Federal environment minister criticises Victoria’s Labor government for refusing to rule out blasting the Port Phillip Bay heads to allow bigger ships through

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

The federal environment minister, Greg Hunt, has described plans by the Victorian government to lease the Port of Melbourne to the private sector as “fiscal vandalism and environmental vandalism wrapped up together”.

The legislative assembly this week passed a bill that would see the port leased and proceeds go towards infrastructure and transport projects, including the Melbourne Metro and West Gate Distributor.

However, the bill still needs to pass through the upper house.

On Friday Hunt criticised the Labor government for refusing to rule out blasting of the heads of Port Phillip Bay to to allow bigger ships to pass through. Blasting is a process in which explosives are used to break up hard, underwater rock layers to dredge port access channels.

“We would like to see a lease go ahead which has the guarantee of no blasting at the heads,” Hunt said on Friday.

“But without that [guarantee], the inevitable course of history is that larger ships will have to come in through the heads, and as a consequence of that there will have to be blasting, and there will be profound impacts from that.

“It is fiscal vandalism and environmental vandalism wrapped up together. And the reason why is very simple, what they’re trying to do is to inflate the return on the port lease.”

Victoria’s minister for ports, Luke Donnellan, said the claims by Hunt were “simply wrong”.

The Coalition supported the lease of the port before the election in November and, now they were in opposition, had changed its mind, Donnellan said.

“Any future dredging of the shipping channels in Port Phillip Bay will continue to require the relevant environmental conditions and approvals,” he said.

On Thursday, Pallas said the legislation would provide the state with funding for essential projects. Both the Melbourne Metro and West Gate Distributor are in need of further funding.

“Leasing the port means we can pay for the removal of our 50 worst level crossings, create thousands of jobs, get Victorians home safer and sooner and still protect our AAA credit rating,” Pallas said.

The Victorian Employers’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry [Vecci] welcomed the legislation, saying it would allow “significant” funds for projects to be raised.

“The lease of the port has been a long-term priority for Vecci and we welcome this positive step, which will reinforce Victoria’s position as Australia’s premier freight and logistics capital,” a spokesman said.

“It is encouraging that the lease holder has a clear mandate from government to ensure they maintain and improve the port’s operations, raising efficiency and boosting competitiveness.”