Deadlock over Melb Port lease continues

The political stalemate between the Victorian government and state opposition over a deal on Melbourne's port lease doesn't look like it will end soon.

Treasurer Tim Pallas has set a Thursday deadline for a negotiated deal on the $6 billion port lease, otherwise he will sell the port using the State Owned Enterprises Act.

A spokesman from his office told AAP on Wednesday afternoon: "It doesn't look like we'll be getting any sort of agreement."

Both sides 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 from zero years to 15 years, while the government has dropped from 50 years to 30 years.

Opposition Leader Matthew Guy says the government has come back with some changes, but it still isn't satisfied.

"From the coalition's point of view, it just needs to have a very simple and straightforward compensation clause," he told reporters outside of parliament.

The impasse has exasperated the Victorian Transport Association, who say the back-and-forth comes at the expense of important upgrades to the state's transportation network.

The association thinks the deadlock is frustrating given both parties supported the lease at the last election, but 18 months later there's still no consensus.

"If ever there was a piece of legislation that opposing parties should find common ground, it would be policy that fundamentally has bipartisan support," CEO Peter Anderson said in a statement.

The industry prefers legislation over the treasurer's administrative powers because it offers more certainty, he said.