Leadership Matters: Premier Roger Cook commits to building new Kwinana port to protect WA’s ‘dignity’

WA’s container freight will move to Kwinana port by the end of next decade, as part of a $7.2 billion plan to maintain the State’s “dignity” and ensure its self-sufficiency, the Premier has declared. Speaking at The West Australian’s Leadership Matters on Monday morning, Roger Cook revealed the State Government would move Fremantle’s industrial shipping operations 20km south, following the completion of a business case and comes amid the port verging on capacity by 2040. Mr Cook said the Government would now fund a $273 million planning stage, allowing for the project — named Westport — to take increasing volume from bigger ships. Without Westport, WA risked creating an “embarrassing and expensive problem” when Fremantle ran out of space, he said. The project would usher in an era of transformation for the port city, which, while remaining the home of cruising, would see portside operations offloaded as part of the “Holy Grail of development opportunities”. Under modelling conducted by Westport, Fremantle Port would be at capacity by 2040, and the harbour’s size, ageing infrastructure and transport connections limited the ability to grow to meet container demands. The business plan considered three models, including extending the life of Fremantle Port and dual operation across both ports, but found the sole Kwinana project to be the most efficient outcome. “As Fremantle fast approaches its capacity, we are now at the point that if we don’t act it will become a break on our economy,” Mr Cook said. “In fact, Westport has calculated in time that doing nothing will result in a $5 billion hit to the economy every year, not to mention the hits of your pockets. “It will also cost Western Australia our dignity, and, as Premier, I will never accept that we become more reliant on the Eastern States’ ports just to receive our goods. “We must be more self-sufficient.” Mr Cook vowed to transform the existing operations in the port city into a vibrant precinct with new housing opportunities. “The 260-hectare area once occupied by port operations will become prime land for housing, hospitality and tourism. To put that into perspective, that’s an area the size of the Perth CBD and Northbridge combined,” he said. “Now, picture a vibrant new community that combines Fremantle’s history with its future. “A place that will be home to tens of thousands of people, right near a train line and boasting some of the best views in the world.” Amid concerns from the maritime union that shifting operations to Kwinana would lead to a loss of jobs to automation, Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said the Government wanted a “very efficient and productive port”. “Everyone realises that without this project, there’ll be jobs lost to the Eastern States,” she said. “Without this project, we won’t have the capacity at Fremantle port to actually deal with the containers coming in. “The question is, ‘do we want to lose jobs to the Eastern States because our port isn’t ready to cope?’ “The answer would be ‘no’, and that’s why we’re very much supporting local jobs and this local port.” Mr Cook said the union’s concerns had been raised as recently as last week in a meeting. “Obviously, they’ve got some anxieties in the eventuality that you might see large levels of automation,” he said. “But their experience around the world is that automation only really bites into large job numbers when you get around about the 3 million units of container movements a year. “They’re pretty comfortable with Westport. “Obviously, as waterside workers, they have very strong ideas about the way it works, how it works, where the cranes are positioned.” MUA WA secretary Will Tracey said the union had concerns over ongoing jobs for our members. “We’re assessing all the information were have in relation to Westport. We’ve never said we’re comfortable with it as a proposition,” he said. “Our concerns are around the justification for it and what it looks like. “If it does come into operation in 2038 it will be the first major infrastructure project to come in on time and on budget — ever.” Fremantle mayor Hannah Fitzhardinge welcomed the project’s timeframe, saying it gave the city clarity. “There are still some things we need to resolve to be able to see the future of Fremantle realised and I think that window of time, it’s important that we really focus on, on getting those things hammered down,” she said. “It’s a fantastic window for us to really think about what economic development strategy needs to be in the short-term.” Ms Fitzhardinge said there would need to be recognition of Fremantle’s maritime history in any new developments. “We’ll always have that is part of our roots,” she said. “Aesthetically, there’s a strong attachment to the port, the cranes, the containers and I do wonder if there’s an opportunity in the future to retain some of that, those elements, to remember the aesthetics of the port.” Liberal leader Libby Mettam said while the party was not opposed to a new Kwinana-based port, she slammed Labor for promoting the project over the upgrades to the health system. Asked repeatedly if she would back the project, Ms Mettam only said it would not be a priority for a Liberal government. Referring to the combined spend of Metronet and Westport, Ms Mettam said: “We’re talking about $20 billion worth of investment while we have a health system which is on its knees, while we have patients being treated in corridors, while we have children waiting over 18 months to see a paediatrician. “This highlights that the Cook Labor Government have their priorities all wrong. “We know that Fremantle Port is not at capacity, in fact, it’s at a third capacity, and we question whether this is the biggest priority of voters at this time.” The new port was a key Labor policy at the 2017 election, where it also called for an end to the Perth Freight Link and Roe 8 as neither would be needed under the Kwinana move.