Corangamite Shire mayor Chris O'Connor said south-west agriculture contributed a significant amount of the port's exports and deserved some revenue from the potential sell-off.

"Money should be invested back into our infrastructure to make our industries more viable," he said.

"We are a big user of the port. We are entitled to our fair share."

Cr O'Connor said charges at the port were also expected to rise, making it even more important that the south-west got a slice of the funds.

"The obvious area that benefits the whole of the south-west is the Princes Highway west of Colac. That would be a good example of how the south-west could benefit and take some of the cost out of doing business here," he said.

"We've had some logistics companies say it is more expensive to do business in our region because of the state of our roads."

Cr O’Connor said the region’s dairy, beef and lamb were all exported from the port.

"There's also a growing grain and wood content going in those containers and a lot of that is coming from the south-west,” he said.

Cr O'Connor said he would now approach the Great South Coast Group to lobby for the region's cause.

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has also argued rural and regional areas would miss out of any benefits from the sale and would end up paying more.

President Peter Touhey labelled the current plan as city-centric.

“The Port of Melbourne was built on the back of food and fibre exports – dairy, wheat, wine, red meat, wool and more,” he said.

“Yet all the revenue has been directed to removing 50 Melbourne level crossings. How is that fair?”

VFF figures show costs will also rise for agriculture. It estimates rent on shipping containers would rise 800 per cent or $80 per container on current prices, costing the average dairy farmer exporting milk powder $1200 a year in additional costs.

The Victorian Coalition has blocked the sale of the port and Labor has threatened to bypass Parliament to sell without its approval.

Treasurer Tim Pallas said on Tuesday he would not rule out using powers granted to the Treasurer under the State Owned Enterprises Act, set up by Kennett government treasurer Alan Stockdale, to sell the port if the Coalition proceeded with its threat.