Current port lease proposal a dud deal for Victorians
In its current form, the Andrews Labor Government’s proposed Port of Melbourne lease is a dud deal for Victorians.
Premier Andrews is selling out Victoria’s future to try to raise as much money as possible to pay for Labor’s unaffordable election promises.
Labor’s current proposal risks Victorians being liable for a massive compensation payout if a second container port is developed in the next 50 to 70 years.
Yet Port Phillip Bay is not deep enough for the next generation of container ships without massive dredging and blasting the Port Phillip Bay heads – a huge threat to the environment.
So without a second container port such as Hastings, Victoria will lose trade and jobs to Sydney and Brisbane. Victoria is currently Australia’s freight and logistics capital, and all that would be lost.
We have to get this right. We can’t afford to have the Port of Melbourne lease turn out like another desalination plant or Myki.