WESTPORT OFFICE —
CONTAINER PORT
738. Hon PETER COLLIER to
the Minister for Ports:
I refer to the minister's
announcement ''Visionary plan for future container port endorsed by
government''.
(1) Will the
minister table a breakdown of the $97.2 million to progress the recommended
options being managed by the new Westport office established in the Department
of Transport; and, if not, why not?
(2) How many
public servants will the Westport office established in the Department of
Transport contain and at what cost?
(3) Will the new
outer harbour be automated as stated by the Premier during questions and
answers at the press conference yesterday; and, if so, how many jobs will be
lost?
(4) How much
has the government spent to date on container subsidies to reach the target of
20 per cent of freight onto rail?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the question.
I am sure that he understands that every government, I think, since 1992 has
undertaken studies and come to the conclusion that a new container facility
needs to be built in the outer harbour, including the Court government, Hon
Eric Charlton, Hon Simon O'Brien and former member Troy Buswell. We are
on very firm ground. It has had such strong bipartisan support over the years.
(1) In order to
advance it, we have allocated $97.2 million with $29.55 million for the very
important environmental studies, modelling and impact assessment and
mitigation; $23.02 million on strategic infrastructure design; $17.21 million
for the running of the project management office, corporate support governance
and stakeholder engagement; $25 million for corridor protection and road
planning; and $2.37 million for assessment and treatment of key risks.
(2) The budget
has been developed based on an office of 23.5 FTEs initially and increasing to
around 34 FTEs in the second year. Funding for staff is included in the $17.21 million
allocation for the project management office.
(3) The detailed
design of the new port has not yet been undertaken. As with the Fremantle port,
decisions around technology will be made by the stevedores operating from the
facility.
(4) Total rail subsidy expenditure
from 1 January 2018 to 30 June 2020 is $13.98 million.