial inquiry into Sydney’s delayed light rail project and the WestConnex motorway scheme.

In a statement issued on Monday, ACCC Chairman Rod Sims said while the NSW Government is not currently party to the Federal Court suit, he’s long voiced concerns about the short-term thinking of state governments privatising assets.

The ACCC will try to prove the Ports’ 2013 and 2014 deeds privatising Kembla, Botany and Newcastle contravene the Competition and Consumer Act.

Michael Daley said he’s calling on the State Government to own up to their part.

“The ACCC doesn’t have the power to institute proceedings against the Crown, but that doesn’t mean the Government can’t be a party to the proceedings if it chooses to be. If it’s good enough for the Premier to send the Treasurer out to defend the deal, the Premier should send the Solicitor General down to the Federal Court and seek to be joined to these proceedings,” Mr Daley said.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the Government’s position has not changed since 2013, saying no competition issues have arisen as a result of the “arrangement which provided certainty to all parties involved.”
Mr Perrottet said the Government is fully cooperating with the ACCC on the ongoing matter.


Image: Hunter Business Review.