❓ Opposition questions the Premier on delays to the Oakajee Port and Rail project, highlighting previous comments and perceived failures. The Premier defends the project's complexity and ongoing efforts to secure investment, emphasizing the Midwest's economic potential.
AnsweredQoN 687Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
OAKAJEE PORT AND RAIL PROJECT — DEFERRAL
687. Mr W.J. JOHNSTON to the Premier:
Before I ask my question, I would like to acknowledge the
students from Hawker Park Primary School, on behalf of the member for
Girrawheen, and the students from my son's school, Trinity College, on
behalf of the member for Perth.
I refer to the Premier's comments in Parliament on 23
June 2011 relating to Oakajee, when he said —
I have yet to fail to get a project
up and I have yet to succeed on Oakajee!
He said also —
I have not failed yet; watch this
space!
(1) Is this
not the second time the Premier has personally failed to secure a deep-water
port at Oakajee?
(2) When will the Premier deliver this project?
(3) What is
the future of the midwest iron ore industry; and are we not incredibly lucky
that the Gallop government expanded the Geraldton port?
687. Mr W.J. JOHNSTON to the Premier:
Before I ask my question, I would like to acknowledge the
students from Hawker Park Primary School, on behalf of the member for
Girrawheen, and the students from my son's school, Trinity College, on
behalf of the member for Perth.
I refer to the Premier's comments in Parliament on 23
June 2011 relating to Oakajee, when he said —
I have yet to fail to get a project
up and I have yet to succeed on Oakajee!
He said also —
I have not failed yet; watch this
space!
(1) Is this
not the second time the Premier has personally failed to secure a deep-water
port at Oakajee?
(2) When will the Premier deliver this project?
(3) What is
the future of the midwest iron ore industry; and are we not incredibly lucky
that the Gallop government expanded the Geraldton port?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3)
I will not repeat what I said before. This is a difficult project. It is
complex, with many different and conflicting interests. The state and commonwealth
governments have jointly committed about $670 million to the project. Would the
member suggest that we go out and build the port and then see what happens? I
do not think that would be responsible. The state government, and the
commonwealth, will invest in the port when we have secured the investment by
the various mining interests, and perhaps other third parties, in the rail
infrastructure.
Members should not forget that,
from my rough calculations—I am just thinking aloud here—well
over $3 billion has already been invested in the midwest mines. That includes
over $2 billion in the Karara mine, a $2.3 billion project. That was something
that had stalled under the previous government. The Karara mine is now going
into production.
Mr M. McGowan : It
is because we deepened the port!
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
Yes, the former government did deepen the port, and it still cannot take
capesize vessels. It still cannot take fully-laden panamax vessels. Iron ore,
even at $100 a tonne, is a relatively low-value product in international
shipping. If we are going to move it around the world, we use capesize or
fully-laden panamax. We cannot get even a fully-laden panamax into Geraldton
port. That is why Oakajee matters. For it to be competitive, it has to be fully
laden or capesize. We can only do that at Oakajee.
The opposition, once again, gives up—it just gives
up.
Mr B.S. Wyatt : On
you!
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
They can give up on me, but I will not give up on developing the midwest of
Western Australia. I will not give up on that. If we go back in history, as
members opposite like to do, how many years did it take to get the North West
Shelf project going? Any idea? The gas was found in the early 1960s. It was
1984 before the project came into production. How long has it taken, Minister
for Regional Development, to get Ord stage 2 under way? Forty years! That is
not going to happen in the midwest, but any great achievement in the economic
development of Western Australia has taken years to happen. Oakajee will
probably be the same, but when overseas interests, including Chinese government
state-owned enterprises, have committed over $3 billion, do we reckon it is
going to happen or not? Yes, it is going to happen, and what we may see out of
this is that formally the Chinese may well buy out Mitsubishi's
interest.
I will not repeat what I said before. This is a difficult project. It is
complex, with many different and conflicting interests. The state and commonwealth
governments have jointly committed about $670 million to the project. Would the
member suggest that we go out and build the port and then see what happens? I
do not think that would be responsible. The state government, and the
commonwealth, will invest in the port when we have secured the investment by
the various mining interests, and perhaps other third parties, in the rail
infrastructure.
Members should not forget that,
from my rough calculations—I am just thinking aloud here—well
over $3 billion has already been invested in the midwest mines. That includes
over $2 billion in the Karara mine, a $2.3 billion project. That was something
that had stalled under the previous government. The Karara mine is now going
into production.
Mr M. McGowan : It
is because we deepened the port!
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
Yes, the former government did deepen the port, and it still cannot take
capesize vessels. It still cannot take fully-laden panamax vessels. Iron ore,
even at $100 a tonne, is a relatively low-value product in international
shipping. If we are going to move it around the world, we use capesize or
fully-laden panamax. We cannot get even a fully-laden panamax into Geraldton
port. That is why Oakajee matters. For it to be competitive, it has to be fully
laden or capesize. We can only do that at Oakajee.
The opposition, once again, gives up—it just gives
up.
Mr B.S. Wyatt : On
you!
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
They can give up on me, but I will not give up on developing the midwest of
Western Australia. I will not give up on that. If we go back in history, as
members opposite like to do, how many years did it take to get the North West
Shelf project going? Any idea? The gas was found in the early 1960s. It was
1984 before the project came into production. How long has it taken, Minister
for Regional Development, to get Ord stage 2 under way? Forty years! That is
not going to happen in the midwest, but any great achievement in the economic
development of Western Australia has taken years to happen. Oakajee will
probably be the same, but when overseas interests, including Chinese government
state-owned enterprises, have committed over $3 billion, do we reckon it is
going to happen or not? Yes, it is going to happen, and what we may see out of
this is that formally the Chinese may well buy out Mitsubishi's
interest.
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