Port mergers to be reviewed

The amalgamation of the Southern Ports by the July 1 deadline is in doubt after the State Government revealed it would review the legislation because of what the Opposition calls “increased community concern”.

The amalgamation of the Bunbury, Esperance and Albany ports was planned for this year, but the Opposition believes a failure to introduce the legislation into the Parliament until October 23 last year has delayed the process.

Transport Minister Dean Nalder said the review would be conducted by an independent panel, run by the Department of Finance, to assess the readiness of port authorities to meet the merger deadline.

Opposition Transport spokesman Ken Travers labelled the review as the latest example of chaos and dysfunction in the transport portfolio.

Mr Nalder said the State Government was committed to port reform and the review would ensure the delayed passage of legislation did not impede the start of new regional port authorities.

“This review will provide certainty that the late passage of the Bill will not impede the amalgamation process, ” he said.

“The review’s focus is to assess the status of the implementation process and to inform Government if the start date of July 1 is still appropriate or if more time is required.

“These ports are critical to the well-being of the State. The ports and the Department of Transport have worked well together to prepare for the change. However, in light of the delay, I want to have absolute confidence that everyone is ready. If required, implementation could be staged.”

Mr Travers said the Government had completely botched the port amalgamation process.

“There has clearly been a range of issues with the proposed amalgamations of the ports of Albany, Esperance and Bunbury into the Southern Ports Authority, ” he said.

“There has been increasing community concern that the amalgamations will have significant negative impacts on local communities.

“The Government has failed to provide any detail or evidence of the benefits that will flow from the creation of a Southern Ports Authority.

“The Minister needs to ensure the review includes an examination of whether the Southern Ports Authority is actually in the best interests of WA and the local communities.”