Australia selling more than A$100 billion in infrastructure

9-18, 2016   On Monday, Pallas said Australia’s sovereign wealth fund, The Future Fund, and Canada’s Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System will each get

a fifth of Port of Melbourne following the sale, which is packaged as a 50-year lease. 

  The government investment vehicle of Queensland state (QIC) and New York-based Global Infrastructure Partners are the other consortium partners,  China Investment Corp [CIC.UL] is a major investor in Global Infrastructure Partners .  South Korean pension fund NPS is also an investor.  QIC’s investors include California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CALPERS).   All foreign buyers have regulatory clearance, Pallas added.  The deal is expected to close on Oct. 31, a statement from the consortium said.   Gresham Partners and Credit Suisse acted as financial adviser to the consortium. 

 The sell-off is part of Australia’s more than A$100 billion privatization program, (US $71 billion) where state and federal governments are trying to cut debt and bankroll capital works by selling “mature” infrastructure assets. 

  New South Wales state, which arranged the troubled Ausgrid sale, is again trying to offload that asset, and plans to dispose of another grid afterwards.  Western Australia state meanwhile wants to sell ports, while the Federal government is selling the Australian Security and Investments Commission’s registry arm.  

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-australia-privatisation-ports/australian-port-sold-for-7-3-billion-to-consortium-china-fund-among-backers-idUSKCN11P04O

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12-6-2017  

A secret letter to former trade minister Andrew Robb reveals that his consulting deal

with a company closely linked to the Chinese government contains terms so

vague and ill-defined he gets paid $880,000 a year even if he does nothing.  Former

NSW Supreme Court judge Anthony Whealy, who examined the terms of the leaked

letter from Chinese firm Landbridge to Mr Robb, said that "on the face of it, he was not

erequired not to do anything and still get whacking great fee".

https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/andrew-robbs-secret-china-contract-money-for-nothing-20171205-gzzaq5.html

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1-13-2018  Professor Chellaney says all Asia Pacific powers must now do more to co-ordinate their ­response.  “Right now, each country is seeking to deal with this issue individually, which allows China’s strategy to gain momentum through smaller nations,’’ he said.  https://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/chinas-debttrap-diplomacy-snares-our-asian-neighbours/news-story/7c6b04ac4e473f96d9ff3b7ec5abe102

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Note: China’s 99-year lease of Port Darwin, AU not shown on map.  China provided only partial financing for some ports. | Sources: Construction Intelligence Center; Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies; Center for Strategic and International Studies; New York Times reporting.     By The New York Times   https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/25/world/asia/china-sri-lanka-port.html