❓ Opposition Leader Mark McGowan questions Premier Colin Barnett regarding a broken promise about the privatisation of Fremantle Ports, seeking justification and details of the proposed lease arrangement.
AnsweredQoN 399Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FREMANTLE
PORTS — PRIVATISATION
399. Mr M. McGOWAN to the
Premier:
I refer to the Premier's promise to Parliament in
2012, and I quote —
Can I categorically say that if
this government is re-elected, there will not be privatisation of Fremantle Ports.
I refer also to the Premier's backflip announced last
week to sell off Fremantle port.
(1) Why did the Premier break his promise?
(2) Does the
Premier have a detailed analysis and business case to support this sale; and,
if so, will he release it?
PORTS — PRIVATISATION
399. Mr M. McGOWAN to the
Premier:
I refer to the Premier's promise to Parliament in
2012, and I quote —
Can I categorically say that if
this government is re-elected, there will not be privatisation of Fremantle Ports.
I refer also to the Premier's backflip announced last
week to sell off Fremantle port.
(1) Why did the Premier break his promise?
(2) Does the
Premier have a detailed analysis and business case to support this sale; and,
if so, will he release it?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2)
Yes, I did say that we would not be selling public utilities, meaning the
energy utilities and the Water Corporation, and I did say we would not be
selling the government ports.
Ms M.M. Quirk : You said Fremantle port!
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
That is what I said; I just answered it. The member does not listen.
That is the case. However, circumstances have changed and we
have changed our mind. The proposal for Fremantle port is a lease arrangement,
so we will retain ownership of the port but we will lease out its operations.
The detail of exactly what that involves is yet to be determined. In the
budget, we listed about seven or eight items that are under consideration for
privatisation. Fremantle port is one of them. Indeed, if Fremantle port or its
operations are privatised, then it will be the last container port in Australia
to be privatised. It essentially is the only one in public ownership. Melbourne
port is in public ownership, but that is being sold at present by a Labor
government.
Yes, I did say that we would not be selling public utilities, meaning the
energy utilities and the Water Corporation, and I did say we would not be
selling the government ports.
Ms M.M. Quirk : You said Fremantle port!
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
That is what I said; I just answered it. The member does not listen.
That is the case. However, circumstances have changed and we
have changed our mind. The proposal for Fremantle port is a lease arrangement,
so we will retain ownership of the port but we will lease out its operations.
The detail of exactly what that involves is yet to be determined. In the
budget, we listed about seven or eight items that are under consideration for
privatisation. Fremantle port is one of them. Indeed, if Fremantle port or its
operations are privatised, then it will be the last container port in Australia
to be privatised. It essentially is the only one in public ownership. Melbourne
port is in public ownership, but that is being sold at present by a Labor
government.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.