Tripodi Urged To Adopt Ports Plan
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday December 9, 2008
THE federal Resources Minister, Martin Ferguson, has urged the NSW Ports Minister, Joe Tripodi, to adopt a solution to bottlenecks caused by ships carrying coal away from the port of Newcastle.
Mr Ferguson confirmed yesterday that he had written to Mr Tripodi asking him to implement a solution negotiated by the former premier Nick Greiner. A year ago, Mr Tripodi asked the former Liberal premier to try to broker a deal between mining companies over access to the port. In an unusual deal, the miners agreed to carve up access based on take-or-pay contracts. The $2.5 billion plan would double the port's capacity. Mr Greiner presented the deal in a mid-year report to Mr Tripodi, who has refused to press ahead with it, saying the Government did not want to move on the matter until the Chinese company Shenhua, which has been awarded a $675 million exploration licence, had a chance to enter the market. Mr Ferguson confirmed that he had written to Mr Tripodi amid pressure from the Japanese Government over the situation. "Following discussions with industry, I did write to the NSW Minister requesting that the outcomes of the Greiner review be attended to as a matter of urgency," he said. Mr Tripodi said Mr Ferguson had written to him in September to arrange a meeting but he was "yet to hear from his office". He said the letter claimed any allocation "would need to take into account potential new entrants". Yesterday Mr Greiner said Mr Tripodi's view on Shenhua was "valid but a very, very marginal argument". He said companies had agreed to make arrangements for Shenhua's entry and he was surprised that Mr Tripodi had failed to implement the result of work he had praised in public.
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald
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