The McGowan Administration has announced that it has supported the majority of recommendations made by state agency, Infrastructure WA, in its first strategy document.
Numerous recommendations
Infrastructure WA made over 90 recommendations across a wide range of sectors. There were several maritime-related recommendations In the transport and logistics sector. A number of the recommendations were of a fairly general nature, such as Recommendation 57, which recommended the creation of a 20 year transport plan including freight supply chains. Others were more specific.
Westport recommendation
In Recommendation 66, Infrastructure WA recommended that Westport’s preparations for a new container port at Kwinana by complemented with further planning, identifying the future location of non-container trades, optimising the road and rail supply chain, and developing a long-term Inner Harbour masterplan. Recommendation 66 has been fully supported by the WA Government. The WA Government notes that the Westport Program Office, established within the Department of Transport (DoT), continues to progress towards a target date for delivery of a business case for consideration by Government by June 2024.
Australian Marine Complex
Recommendation 67 urged further planning and staged expansion of the common-use infrastructure at the Australian Marine Complex. This recommendation has been fully supported.
Direct shipping services to the North
Recommendation 68 urges that supply chain efficiency be boosted through the expansion of direct shipping services to the northern parts of WA. Recommendation 68 contains four parts, of which three are supported by the State Government. These are: (a) assessing the viability, costs and benefits of long-term direct shipping services and associated infrastructure; (c) funding, in partnership with the Australian Government, for all relevant port facilities to have appropriate ‘first point of entry’ infrastructure and systems for border control, customs and quarantine requirements (d) planning for fit-for-purpose road connections to direct shipping facilities.
The State Government did not, however, support 68(b) – seeking Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility and private funding for any major new port facility required for direct shipping, including new common user general cargo facilities.
The WA Government response document, “State Infrastructure Strategy – Foundations for a stronger tomorrow: WA Government Response 2023”, commented that, “Direct shipping into regional WA ports is a critical, market-driven phenomenon which will place existing general cargo ports in the north west under pressure. The WA Government, through the Pilbara Ports Authority and Kimberley Ports Authority, is committed to investment in port capacity to facilitate increased direct shipping trade and will continue to evaluate the need for future investment on a case-by-case basis. It is recognised ports capacity will be critical to enabling the development of large-scale renewable energy infrastructure projects across WA.
