A MOTLEY crew of politicians and community leaders have spoken out against a “premature” move of Fremantle Port to Kwinana. 

Fremantle Greens MLC Brad Pettitt, councillors Adin Lang and Ben Lawver, WA Labor Hilton branch president Belinda Green, pictured, as well as unnamed members of the Liberal and National parties have all spoken out against the move. 

According to a business case released by Westport last month, the ideal timing for the transition would be for Fremantle to close by the end of the 2030s, as opposed to another model which would see the move pushed back to the late 2040s. 

The business case outlines “options for non-container trade”, including live export and car trade to continue at Fremantle for a longer time “prior to ultimate relocation”   

• An unlikely alliance of Greens, Labor, Liberal and community groups haven’t given up of Fremantle’s port yet. Those like Greens MLC Brad Pettitt, councillor Ben Lawver, community activist Belinda Green, councillor Adin Lang and Fremantle Society president John Dowson (above) warn Victoria Quay’s redevelopment might not be realised for decades if the port is moved too hastily.

Staggered

However, Fremantle MLC and former mayor Brad Pettitt says Fremantle could be “the biggest loser” from a rushed relocation, especially if it is staggered. 

“One of the most absurd parts of the Westport plan is that while containers will go to Kwinana, the live animal, scrap metal, and roll-on roll-off car trade will continue in Fremantle with no plan to move them. 

“This means that there is no opportunity to develop Victoria Quay, the south side of the Fremantle Port, in the decades ahead. 

“This leaves a parcel of land the size of the Perth CBD sterilised and used to park new cars, the worst of all uses for this amazing bit of waterfront real estate.”

Additionally, Dr Pettitt says the recent business case released by Westport is “deeply flawed” and will “suck up all of WA’s infrastructure for the decade”. 

“The business case is predicated on exaggerated container growth numbers that assume a 3.5 per cent growth in containers despite the last decade showing that container growth has been averaging less than half this,” he said. 

• Why Westport says Freo won’t work.

Exaggerating

“The state government agencies have form on exaggerating predicted container growth numbers. 

“Several years ago they predicted that in 2024, there would be almost 1.3 million TEUs (shipping containers) coming into Fremantle Port, almost 40 per cent above the 856,000 recorded.” 

A Westport spokesperson told the Herald that the new business case, which was released in November, used a reduced trade forecast from previous estimates.

Trade growth was 3.5 per cent per year between 2005 and 2020, and the following years were “severely impacted” by the pandemic, according to the spokesperson. 

“Last year’s growth was 6 per cent on the back of strong population growth, representing an increase of nearly 50,000 containers compared to the year before,” the spokesperson said. 

“According to the latest forecast, Perth’s container imports and exports are expected to increase at an average rate of 3.1 per cent per annum between 2020 and 2035, and 2.7 per cent per annum beyond 2035, driven by population growth, consumption growth, gross state product growth, and exchange rates.” 

The business case “clearly details” that the Freo Port will not cope with container trade increase, which will cost the WA economy $244 billion by having to import containers from the east coast, according to the spokesperson. 

“If no action is taken and trade exceeds Fremantle Port’s capacity, containers bound for Western Australia will need to be offloaded at east coast ports and transported back by road and rail, adding to costs and putting WA’s economic self-sufficiency at severe risk,” the spokesperson said. 

However, the business case also holds a “problematic assumption” that the amount of container contents per person will triple over the next decade, according to Dr Pettitt. 

“This is of course untenable environmentally, but also ridiculous in a world in which the goods people are consuming are getting flat packed and smaller, and one in which manufacturing is returning back home,” he said.

by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER