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Newcastle Herald
Newcastle Herald
National
Matthew Kelly

Greens' plan to tax coal to fix Stockton Beach

Newcastle Greens candidate John MacKenzie and Greens Upper House MP Sue Higginson at Stockton Beach. Picture: Simone DePeak.

The Port of Newcastle and the coal industry would be required to contribute to an environmental levy that would pay for the restoration and maintenance of Stockton Beach if the Greens hold the balance of power following the March state election.

The levy would be placed on the export of each tonne of coal.

The size of the levy is yet to be determined but it could potentially raise ten of millions of dollars annually given that an average of 160 million tonnes of coal has been exported annually through the port over the past decade.

Greens Upper House MP Sue Higginson said the levy reflected the impact of the Stockton breakwall on erosion along the southern end of the beach.

"We know the state government has to step up on this issue but we also know the very important infrastructure around the port is one of the major contributors to this situation," she said.

"There is an enormous amount of money being made from the export of coal through this port. Levies are an effective and accepted way of paying for public infrastructure.

"The money (to restore the beach) should come from where the harm has been caused."

Stockton Beach on Tuesday. Picture: Simone DePeak.

Greens candidate for Newcastle John MacKenzie, who is also a Newcastle councillor, said the funding would primarily be spent on ongoing sand renourishment via offshore dredging.

"We now have consensus that the main solution to this issue is to be found through mass renourishment," he said.

"It's taken a long time and the community and the council has jumped through a lot of hoops to get the plan approved by the state government. That was more than two and a half years ago and since then we have seen absolutely nothing."

Tensions arose late last year about the state government's lack of progress on the implementation of a long term plan of management for the beach.

Meanwhile, State Labor is under pressure to announce its policy on Stockton.

"The community's anger over the lack of action over the past two years is white hot," Dr MacKenzie said.

"They don't understand why the state government has failed to deliver a plan it approved and they don't understand why the Labor Opposition is not stepping up."

A Port of Newcastle spokesman said the port was an active member of the Deputy Premier's Stockton Beach Taskforce, which was established to develop long-term solutions to the erosion issues facing Stockton Beach.

"As lease holder of the Port, the Port of Newcastle has ongoing engagement with the NSW Government and Newcastle City Council, who are the primary authorities responsible for the Coastal Management Program," he said.

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