January 31 2026     The Hon Anthony Albanese MP Prime Minister of Australia Dear Prime Minister, The Commonwealth of Australia misled the High Court of Australia on December 4 2025 by claiming that it was NSW Parliament’s legislative…

REGARDING RDA Hunter's plans for the region’s economy: The Herald might ask deputy chair John Turner how the Hunter will become a trading powerhouse without a container terminal (“Hunter industry looks to strengthen ties with European union” 7/12). As a…

LAST time the NSW government tried to create a broad development strategy for the Hunter Region the result was a mess. That was in the days of the long-lived Labor administration, and the sense of sleaze that surrounded the declining…

IAN KIRKWOOD IN our editorial leader on Friday, titled ‘‘Cash and national security’’, the Newcastle Herald canvassed the concerns raised by United States President Barack Obama over the 99-year lease of the Port of Darwin to a Chinese company with…

The ‘‘secret’’ fee on container throughput at Newcastle port is more than $100 per container for throughput of more than 30,000 per year, plus an annual increase for ‘‘organic’’ growth. The Newcastle Herald, Newcastle City Council, Hunter business and Hunter…

By MICHELLE HARRIS THE Baird government ‘‘turned its back’’ on the opportunity to create competition when privatising the state’s ports, wiping out potential investment in Newcastle in favour of protecting Port Botany, Labor leader Luke Foley told the shipping industry…

NSW freight at the cross(rail)roads September 23, 2015 The NSW Ports Consortium, led by IFM Investors, and also comprising Australian Super, QSuper, Cbus, HESTA, HOSTPLUS and Tawreed Investments Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, took…

A GOVERNMENT fee of $100 per container would need to be charged at Newcastle port to fund compensation payments to the Port Botany leaseholder. Compensation is payable once container throughput at Newcastle port exceeds a cap, as disclosed by NSW Roads…

By IAN KIRKWOOD A SENIOR Baird government minister has promised that the Newcastle light rail and the rest of the government’s electoral promises will be delivered ‘‘in full’’ despite ‘‘seemingly vexatious legal proceedings’’. The pledge was made by Roads, Maritime…

ANY economy, national or local, that depends too heavily on a single industry sector for investment and jobs is asking for trouble. Not that it usually happens by design. In the Hunter, for example, state and federal government policies helped…