PORT OF MELBOURNE LEASE REGULATIONS TOUGHENED AFTER TALKS BETWEEN VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT AND ACCC
Thursday, October 1, 2015
The new Port of Melbourne leaseholder will face regular rent reviews to ward against any abuse of their market power, in changes struck during talks between the competition watchdog and the Victorian Government.
The changes were designed to appease the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), which had earlier expressed concerns about the deal entrenching substantial market power and failing to properly control rents.
The Government said the Essential Services Commission would be responsible for the reviews, in a bid to stop dramatic rent hikes and price gouging.
Treasurer Tim Pallas said "significant progress" had been made in talks with the ACCC.
"The safeguards that we're putting in place, the strongest safeguards in Australia with regard to any port lease arrangement, are now going to be augmented and even further strengthened following our discussions with the ACCC," he said.
The Port of Melbourne Corporation last month enraged stevedoring companies by seeking a rent increase of 750 per cent for stevedore DP World.
It backed down and accepted a much smaller rise.
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