Minister
for the Illawarra the Hon Greg Pearce MLC was in Wollongong on 15 July to
confirm the region would only receive $100 million for the long term lease of
Port Kembla, for which some 90 applications had been received.
There
are three good reasons for increasing this amount which was on offer in 2012
when there was still an opportunity for the NSW Government to lease Port Kembla
separately from Port Botany.
Firstly, Port
Kembla has been leased with Port Botany, likely delaying a container port for
this region by a decade.
Secondly, an
unexpectedly high amount of $760 million was received for the long term lease of Port Kembla.
Thirdly, Newcastle is now to receive $340 million for the lease
of its port, of which up to one half of this amount will be spent on rail works.
The value of a
container facility at Port Kembla to the Wollongong region was estimated in the
year 2000 to be $400 million.
In the meantime, there is a growing
case for completion of the Maldon Dombarton rail link. This includes Boral
seeking to put more quarry products on Mt Ousley and other roads because their
rail freight operator, Pacific National, has been unable to secure an extra
freight path on the Wollongong to Sydney train line.
There is a good case for the NSW
Government to at least double the compensation to the Illawarra and to apply
the increase to help expedite the completion of the Maldon Dombarton rail link.
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