Shore power to be installed at White Bay Cruise Terminal under Labor

Shore power would be installed at the White Bay Cruise Terminal to reduce noise and toxic fumes from ships under a Labor Government.

Residents have long been calling for ships to run off shore power at White Bay.

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Shore power would be installed at the White Bay Cruise Terminal to reduce noise and toxic fumes from ships under a Labor Government.

Federal and State Labor would share the cost 50/50 of the $36 million plan that would be recovered from cruise ship operators “over time”.

Resident Kate Horrobin welcomed the introduction of ship-to-shore power which she said the community had been campaigning for since shortly after the terminal opened in 2013.

Labor's Balmain candidate Elly Howse (front) at the party's announcement on Friday it would introduce shore power at White Bay Cruise Terminal.

“An upper house parliamentary inquiry found in 2015 that locating the terminal at White Bay was a serious error and one of their key recommendations was to implement shore power so it’s great this is finally being committed to mitigate the serious health issues arising in the community,” she said.

Shore power allows ships to turn off their engines and therefore prevents them from emitting toxic emissions like sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter.

“It’s a nasty cocktail that can cause cancer, asthma, eye irritations and headaches,” Ms Horrobin said.

Resident Kate Horrobin and other Balmain locals have long campaigned for shore power at White Bay.

Labor’s candidate for Balmain said: “While the Port Authority has been working with the community on noise mitigation, this will not reduce fumes and odours.”

But a spokesman for Maritime Minister Melinda Pavey said Opposition Leader Michael Daley had “once again put an anchor on an industry he knows little about”.

“The Labor Party is slugging an industry that supports more than 12,000 jobs with a $36 million commitment to install shore power out White Bay, which he says industry will pay for,” he said.

He said the industry estimates it will cost them a further $27 million to modify their ships to use the system.

The State Government said the introduction of shore power is too expensive.

“Since the introduction of low sulphur fuel requirements in October 2015, air emissions, which have always been below national ambient air quality standards, had been further reduced.”

A Port Authority spokeswoman said a study undertaken by the authority in 2017 and led by an international expert recommended against the installation of shore power at White Bay “as it was not an effective means of mitigating air emissions from cruise ships”.

“Extensive air monitoring undertaken by Port Authority demonstrates that ambient levels of particulate matter in Balmain were similar to readings at other locations around Sydney,” she said.

But Grayndler federal Labor MP and shadow tourism minister Anthony Albanese said shore power was the best way of ending residents’ suffering.

“Shore power would improve amenity for residents, while also allowing the terminal to continue operating and providing much needed jobs in the tourism sector,’’ Mr Albanese said.

Balmain residents say fumes from the ships cause headaches and asthma.

Balmain state Greens MP Jamie Parker, who has long advocated for shore power, said Labor refused to install the technology at the terminal when it was in Government.

“It’s positive to see Labor finally at least come halfway towards protecting our community from toxic cruise ship emissions,” Mr Parker said.

“When the former Labor Government bypassed local planning laws to approve this development, it was clear that this residential location was inappropriate due to the noise and pollution from these vessels.”

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