In 2017, the Victorian Government agreed to an unsolicited bid from toll giant Transurban to build the West Gate Tunnel Project – a four kilometre toll road currently under construction in Melbourne to link the West Gate Freeway at Yarraville with the Port of Melbourne and CityLink at Docklands.
Under the project’s terms, Transurban would pay $4 billion to help fund and build the project in exchange for which the toll road company would increase tolls by 4.25% every year for a decade – way above inflation and wage growth – and then rise by CPI. As a result, Transurban would net an extra $37.3 billion in tolls by 2045, according to Parliamentary Budget Office calculations.
Later it was revealed that the Victorian Government approved the West Gate Tunnel Project despite expert advice warning against the deal:
