WestConnex sale hits new ACCC hurdle
The Berejiklian government’s plans to sell 51 per cent of the WestConnex motorway have been complicated by the competition regulator’s demand for more time to assess the scheme.
The government had hoped to complete a sale by August. But the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said on Thursday it would need until September 6 to consider the competition issues raised if the 33 kilometre motorway was purchased by a consortium led by Transurban.
Transurban holds seven of the nine toll road concessions in NSW.
“We recognise that the decision to extend the timeline for our decision may have flow-on impacts for the WestConnex sale process, so we do not do this lightly,” the chair of the ACCC, Rod Sims, said in a statement.
“However the reality is that this is a major transaction in the context of NSW toll roads, arguably the most significant in Australia in the foreseeable future,” Mr Sims said.
As well as the Transurban-led consortium, another bidder for the motorway, which has a $16.8 billion construction cost, is led by IFM investors.
One of the concerns to be addressed by the ACCC is that, if Transurban purchases WestConnex, it will be in a prime position to gain ownership of future motorway extensions in Sydney. The government has, for instance, committed to new motorways running to the north shore and to southern Sydney that would connect to WestConnex.
In his statement, Mr Sims said WestConnex was an "unusually large toll road project and we are dealing with unusually complex competition issues that we simply require more time to consider".
The competition regulator had published a statement of issues in May.
“Since our statement of issues, we have been conducting a thorough analysis of the likely impact on competition from the proposed acquisition," Mr Sims said.
"We set ourselves a very tight nine-week review period after the statement of issues, to meet the state’s sale process timeline. However this has not been possible despite our best efforts,” Mr Sims said.
The Labor leader, Luke Foley, has promised to introduce a scheme allowing motorists to get their tolls repaid on the M4 section of WestConnex.
Mr Foley’s proposal would deliver a “free kick” to the motorway’s private owners, encouraging more motorists to pay tolls which would be underwritten by taxpayers.
In a statement to the Australian Securities Exchange, Transurban said it would update the market once further information was available.
The Herald has sought response from Minister for WestConnex Stuart Ayres.
The Australian Trucking Association has argued that the ACCC should not approve any sale to the Transurban-led consortium, on the basis that a sale could eventually raise truck tolls.
“We are pleased that the ACCC has extended the decision date for this review to September, given the complexity of the competition issues involved," ATA chairman Geoff Crouch said.