In 2016, the Victorian Government privatised the Port of Melbourne via a 50-year lease, which raked in $9.7 billion directly, plus another $1.45 billion earned via the federal government’s asset recycling program, thus taking the total sale proceeds to just over $11 billion.
However, the sale of the Port of Melbourne also raised genuine competition risks, with ACCC head, Rod Sims, turning against further privatisations following this (and other) port sales, as reported in The AFR at the time:
Price gouging by inadequately regulated monopolies before or after privatisation – all aimed at buffing the sale price for cash-strapped governments – is the common thread…
