The chief executive of one of the superannuation funds about to lease Port Kembla said fears of job losses are unfounded.
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Industry Funds Management (IFM) is one of the superannuation funds groups that make up the NSW Ports Consortium, 80 per cent of which is made up of Australian super funds and the remaining 20 per cent being the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, was granted the 99-year leases of Port Kembla and Port Botany on Friday, at a cost of $5 billion.
IFM chief executive Brett Himbury said that, rather than people losing their jobs, he expected investment in the ports will ensure more jobs are created.
"We have committed to the state for at least two years that there will be no job losses," Mr Himbury said.
"That is part of our sale contract. Longer term we're quite confident that we will continue to invest in the port and grow the capacity of both Kembla and Botany.
"We would expect as a result of that growth, that there should be growth across all of the dimensions of the business, including employment growth."
He pointed out that IFM had been part of a private corporation that has been leasing Melbourne Airport for the past 10 years.
In that time, he said, direct employment at the airport had risen from 2500 to nearly 10,000 people.
He also moved to allay concerns the consortium was out to make a quick buck, saying they had every intention of hanging onto the lease for the entire 99-year period.
"We are not a short-term private equity fund," he said. "We do not come in, rip the cost base out, gear it up and flip it off to someone else in 10 years.
"We hold these investments for a long period of time, we continue to invest capital in them.
"We continue to look after the employees, we deliver, hopefully, a better service and our investors benefit as a result of that."
Mr Himbury said that because the average age of Australians was about 40, they would be investing in superannuation for another 15 or 20 years.
"What that means is the Australian superannuation system - and indeed IFM - will have a lot of cash flow over the course of the next 20 years at least that we have to deploy into quality investments in this country and around the world.
"So we will have the capital available. We are therefore absolutely committed to continuing to invest in Port Botany and Port Kembla to grow the capacity and obviously impact returns for our investors and also enhance the community."
