SYDNEY, March 10 (Reuters) – Australia handed laws on Thursday to allow the longterm lease of its largest transport container terminal, the Port of Melbourne, liberating up privatisation plans to maneuver forward after months of political headwinds.

Investors from China to Qatar are flocking to Australian infrastructure as a result of it’s seen as well-regulated and predictable, providing a reprieve from volatility in commodity and fairness markets.

“The Labor government has negotiated in good faith to reach agreement on a bill that delivers a strong offering to the market and a positive economic benefit for all Victorians,” state treasurer Tim Pallas mentioned in a press release, asserting passage of the legislation.

The sale is a part of the Australian authorities’s formidable A$100-billion privatisation plan to chop debt and improve the nation’s infrastructure.

In the assertion, the federal government mentioned it might arrange a brand new A$200-million agriculture infrastructure and jobs fund to drive regional financial progress and enhance exports from the farmers to the port.

The Port of Melbourne handles about 2.6 million containers annually.

The sale was first proposed in March 2014 by the conservative Liberal authorities then ruling the state. Victoria has since had a change of presidency and a prolonged public inquiry into the divestment.

In November, the state of New South Wales bought an electrical energy community to a worldwide consortium for A$10.3 billion, and final month it acquired “strong” indicative bids for one more electrical energy distributor. ($1=1.3475 Australian {dollars}) (Reporting by Swati Pandey Additional reporting by Melanie Burton in MELBOURNE; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)

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