Details of Port of Melbourne privatisation plan announced

The Government of the State of Victoria in Australia has released details of the plan to privatise the Port of Melbourne, which will be voted on by the state parliament.

The bill specifies that the port will be leased to private interests for 50 years and that the government expects to raise AU$5bn (US$3.85bn) to AU$6bn (US$4.63bn).

Under the proposals, if the government then decided to build a second container terminal in the area, at Hastings or Bay West for example, before the Port of Melbourne reached capacity, it would have to pay compensation to the port’s operator.