The State Government says a new port in Perth’s south costing more than 7 billion dollars, will ensure WA’s prosperity into the next century. Westport has been one of the government’s flagship projects, but the price tag and timeline has been largely unknown until now. The Premier says moving container trade from Fremantle and Kwinana is the only way forward, but groups campaigning against it are worried the environmental impacts have been ignored.
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:00For more than 100 years, Fremantle Port has served as Perth's main shipping hub, but
00:07the government fears it's running out of room.
00:10And it's never been more abundantly clear.
00:14We cannot delay Westport.
00:16Its replacement, Westport, now has a business case, price and a deadline.
00:21The Kwinana-based container facility will cost more than $7 billion and needs to be
00:25finished by the end of next decade, according to the Premier.
00:29And we cannot allow ourselves to run the risk of our current port facilities becoming
00:36constrained and over capacity.
00:39The Premier says if a shipping squeeze occurs, it would act as a break on the economy, costing
00:44$5 billion a year.
00:46Local industry groups are pleased Kwinana is finally getting its moment.
00:50We've been saying for a long time that Kwinana is the centre of the universe.
00:53And when you look at our calculations, that we think there's probably around $30 to $40
00:58billion of investment planned for Kwinana over the next decade or so, rightly all the
01:03attention is going to be down here in Kwinana.
01:05The opposition isn't convinced the new port is necessary.
01:09Fremantle Port has 30% or is at 30% or a third capacity at this point in time.
01:18We will look through the detail of what has been presented by the Cook Labor Government.
01:23Fishing groups are concerned about the environmental impact of construction.
01:2735 million cubic metres of seabed, including seagrass, is going to be dredged effectively
01:33from Fremantle all the way down to Kwinana.
01:36It might not look like much now, but by the end of the 2030s, when Perth's population
01:41hits 3.6 million, all container trade will come from here.
01:45The government insists it's the best option to save taxpayers in the long run.