As reported yesterday, the NSW government has sold the remaining 49% stake in the WestConnex toll road to a consortium led by Transurban for $11.1 billion. Transurban had purchased the initial 51% stake for $9.3 billion in 2018.
Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) chairman Rod Sims claims that the deal will entrench Transurban’s “monopoly” on toll roads in Australia, given that it is the dominant owner of toll roads in NSW, Queensland and Victoria:
[Sims] said NSW had repeated the mistake of governments maximising short-term profits from privatisations, rather than prioritising long-term competition for taxpayers and drivers.
