Ports update - Australia

On 16 February 2021 the Federal Treasurer rebuffed the latest attempt to regulate shipping channel services at the Port of Newcastle, refusing to ‘declare’ the services under the National Access Regime. The application for declaration was made by the New South Wales Mineral Council (NSWMC) and follows numerous previous considerations of whether the port should be regulated.  

While this might mark the end of the battle to regulate the port for now, the ACCC is continuing to agitate for changes to the National Access Regime which could see the test for declaration widened to capture monopolies even where declaration would not promote a material increase in competition in a downstream or upstream markets.

We delve into the Treasurer’s latest decision and the ACCC’s grand plans in our latest Ports Update which you can read here.