MACALISTER irrigators are set to benefit from a deal to allow the privatisation of the Port of Melbourne to go ahead.
The government has agreed to the opposition’s request to restrict any compensation paid to the leasee if a second port is developed to 15 years after the lease began. The government initially wanted a 50-year restriction.
Treasurer Tim Pallas said the deal was a “good result for the state of Victoria”.
The sale of the lease is set to boost government coffers by $6 billion, with 10 per cent of the proceeds going to regional Victoria.
The state government last year committed $20 million to the next phase of the MID modernisation project. The funding was contingent on the sale of the port lease.
