Doubts on Newcastle becoming another Australian container port

In Australia, the New South Wales state government is looking to ditch a long-standing promise to make Newcastle the next container port after Botany, reported The Newcastle Herald, and changing Labour's "three ports strategy". A state government submission lodged last month with federal agency Infrastructure Australia shows the government intends allowing as many as seven million containers a year through Botany, or more than three times the 2.02 million containers shipped last year. Botany's existing approval is for 3.2 million containers a year and seven million a year would kill Newcastle's chances of building a successful terminal, despite its natural advantages and Botany's already critical congestion. But the news is not all bad for Newcastle, with the state and federal governments looking at new rail freight lines north from Sydney. A spokesman for ports minister, Duncan Gay, said the government was reviewing Labour's 2003 "three ports" strategy along with plans to expand Botany. Source: Port News