29 July 2016 Newcastle has been identified as the most difficult place in Australia to get a job and the Baird Liberal Governments restrictions on container terminal operations only make it more difficult for job seekers.Reports today suggest the Baird State Government have agreed to provisions that would require an operator of a container terminal to pay as much as $1 million in compensation for every container ship the Port of Newcastle handled. The Port of Newcastle is the economic and trading centre for Newcastle and the Hunter Valley and must be able to operate and diversify without artificial constraints created by Government. The 200 hectares of vacant port side land must be used in the most effective manner possible to improve local economic growth and job creation, not sit idle while the State Government sends profits and jobs south to Sydney. Direct and indirect employment opportunities of a diversified port are immense. Any responsible government would encourage diversification and development, not impose barriers that inhibit job creation and growth. A recent report from job search engine Adzuna identified that Newcastle is the most difficult place in Australia when it comes to finding a job, with an average of 15.2 people vying for each job vacancy. This is compared with just 2.8 job seekers per vacancy in Sydney. The NSW State Government and Premier Mike Baird must get out of the way and allow our port to operate at its full capacity rather than create barriers to economic growth and jobs in Newcastle.