06-22-2021, 01:25 PM
(This post was last modified: 06-24-2021, 11:12 AM by thorn bird.)
Front page of Mondays Australian
“Revolt on China’s grip over coal port”
The brouhaha and angst over a Chinese firms control of the port of Newcastle is gaining traction across the mainstream media with fifteen Coalition MP’s demanding Josh Frydenberg impose tougher controls on the half-owned Port of Newcastle because they fear its monopoly powers could be exploited to impose “punitive costs” to hurt Australian coal exporters.
I understand the Port of Newcastle has already faced a federal court over using its monopoly position to force businesses off port land they were leasing by jacking up their rents in an attempt to make them unviable.
Apparently the China Merchants Port Holdings admits its ambition is to implement a “Port-Park-City’ development at the port of Newcastle.
The Australian newspaper article goes on the quote the NSW Minerals Council chief executive Stephen Galilee
“The Port of Newcastle is a monopoly, yet current government policy allows it to operate without any ACCC oversight or role”
I cannot help wondering why there is all this hand wringing over Newcastle Port when exactly the same predatory behaviour has been going on with Australia’s secondary airports for years and never an eyebrow raised nor a Tut Tut by anyone from the political class, not even when rampant skulduggery and corruption is apparent.
Is all the hand wringing because it is a Chinese company involved?
They bought their share fair and square, unlike the development sharks who control secondary airports which according to an act of parliament they are supposedly not permitted to do.
It is so often said that airports are a vital part of Australia’s infrastructure, yet our political class turn a blind eye to developers pillaging in the pursuit of the holy dollar, destroying a whole industry in the process, all with no oversight or scrutiny by anyone. Creating severe risks to safety, choking already grid locked roads with heavy traffic and potentially releasing considerable pollution into the environment along with flood risks upstream of the airport.
This of course exposes the Australian taxpayers to compensation liability claims when, not if, a disaster occurs.
(Remember the Essendon DFO?)
Those that control Australia’s secondary airports maintain that the draconian rent increases inflicted on aviation enterprises merely reflect the value of surrounding industrial estates and they were entitled to those rents based on that premiss as they were just gaining a return on their investment.
There is, I believe, a couple of flaws to this argument.
Firstly, the airports were “privatised” to be run as airports, not industrial estates, recognising that the aviation industry was unique in that just like ships need a port, they need an airport to operate from. The industry couldn’t just move down the road to find a cheaper alternative. This is reflected in the mass decline in aviation users of secondary airports, some just closing their doors, those that could, relocating to regional airports.
None of the entities who took control of these airports have spent much on aviation improvements, in fact the reverse as they closed runways and taxiways to facilitate industrial development, a fair indication that they never intended the end result of their venture to be anything else but industrial development and to hell with aviation.
A fair return on investment?
The three main airports in the Sydney basin were sold as a package. The buyer closing one and selling it freehold for basically what they paid for the three. They gained two pieces of prime real estate for no cost. Its not just aviation that lost out, the Australian people also missed out, land that they owned literally given away by the bureaucrats.
Billions of dollar’s worth, prime for industrial development at no cost.
So much for a fair return on capital.
As someone once said “Everyone opposes a monopoly, unless you happen to own one”.
Today’s Australian carries a story in the business section of a company in SA called “Bespoke Engineering”. They have developed a Radial Motion engine to cater to the high-performance speed needs of car racers and recreational light aircraft enthusiasts. The company’s spokesperson Nick Mebberson’s described the engine as unique, designed developed and built in Australia.
Australian ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit at work, actually making something tangible.
The tragedy is there may not be an aviation industry left in Australia to take advantage of it.
“Revolt on China’s grip over coal port”
The brouhaha and angst over a Chinese firms control of the port of Newcastle is gaining traction across the mainstream media with fifteen Coalition MP’s demanding Josh Frydenberg impose tougher controls on the half-owned Port of Newcastle because they fear its monopoly powers could be exploited to impose “punitive costs” to hurt Australian coal exporters.
I understand the Port of Newcastle has already faced a federal court over using its monopoly position to force businesses off port land they were leasing by jacking up their rents in an attempt to make them unviable.
Apparently the China Merchants Port Holdings admits its ambition is to implement a “Port-Park-City’ development at the port of Newcastle.
The Australian newspaper article goes on the quote the NSW Minerals Council chief executive Stephen Galilee
“The Port of Newcastle is a monopoly, yet current government policy allows it to operate without any ACCC oversight or role”
I cannot help wondering why there is all this hand wringing over Newcastle Port when exactly the same predatory behaviour has been going on with Australia’s secondary airports for years and never an eyebrow raised nor a Tut Tut by anyone from the political class, not even when rampant skulduggery and corruption is apparent.
Is all the hand wringing because it is a Chinese company involved?
They bought their share fair and square, unlike the development sharks who control secondary airports which according to an act of parliament they are supposedly not permitted to do.
It is so often said that airports are a vital part of Australia’s infrastructure, yet our political class turn a blind eye to developers pillaging in the pursuit of the holy dollar, destroying a whole industry in the process, all with no oversight or scrutiny by anyone. Creating severe risks to safety, choking already grid locked roads with heavy traffic and potentially releasing considerable pollution into the environment along with flood risks upstream of the airport.
This of course exposes the Australian taxpayers to compensation liability claims when, not if, a disaster occurs.
(Remember the Essendon DFO?)
Those that control Australia’s secondary airports maintain that the draconian rent increases inflicted on aviation enterprises merely reflect the value of surrounding industrial estates and they were entitled to those rents based on that premiss as they were just gaining a return on their investment.
There is, I believe, a couple of flaws to this argument.
Firstly, the airports were “privatised” to be run as airports, not industrial estates, recognising that the aviation industry was unique in that just like ships need a port, they need an airport to operate from. The industry couldn’t just move down the road to find a cheaper alternative. This is reflected in the mass decline in aviation users of secondary airports, some just closing their doors, those that could, relocating to regional airports.
None of the entities who took control of these airports have spent much on aviation improvements, in fact the reverse as they closed runways and taxiways to facilitate industrial development, a fair indication that they never intended the end result of their venture to be anything else but industrial development and to hell with aviation.
A fair return on investment?
The three main airports in the Sydney basin were sold as a package. The buyer closing one and selling it freehold for basically what they paid for the three. They gained two pieces of prime real estate for no cost. Its not just aviation that lost out, the Australian people also missed out, land that they owned literally given away by the bureaucrats.
Billions of dollar’s worth, prime for industrial development at no cost.
So much for a fair return on capital.
As someone once said “Everyone opposes a monopoly, unless you happen to own one”.
Today’s Australian carries a story in the business section of a company in SA called “Bespoke Engineering”. They have developed a Radial Motion engine to cater to the high-performance speed needs of car racers and recreational light aircraft enthusiasts. The company’s spokesperson Nick Mebberson’s described the engine as unique, designed developed and built in Australia.
Australian ingenuity and entrepreneurial spirit at work, actually making something tangible.
The tragedy is there may not be an aviation industry left in Australia to take advantage of it.