CONCERNS about the long term lease of the Port of Melbourne (PoM) largely revolved around costs and price increases, according to the head of the parliamentary committee looking into the deal.
The Upper House committee into the proposed port lease, headed by South-Eastern Metropolitan region MP Gordon Rich-Phillips, was now completing its inquiries.
He said it was due to report to Parliament, early next month.
“For rural and regional Victoria, one of the key users of the port in terms of export volumes, the concerns essentially relate to the cost and potential rise in costs, post privatisation,” Mr Rich-Phillips said.
“They are also concerned about compensation mechanisms, and the extent to which prices are going to be regulated, if the port is privatised.”
The eight member select committee is inquiring into the Delivering Victorian Infrastructure (Port of Melbourne Lease Transaction) Bill 2015.
The committee is looking at the structure and duration of the proposed lease, its potential impact on the development of a second container port and the PoM’s competitiveness.
Mr Rich-Phillips said the Department of Treasury and Finance would present submissions to the inquiry, this week, and the committee was expected to deliver its report, in the first week in December.
He said the inquiry was also likely to make recommendations on a future role for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which was restricted under the current draft legislation.
“That is one of areas that has been raised with the committee and we will make recommendations on that,” Mr Rich-Phillips said.
