CALL FOR PORT OF MELBOURNE FEES INVESTIGATION

FEDERAL Lyons MP Eric Hutchinson is seeking an urgent Australian Consumer& Competition Commission investigation into Melbourne port fees.

Mr Hutchinson wrote to ACCC chairman Rod Sims today seeking the investigation after concern expressed that Tasmanian businesses using the port faced massive fee increases.

“Tasmanian businesses have no alternative when it comes to exporting their products,’’ Mr Hutchinson said.

“Annually more than 25 per cent of the volume moved through the Port of Melbourne originates in Tasmania.’’

Mr Hutchinson told Mr Sims that Tasmania lost its only international shipping service more than three years ago after new coastal shipping regulations were introduced and has been obliged to instead use the Port of Melbourne for goods going to export markets.

“Tasmanian exporters should not be paying the price for the Victorian Government wanting to inflate the value of income derived from its port asset,’’ he said.

Mr Hutchinson asked Mr Sims to undertake the investigation as a matter of urgency.

“It is untenable, unacceptable and against the notion of free trade between the states if Tasmania is obliged to use the port because of its geographic isolation,’’ Mr Hutchinson said.
FEDERAL Lyons MP Eric Hutchinson