Jenny Wiggins [States] generally have arrangements where they can step in if price increases are excessive. Rod Sims, ACCC Competition watchdog chairman Rod Sims has called on state governments to keep a “close eye” on newly privatised container ports amid…

VOTERS in last weekend’s byelections for Newcastle and Charlestown could be excused for feeling at least mildly resentful. Rounded up to cast votes for candidates who will scarcely warm their parliamentary benches before the general election next March, some voters…

MELBOURNE, Dallas, Los Angeles, New York, Seoul, Berlin … cities all around the world are rediscovering their ­rivers. The River Thames in London, once known as the “great sewer”, is undergoing a huge transformation, ­including the development of an architect-designed…

By IAN KIRKWOOD THE future of OneSteel’s Newcastle steel mills is under a cloud after owner Arrium confirmed it was looking to sell at least part of the site and lease it back. The decision has taken the main union…

By GREG RAY Oct. 10, 2014, 9:30 p.m. IN the wake of this year's sensational hearings in the Independent Commission Against Corruption, Newcastle people have been left wondering which of the two major parties is worse. Labor had decades of almost…

IAN Kirkwood referred to a number of reasons put forward by Duncan Gay, the Roads and Freight Minister, as to why the NSW government prevented the development of a container terminal at Newcastle, one of these being that shipping lines…

WE should not forget that while Greg Cameron provides us with further compelling evidence to build a container terminal here, the decision to not have one is tarnished with corruption. The supporters of the terminal have pointed to the need…

A rail freight bypass line would benefit everyone, writes Greg Cameron. NSW PREMIER Mike Baird should disclose the compensation payable to Port Botany leaseholder, NSW Ports, if a container terminal is developed at the Port of Newcastle. A cap on…

By IAN KIRKWOOD THE state government has again ruled out a largescale Newcastle container terminal despite growing anger over traffic gridlock in the Sydney suburbs around Port Botany. A front-page report in yesterday’s Sydney Morning Herald quoted the government’s ‘‘embarrassment’’…

ON one hand, the NSW government is embarrassed at excessive heavy truck movements on Sydney's roads, caused by its inability to get a reasonable fraction of containers imported through Port Botany onto rail. On the other hand, the Independent Commission…