Vic govt gives $110m for Hastings port April 3, 2013 - 7:56PM The Port of Hastings will be developed into a container port, with the Victorian government giving the project a $110 million kickstart. Premier Denis Napthine said the cash injection was a "game changing" investment, with the Port of Melbourne set to hit capacity by the late 2020s. "By 2030 we will definitely need additional capacity for containers in this state," Dr Napthine said at the Hastings site on Wednesday. That capacity is absolutely essential in Victoria for our economic security, for our job security. This is a game changing investment in the future of this region, in the future of Melbourne and the future of Victoria. The government hopes the Port of Hastings will be an operational container port by 2030 at a total set-up cost of around $7 billion. Dr Napthine said the project would have to be funded with a combination of state, federal and private money. He said Hastings was the best location for a container port ahead of the Bay West proposal on the opposite side of the bay, which would require "massive dredging." " (Hastings) is a natural deep water port, it's only two hours steaming time from the main shipping channel ... there's already 4000 hectares of land in this region zoned for port and associated use," he said. The $110 million will be spent on the project's development over the next four years. The funds will be used for design works, transport connection planning, the development of a business case and environmental approvals.