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The Minns government has been working on plans to split a shake-up of pricing for Sydney’s toll roads into two stages, according to confidential documents that suggest the M7 motorway, Lane Cove, Cross City and NorthConnex tunnels will be among “phase one” of a deal with toll road giant Transurban.
As part of “Project Charlotte”, emails and documents reveal that Transurban, which controls 11 of Sydney’s 13 toll roads, had until February 2 to submit to the government a “final binding offer”.
They show that “final transaction documents” should be approved by next month, before the deal goes to cabinet’s expenditure review committee and a final decision is made in April. A timeline for “key milestones” indicates “phase one” of the toll reform will “go live” on July 1.
Emails in August also show Transport and Treasury officials were looking to “accelerate” pricing for the M2 motorway, and considering its potential impact, but do not elaborate on what it would mean for the tolls motorists would pay.
Two weeks later, an agenda for a meeting between negotiators for the government and Transurban lists “M2 price change by 1 July 2026” as an item for discussion.
And last November, senior transport officials discussed potential “compensation claims” by Transurban and other investors relating to the M2 due to a proposed reduction in traffic volumes on that motorway.
Transurban, which will release its half-year profits on Thursday, indicated at its previous earnings results last August that it was considering widening the western section of the M2, in Sydney’s fast-growing north-west.
The plans for a staged approach to toll changes come as Premier Chris Minns defended Transport Minister John Graham’s office demanding bureaucrats model the effect of a toll shake-up across state electorates, which the opposition has described as a “blatant improper use of public resources”.
Minns said requesting information based on where people live, even if it was by electorate, was “reasonable and understandable”.
“We’ve got a right to explain to our electorates how our policy changes have benefited those communities. Many of those electorates voted for change in the 2023 election, and MPs are entitled to explain how that change has happened,” he said.
The government has been negotiating with Transurban and other large investors about a shake-up of tolling contracts since July 2024. They have already reached a deal to scrap administration charges on toll notices, while the government has confirmed that motorists will be charged two-way tolls on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and Harbour Tunnel from as early as 2028 to help fund a $60-a-week cap on motorway charges across the city.
Emails show transport officials mistakenly shared “sensitive information” with Transurban last October during negotiations before the file in question was deleted.
A government-commissioned review led by former competition watchdog chairman Allan Fels also recommended two-way tolling on the Eastern Distributor motorway.
The Eastern Distributor and WestConnex, which account for about 40 per cent of toll revenue in Sydney, do not appear to be part of phase one of the proposed deal.
However, the documents show a second phase is slated to start from 2029, months after the $7.4 billion Western Harbour Tunnel between Rozelle and North Sydney is due to open.
Graham said the government was doing the hard work of cleaning up the “Liberals’ toll road privatisation mess”, adding it would agree to a deal only if it was in the interests of drivers and taxpayers.
“We have delivered phase one of toll reform, which includes the permanent $60 toll cap, an independent tolling ombudsman, the establishment of NSW Motorways and an agreement to remove costly administration fees,” he said.
Coalition transport spokeswoman Natalie Ward said it was odd that taxpayers, drivers and retail investors were being kept in the dark on plans that seemed “pretty advanced”.
“The public at least deserve some transparency on deadlines and impacts before a deal is signed,” she said.
Transport for NSW did not answer specific questions about the two-stage plan for toll changes, saying only that it remained “engaged in direct negotiations” with the owners of motorway concessions. “These negotiations are commercial in confidence,” the agency said.
Transurban said it was working with the government to “finalise a simpler and more transparent tolling system”, which was expected by the middle of the year.
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Matt O’Sullivan is transport and infrastructure editor at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.From our partners
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