Government will legislate to protect Newcastle port from Chinese interference

Australia’s Finance Minister has declared foreign interference at the Port of Newcastle is unacceptable.

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham has declared that it is ready to legislate to protect coal exporters should its Chinese owners attempt to interfere with shipments from the Port of Newcastle.

“If we were to see … disruptive behaviour occur, the government would view that very dimly and explore what other options were available, which may involve powers under competition policy settings” should someone “attempt to disrupt legitimate exports of good from a port”.

This could include, he said, “the rapid passage of further legislation, which is always within the power of a sovereign parliament such as Australia’s.”

Coal ship BBG Honor is loaded with coal in the Port of Newcastle. Picture: Liam Driver

The minister’s comments came amids revelations Port of Newcastle, which is half-owned by a company with direct links to the Chinese Communist Party, directed tens of thousands of dollars to the federal ALP before the last federal election, and only paltry sums to the Coalition, election records reveal.

According to reports filed with the Australian and NSW electoral commissions, Port of Newcastle Operations Pty Ltd donated $66,670 to Labor between August 2018 and just before the May 2019 election, during a period of time when Bill Shorten was the odds on favourite to be the next prime minister.

Minister for Finance Simon Birmingham. Picture: Sam Mooy/Getty Images)

The largest donation was $22,000, made in August 2018.

The smallest was for $400 on 5 May 2019, but was followed two days later by another donation to the NSW branch of the ALP of $5,800.

By contrast, over the same period of time the Port of Newcastle gave just $8,325 to the Liberal and National parties, with the majority of those being small, three-figure donations to join small dinner or drinks events.

Two of the donations were to Queensland and Victorian branches of the ALP, where the Port has no operations.

China Merhant Ports, which holds a 50 per cent in the Port of Newcastle along with The Infrastructure Fund, has three directors on the port’s board.

The company is part of the China Merchants Group, which boasts about “being a crucial facilitator of the … ‘Belt and Road’ initiative”, is also under the direct control of the government in Beijing.

According to its 2019 Annual Report, China Merchants Group “is a key state-owned enterprise under the direct administration of the PRC.”

Originally published as Government will legislate to protect Newcastle port from Chinese interference