MUA WA warns Westport project poses serious security threat to AUKUS
Maritime Union of Australia
The Maritime Union of Australia WA Branch welcomes the independent report released today by The Institute for Integrated Economic Research which highlights major conflict between the Westport Project and the AUKUS defence facility in the Cockburn Sound.
The What are the National Security Implications of WA’s Westport Project? report outlines the security issues that the MUA WA branch has been raising the alarm on for over 12 months now.
The State Government’s proposal of an Outer Harbor within the Westport project aims to relocate the entire container trade for Western Australia from Fremantle into the Cockburn Sound.
It moves the port into close proximity to the Naval base housing the AUKUS nuclear submarines and the maintenance and shipbuilding yards at Henderson, so critical to AUKUS.
The MUA WA Branch has always said that the Westport Project could not co-exist with AUKUS.
We have put many questions to the State Government without answers that provide any clarity on how commercial shipping security threats would be managed. This report raises many questions that the State Government seems to be avoiding, instead of accepting that the Cockburn Sound landscape has changed dramatically with the announcement of AUKUS.
Infrastructure WA, the Government’s own department, has raised serious concerns about the rushed approval of the project. They identified that the port should be delayed by at least 10 years, and we should be investing in Fremantle Port instead, an approach they identified as delivering a far better economic and financial outcome for the State.
Comments attributed to Will Tracey - MUA WA Branch Secretary:
“We strongly agree with Infrastructure WA that the Westport project be delayed for 10 years. While Infrastructure WA’s focus was on the best productivity outcomes for WA, we believe a delay would at the very least allow a proper assessment of the interactions with AUKUS.”
“The approach thus far has been bullish and rushed with a critical lack of investigation into the risk the outer harbor is posing to Australia’s major defence pact. The AUKUS program is set to create over 10,000 jobs for Western Australians and be a critical strategic Naval Base for Australia.”
“Anyone with a working knowledge of Fremantle Port understands that the freight task numbers West Port has been producing are inflated and don’t reflect the actual shipping volumes. This takes away the urgency associated with West Port and allows the time to rationally assess the AUKUS security concerns in the cold hard light of day.”
“In construction terms alone, it simply doesn’t make sense to have West Port being built at the same time as AUKUS in the same location. WA’s critically acute labour shortage will prevent AUKUS from being prioritised which has been demanded through the UK AUKUS review.”
Contact details:
MUA WA Branch Secretary Will Tracey – 0423 895 575