Qld govt could get Vic road compensation
Almost one-third of any compensation paid to axe Melbourne's East West Link could go to the Queensland government's investment arm.
Queensland Investment Corporation is a 30 per cent backer of the controversial $6.8 billion road tunnel project, which Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews has dumped.
The compensation for halting the project could reach $1.1 billion, and QIC would be due a large part of that.
Mr Andrews said he was prepared to cover costs already incurred on the project, but not compensate for lost future earnings.
"A shakedown, you might call it, about super profits and that's what the government signed us up to ... that's not a fair thing," Mr Andrews told reporters on Thursday.
A spokeswoman for QIC confirmed the corporation was one of the financial backers in the East West Connect consortium, which won the right to build the East West Link.
"The Victorian government has entered into binding agreements with the consortium, which include compensation should the project not proceed," she told AAP.
"The consortium as a whole is working with the Victorian government on a resolution."
The previous coalition government signed the contract for the East West Link two weeks before the November 2014 election was called.
Before the poll, Mr Andrews promised no compensation would be paid to the building consortium, and repeatedly said the contract was "not worth the paper it's written on."
Mr Andrews has regularly floated the idea of legislating to avoid having to pay the compensation stipulated in the contract.
The road tunnel would have connected two freeways across Melbourne's north.
