Tim Pallas

Australia's busiest container port, Melbourne, is officially up for sale following legislation passed last week in the Victoria state parliament, as flagged in Forkliftaction News.

Victorian State Treasurer Tim Pallas used Twitter to announce that: "Port lease legislation has passed through parliament. We're getting on with it and keeping our promises."

The port is seeking expressions of interest for a minimum of $5.3 billion, and the sale could be decided by the end of the year.

Passage of the legislation was secured after a compromise earlier this month that changed the compensation clause that restricted development of a deep-sea container terminal outside Melbourne to 15 years.

Pallas welcomed the decision as "a great outcome for Victorians and a great result for its regions, with key transport initiatives across the state to provide a boost to the economy, which is good news for jobs".

Even before the approval, Australian Logistics Council managing director Michael Kilgariff welcomed any move that would "enable the long-term lease process to begin".

He said the sale was "an important breakthrough to provide economic stability in Victoria".