Home›Questions on Notice›QoN 1539

❓ A WA parliamentary question probes the Kimberley Marine Support Base project, covering meetings, financial viability, government funding, and environmental concerns. The Minister's response provides updates on project status, funding, and biosecurity measures.

AnsweredQoN 1539Legislative Council

Asked

17 August 2023

Member

Hon Dr Brad Pettitt

Portfolio

Ports; Local Government; Road Safety; Minister assisting the Minister for Transport

QuestionView source ↗

I refer to the proposed privately-funded Kimberley Marine Support Base (KMSB) at Broome Port, previously named the ‘Kimberley Marine Offloading Facility’, the proponent of which is Kimberley Marine Support Base Pty Ltd, and I ask: (a) has the Minister for Ports (or their predecessor) or the Minister’s staff met with any shareholders or representatives of KMSB in the past two years; (b) if yes to (a), will the Minister please table a list of what date/s these meetings occurred, who attended the meeting/s, and what was discussed at the meeting/s; (c) if yes to (a), will the Minister table the briefing notes and minutes or notes from the meeting or meetings; (d) if not to either (b) or (c), why not; (e) have any representatives of KMSB met with the Department of Transport or Port of Broome in relation to the Kimberley Marine Support Base in the past two years; (f) if yes to (e), will the Minister please table a list of which departments, the date/s of the meeting/s, who attended the meeting/s, and what was discussed at the meeting/s; (g) does the Minister expect that profits from the operations of the Kimberley Marine Support Base will flow to shareholders living outside of Australia; (h) is the Minister aware that an article appeared in the Australian Financial Review on June 8th 2023 about the Kimberley Marine Support Base which stated, in relation to the company’s 2030 financial forecasts: “It’s an ambitious forecast, and one that prospective investors in the equity raising would treat with the grain of salt given KMSB’s history of troubles in trying to get the construction off the ground."; (i) given that industries which were projected to underpin the Kimberley Marine Support Base have not materialised, does the Minister expect this will make it less likely the Kimberley Marine Support Base will go ahead as planned; (j) if so, will the Minister please detail the projects, proponents and potential markets that will underpin the Kimberley Marine Support Base; (k) if not to (j), why not; (l) has the Kimberley Marine Support Base provided a revised business case to the government for the project; (m) if yes to (l), will the Minister please provide the document; (n) If no to (l), why not; (o) if no to (l), will the Minister request a revised business case; (p) If no to (l), why not; (q) if the Kimberley Marine Supply Base were to go ahead, would it reduce the projected income for the Port of Broome; (r) will the Minister table the future income projections for the Port of Broome should the Kimberley Marine Supply Base go ahead; (s) what is the increase in shipping projected for 2030 for the Kimberley Marine Support Base; (t) how much government funding has been given to the Kimberley Marine Support Base to date; (u) has any state government funding been allocated to the Kimberley Marine Support Base in forward years, and if so, where is this funding allocation detailed; (v) will the Minister rule out a government subsidy to the Kimberley Marine Support Base; (w) if no to (v), why not; (x) is the Minister aware that marine invasive species have recently been detected at the Port of Broome; and (y) what measures will be put in place to prevent more marine invasive species from colonising the Port of Broome, the adjacent seagrass beds and Nagulagun Roebuck Bay Marine Park?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered

12 September 2023

Responded by

Leader of the House representing the Minister for Ports; Local Government; Road Safety; Minister assisting the Minister for Transport

Response time

4 days

A-D. The Minister for Ports has had an introductory briefing on the project from KMSB management on 8 August 2023. Previous Ministers have received project update briefings from time to time.
E-F. KMSB has met several times with Kimberley Ports Authority to confirm commercial arrangements for the project. Dept of Transport has not met with KMSB in the past two years.
G. KMSB has appointed Peterson Australia Pty Ltd as its facility operator, and that agreement is commercial in confidence.
H. Yes
I. It is likely the project will proceed.
J-K. KMSB will provide new berthing capacity to assist KPA in meeting demand from existing and future Port of Broome customers.
L-P No
Q. KPA expects its income to increase with forecast new trade through the port.
R. Future income from imports and exports is highly variable and will depend on many factors such as the timing of new export projects and global trading conditions.
S. Not known.
T. The state government has provided no funding to KMSB.
U. No
V-W There are no foreseeable circumstances under which a subsidy would be paid to KMSB.
X. In 2022 a vessel arrived at Port of Broome with suspected Perna Veridis (Asian Green Mussel) which when investigated was removed from the vessel. Additional water samples were taken during the October SWASP array collections with no detections of Perna Veridis.
Y. Kimberley Ports Authority works closely with the Department of Primary Industries, and Regional Development, participating in the State Wide Array Surveillance Program (SWASP) which monitors for the presence of any new invasive marine species.

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