Pauline Hanson blasts portâs foreign ownership The Port of Newcastle has labelled critics of its Chinese ownership as âxenophobicâ as Pauline Hanson weighs in to the controversy. Business by James Morrow Premium Content Subscriber only Pauline Hanson has weighed in to the controversy over the ownership of the Port of Newcastle, saying that "the issue of national sovereignty has to be front and centre in the government's thinking." The Port of Newcastle was privatised in 2014 by the then-government of NSW Premier Mike Baird, with 50 per cent given over to China Merchant Ports, a subsidiary of a major Chinese state-owned entity, China Merchants Group.