Melbourne port sale deadlock continues

Negotiations over Melbourne's $6 billion port sale remain deadlocked as the government's "rock hard deadline" for a deal looms.

Treasurer Tim Pallas has reiterated he's ready to sell the 50-year port lease without a deal on legislation.

"I'm not optimistic that we will break the deadlock so I'll be using the State Owned Enterprises Act to effect this," Mr Pallas told reporters on Tuesday.

"We're going to continue to make overtures to (the opposition) in an effort to try and resolve the issues.

"But quite frankly any reading of their position would seem to indicate that for quite some time they've adopted an intransigent position around compensation that is meaningless."

The government and opposition are deadlocked over how long compensation clauses should be in effect if a competing port is built before Melbourne reaches capacity.

The opposition has moved to 15 years, while the government has dropped from 50 years to 30 years.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy says the government hasn't put forward a fresh proposal to get a deal done.

"Unless they've got something new to offer, they know our position," Mr Guy told reporters on Tuesday.

Mr Pallas on Monday gave the opposition a "rock hard deadline" of Thursday to pass legislation or else see the government sell the port lease directly.