Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas holds toll company shares

Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas holds shares in the transport infrastructu­re company that stands to make $37.3bn in extra tolls from motorists.

Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas. Picture: AAP

Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas holds shares in the transport infrastructu­re company that stands to make $37.3 billion in extra tolls from motorists in exchang­e for investing just $4bn in the Andrews government’s West Gate Tunnel.

The revelation comes after the Coalition failed yesterday in a last-minute bid to revoke a deal between the state government and Transurban, following the release of Parliamentary Budget Office figures on Tuesday which showed drivers who use the CityLink toll road daily between July this year and 2045 will pay an extra $87,060 in tolls, even if they never use the tunnel.

Mr Pallas’s register of members­’ interests shows he has a “Blue Chip 20 Long Term Equity­ — Series 3” account with Westpac, made up of shares in the top 20 ASX companies. Transurban is currently No 15 in the ASX top 20.

Mr Pallas told The Australian that all his investments had been properly declared in the register of members’ interests.

“My investments are in a managed, passive investment fund,” he said. “I have no input into its holdings or investments.”

The Australian is not suggesting he has acted inapprop­riately in owning the shares.

Transurban’s shares rose 3c yesterday, capping an extraordinary 19.1 per cent rise in just five months, from a price of $10.73 on October 12 to $12.75 yesterday.

The most recent rise came as four members of the 11-seat crossbench in Victoria’s upper house sided with Labor over the Coalition’s bid to scuttle the tunne­l deal, allowing the company­ to impose tolls on users of the existing CityLink network for an extra decade, with tolls rising­ 4.25 per cent every year.

The opposition has 11 seats in the 40-member upper house, meaning it requires the support of 10 of 11 crossbenchers for its revocation motion to succeed.

The Coalition’s upper-house leader David Davis said he hoped his crossbench colleagu­es would be swayed by the PBO analysis.

“I don’t think anyone could have seen those … independent figures without being shocked at how generous this deal is for Transurban, what a rolled-gold opportunity it is for Transurban, and what a bad deal it is for Victoria­n motorists,” he said.

Premier Daniel Andrews dismissed­ the PBO figures as comparing “apples and oranges”.

Transurban’s lobbyist ranks are dominated by former Labor staffers, including Mr Pallas’s former chief of staff, Tim Sala­thiel, who is head of group communications.