A "coastal inundation protection strategy" is also included - a topical addition for the Hunter in light of the increasingly severe erosion problems at Stockton.

Infrastructure Australia was set up in 2008 to advise governments and industry on the nation's infrastructure needs, and its chair, Julieanne Alroe, says the new list is a "credible" account "addressing the issues most critical to Australian communities".

Both sides of politics pledged to fund the first $780-million stage of the John Hunter "health and innovation precinct" in the lead-up to the March 2019 NSW election.

Planning for the project was well advanced when Health Minister Brad Hazzard and Hunter New England Health discussed a business case in September 2018.

Comment: Why we need a world-class container port

On the deep water port, Infrastructure Australia says new container ships can handle 20,000 containers at a time, whereas "no [existing] Australian [container] port can accommodate the larger, more energy-efficient ships carrying more than 14,000 TEU (20-foot-equivalent units, the international standard for measuring container capacity)".

Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane as listed as possible locations for a deeper port to handle the new ships, but the Port of Newcastle says its $1.8-billion Multipurpose Deepwater Terminal - outlined in Tuesday's Newcastle Herald - fits the bill.

"Our shareholders are committed to building funding the terminal once the NSW government's restrictions on a Newcastle container terminal are lifted," port chief executive Craig Carmody said Tuesday.

The report says "the vast majority" of Australian international freight goes by ship, meaning a loss of "supply chain efficiency" would have a "disproportionately large impact" on Australian business and consumers, compared with other countries.

"While many ports on the east coast of Australia have capacity to accommodate increasing throughput, they are limited in the size of vessel that can be accommodated," the report says.

"Shipping companies tend to service multiple ports along a route, making the choice of vessel linked to the capacity of all ports along that route.

In Australia, Sydney can accommodate ships of 10,000 TEUs, but Melbourne is limited to approximately 8000 TEUs."

The report says a berth to handle the 14,000 TEU to 20,000 TEU vessels "could require channel deepening at existing ports, development of new port locations and enhanced land-side access infrastructure at ports".

With a possible nod to the imbroglio over the Newcastle container restrictions, the report says: "Any capital investment should be considered in the context of pricing arrangements to avoid impeding competition".

Mr Carmody said Infrastructure Australia's listing of the container question would come as "music to the ears" of Australian exporters and importers.

He said that as well as the rest of the world moving to bigger container ships, global shipyards were no longer building the smaller 5000 TEU to 10,000 TEU vessels that serviced Botany, Melbourne and Brisbane.

"For a nation that moves 98 per cent of international trade by sea, not responding to these global trends leaves us badly exposed," Mr Carmody said.

He said building the Newcastle terminal was in Australia's national interest.

The port and the John Hunter expansion are among 37 additions to a list of 147 projects that Infrastructure Australia chief executive Romilly Madew said were of national significance.

Infrastructure Australia divides its proposals into two categories, with projects in each category deemed "high priority" or "priority'.

Time scales are near term (up to five years), medium term (five to 10 years) and longer term (10 to 15 years)

"Projects" are classified as advanced proposals with a full business case, which Infrastructure Australia says can address a nationally significant problem or opportunity and deliver "robust economic, social or environmental outcomes.

They stay on the list until work starts.

"Initiatives" have "the potential" to be nationally significant: assessing them is a "national priority".

The deep water port and the John Hunter upgrade - two of 25 new initiatives and 12 new projects added to the list - are both described as "priority initiatives" - the same category as the M1 and New England Highway extensions, which have been on the list since 2016.

The M1 extension is rated "near term", the Upper Hunter bypasses "medium term", and the hospital and port are viewed as "longer term".

Of the total of 147 proposals, six projects are "high priority" and 17 are "priority": 36 initiatives are "high priority", and the remaining 88 are "priority".

Ms Madew said "resilience" was a key theme in this year's infrastructure list.

"Compounding issues of unprecedented infrastructure demand, severe drought and other environmental changes, require a focus on our resilience strategies and a consensus on where to invest now for our nation's future prosperity," Ms Madew said.

Late last year, Hunter Health said work on the first stage of the John Hunter redevelopment could start as soon as 2022, indicating that Infrastructure Australia's description of the project as a "longer term" initiative includes the as-yet-unfunded second stage.

Asked about the timing, Hunter Health said planning for the John Hunter health and innovation precinct was under way, with construction expected to start in 2022 and finish in 2026, based on a $780-million a budget commitment last year.

Unspecified "interim traffic upgrades" were to be done this year.

The further development of the hospital has traditionally been linked to the completion of a missing section of Newcastle bypass intended to run behind the hospital, which would provide a new access from the present "rear" of the campus.

"Funding for any future redevelopment beyond this will be considered as part of state-wide clinical priorities and usual NSW budget processes," a Hunter Health spokesperson said.

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