Source : Perth Now news
The State Government has been accused of shifting the goalposts for when new container port Westport will be needed.
Westport at Kwinana is envisaged to replace Fremantle as the State’s primary container port.
The new $7 billion-plus harbour in Cockburn Sound is scheduled for completion in the late 2030s.
But the State Opposition says the timeline for when it will be needed has now been pushed back to 2050.
Shadow transport and ports minister Steve Martin said the State Government had continuously shifted its goalposts, saying over the past nine years it could be ready by 2022, then to the late to mid 2030s, and then to around 2040.
He said it had been pushed back another 10 years to 2050 after Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Ports Lisa O’Malley said during Budget Estimates that Fremantle’s existing container capacity was now “…expected to be reached between 2045 and 2050”.
“In Opposition and in Government, Labor has continuously spoken about this project in urgent terms while repeatedly pushing back both the indicative completion date and the forecast date the port is supposedly required to be operational to meet our container trade demand,” Mr Martin said.
“There is now a 28-year gap between the date Rita Saffioti once said the port could be operational and the date the Government now says Fremantle could reach capacity, and that is without investment to expand Fremantle’s existing capacity.
“Despite nearly a decade of rhetoric, the container port is still being designed and costed. Cabinet has yet to make a final investment decision, the full project is not in the State Budget and Federal funding has not been secured.”
A State Government spokesperson said the Westport business case considered several growth scenarios.
The response to the question in Parliament was based on a low-growth scenario but the State was working to a moderate growth scenario and growth over recent years had been in line with that scenario.
“The Westport Business Case showed Fremantle Port and the surrounding road and rail network will be at capacity when trade reaches 1.4 million containers annually,” the spokesperson said.
“Under the moderate growth scenario contained in the Westport business case, this means Fremantle Port will be at capacity by 2040.
“Allowing Fremantle Port to reach capacity without an alternative in place would be catastrophic, which is why our Government is working to deliver a new container port by the late 2030s.
“The Westport business case found that inaction to address constraints on container trade would cost the WA economy $244b over coming decades, or an average of $5b per year.
“Unlike the Liberals and Nationals, who are obsessed with opposing this critical project, our Government isn’t going to sit back and let a sledgehammer hit our economy.”
Earlier this month, the State and Federal governments announced a $1.1b investment into the “crucial” road connections to the proposed future Westport container terminal.
The Federal Government’s investment of $552 million will be matched by the State Government.
Funding will deliver the first stage of upgrades to Anketell Road, including expanding the road to four lanes between Leath Road and Abercrombie Road and a grade separation at Rockingham Road.
Anketell Road is expected to become a heavy-vehicle route of choice linking Leath Road and the Kwinana Freeway.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the new container port at Kwinana was a vital piece of economic infrastructure, both for WA and for the whole country.
This is even more so when combined with the $25b overhaul of the Henderson maritime precinct to enable Defence shipbuilding and submarine maintenance.
A report from Infrastructure WA released last year showed a proposal to keep Fremantle Port running until the late 2040s ranked better than the Government’s Westport plan during assessment last year.
Westport will require upgrades to Roe Highway, Anketell Road, Kwinana Freeway and the freight rail corridor.
