Before the federal government, or anyone else for that matter, gets too excited about the prospects of an airport link to Tullamarine as part of an overdue $1 billion infrastructure refund to Victorians, there's a far more humble figure that we need to consider. Seven dollars and ninety-six cents, to be precise.
The significance of this relatively meagre sum hasn't featured in the long-winded debate over the airport link but it should, because it represents a key factor in whether a Melbourne link will ever be built and, if so, whether it will ever attract the anticipated patronage.
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Airports make mega-profits on parking
Revenue from car parking is a major earner across Australia's four largest airport with Melbourne at the top of the list.
Sydney's airport rail line is held up as a template for Melbourne and although Kingsford Smith is much closer to the city centre it shares with Tullamarine a critical characteristic: both are operated under 99-year leases from the federal government and their operators have the final say on what gets built on the land they control.
That's why it costs train commuters almost $8 to travel the one extra stop – less than 90 seconds of train time – from Mascot station, located outside Sydney airport, to the domestic terminal station located on the airport site. How does Sydney Airport get away with this legalised larceny? Quite simply it seems. As a lessee it's allowed to charge whatever it likes for having a station built on its premises.
It's true that not all of the $7.96 for that last stop goes into Sydney Airport's pocket but a year ago The Sydney Morning Herald reported that around 80 per cent of the peak hour train ticket charge from the city ended up in Sydney Airport's bank account.
The lesson is clear. Melbourne airport's operators will seek to extract the same high rental for the sought after link, meaning the cost of travelling to the airport by rail will be far higher than anyone expects. Why? Because they can. Nothing in the Howard government era lease agreement will prevent a similarly usurious rental being demanded by Melbourne Airport's operators. Any proposal that does not reward the operator handsomely will result in them sitting on their hands for as long as it takes to extract a similarly prohibitive charge.
So, before the federal government starts throwing budget money on the table and raising expectations that an airport rail link is only a Victorian government nod away, perhaps it could answer this question: What will it do, as the lessor of the airport, to ensure that Melburnians don't get ripped off by an outrageously inflated rental charge courtesy of its lessee?
It's probably not a question the federal government wants to think about and not just because it didn't think through its 1997 lease. As owner of the Future Fund which holds a 20 per cent stake in Melbourne Airport's operator, Australia Pacific Airports, the federal government is hopelessly conflicted; the higher the rental charge imposed by the airport on any future rail line, the better off its Future Fund will be. Yet a higher rental fee will discourage passenger use, the very thing its forthcoming announcement hopes to one day achieve.
If the federal government wants to impress Victorians with its forthcoming announcement of airport rail link funding I have a simple suggestion. Announce at the same time that the ACCC will be given the power to regulate airport transport access charges, something the regulator has been seeking. That way not only will the likelihood of an airport rail link improve but it will be a fairer service for all who ultimately use it.
Tony Robinson served as Consumer Affairs Minister in the Brumby Government.
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