This is $260 million more than when he first announced the lease of the port last June.

Given that the NSW government has realised a much higher lease price, it should only be a formality for the Treasurer to increase the existing promised $100 million to the Illawarra for infrastructure projects.

The NSW government would only be treating the Illawarra fairly if it increased the contribution to the region to at least $350 million.

This is the amount the Hunter region will enjoy for infrastructure projects.

But during an interview on ABC Illawarra radio, the Treasurer effectively ruled out increasing the $100 million the NSW government has promised the region.

Indeed, he went further in his interview, specifying that the NSW government would be making ‘‘political decisions’’ on what infrastructure projects would be considered for funding, under the now much diminished $100 million contribution from the port’s leasing.

Only pure political pettiness can justify this arrogance from the NSW government.

It is now nearly 12 months since the NSW government announced the port would effectively be privatised.

It is amazing that with all of its bureaucratic resources the Treasurer is still unable to publicly explain the process under which the now diminished $100 million for infrastructure projects in this region will be allocated.

The Treasurer cannot explain what criteria will determine the priority and selection of infrastructure projects.

He cannot explain whether one or two big projects will be funded, or whether the $100 million will be broken up into much smaller projects.

He cannot explain how regional stakeholders will be consulted or how their input will considered.

The only thing we know for certain, thanks to his ABC Illawarra interview, is that Nick Greiner’s Infrastructure NSW will determine the projects to be funded.

Can we be confident that Infrastructure NSW will determine the Illawarra’s best interests?

Let’s take a look at the historic record when Mr Greiner was the Liberal premier.

His government closed down the Maldon-Dombarton rail link; it stopped any work on Wollongong Hospital; it closed down a local hospital in Kiama; it sold off the grain terminal; and stopped work on the Illawarra’s Northern Distributor.

But we can also be guided by his report, The State Infrastructure Strategy 2012-2032?

Chiefly among its recommendations which deal specifically with the Illawarra, we see a pattern of delay as more discussion papers and plans are developed, and projects are ‘re-scoped’.

Under Mr Greiner’s strategy key Illawarra projects such as the F6 extension, the Maldon-Dombarton rail link, and the fast-tracking of the Illawarra/South Coast line are put off for years.

Even the Princes Highway upgrade, he recommends, should be reassessed for costs and scope after the current upgrade commitments in the electorate of Kiama are completed.

I am amazed that many regional stakeholders, particularly in the Illawarra’s business community, appear to be sleep-walking through this entire process.

Business voices have been remarkably silent on the governance processes which will determine how effectively and efficiently this diminished $100 million will be used.

Only now at the tail end of this whole process are the region’s business representatives  starting to take an interest in the very questions my Labor Parliamentary colleagues and I have been asking of the NSW government for the last 12-months.

And most shockingly of all, these business representatives have been as meek as mice in joining any request for the NSW government to increase the size of its $100 million contribution from the lease proceeds to match the fund from which the Hunter is benefiting.

Unfortunately, it appears, not only will the Illawarra be short changed by the NSW government from the port’s lease, it has also been sold short by the region’s business stakeholders.

Anna Watson MP is the Member for Shellharbour.