The opposition has vowed – including any potential compensation to motorway giants – if it wins government on Saturday,overriding the current planned release date of 2060.
NSW Labor leader Chris Minns on the campaign trail.Brrok Mitchell
For over 12 years in office,the Coalition has sold the tolling concessions for several major motorways to consortiums led by international road operator Transurban,generating billions of dollars for the state’s coffers.
Minns on Tuesday accused the government of managing a “secret privatisation” agenda,insisting that NSW voters were entitled to know the terms of the contracts in place for decades to come.
“The base case financial model has already been released by the NSW parliament for other toll roads. So,it’s not an unprecedented position for us to take,” Minns said.
“It’s also a key recommendation of an upper house inquiry into these secret contracts.”
Opposition roads spokesman John Graham said Labor sought advice from the NSW Treasury about any potential market implications of revealing the terms of the lucrative contracts with Transurban,which is publicly listed on the ASX.
“We put exactly that question to Treasury:These deals have been tabled in the parliament before,what damage was done? And they could identify no damage,” Graham said.
“If these are so good,why have they been kept so secret? Why can’t the public know until 2060 or beyond? We’ve sold these roads,but the government still wants to keep the deals in out of public eyes.”
If Labor forms government,Minns says he will table to parliament key details of the contracts for WestConnex and NorthConnex motorways,including Treasury projections of how much money the tollways will generate.
Minns conceded that he could not amend the legally binding contracts by making them public,but said that was not a reason to hinder transparency.
“It’s important that we understand the full implications of what privatisation does,both for the family budget and for contracts in NSW,” he said. “You cannot have a government policy involved in selling $90 billion worth of assets,and then try and put a veil of secrecy over the contracts that you’ve entered into.”
Minns has made warnings about future privatisation a key pillar of his election pitch in the run-up to March 25,insisting Premier Dominic Perrottet plans to sell off the last of the state’s public assets,specifically Sydney Water. Perrottet maintains that he has “no plans” to do this and has ruled it out.
Responding to Labor’s announcement on Wednesday,Roads Minister Natalie Ward said:“Labor can release paperwork all they like,but they haven’t provided a solution to what they are doing about it.”
“This is a government that has a toll rebate scheme in place right now we have subject matter experts doing a toll review ... we want to deal with it properly,” she said.
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