Problem

Fremantle Port Inner Harbour handles most of Western Australia’s container trade. Throughput at the current container terminal at Fremantle Port will be limited by urban development that constrains the road and rail connections into the port.

In 2017–18, the port handled approximately 750,000 containers. This trade is expected to grow on average by 2.8% each year between 2017–18 and 2067–68. This growth could result in the current facility reaching capacity in around 15 years.

These capacity constraints will need to be addressed if the freight supply chain is to remain efficient. These issues were formerly addressed on the Infrastructure Priority List by the Perth Freight Link initiative, but are now included as part of this combined container terminal capacity and land transport access initiative.

Additional container terminal facilities, whether located at the current port site, or at a new Outer Harbour site south of Fremantle at Kwinana, will need to be served by road and rail connections that provide capacity for growth over the economic life of the facilities.

Proposed initiative

The initiative includes planning, and potential corridor and site preservation, for additional container terminal capacity, and road and rail access, to accommodate future demand in Perth.

In the near to medium term, there may also be an opportunity to help support growing demand with smaller scale port and transport access investments.

The Westport Taskforce was announced in September 2017 to deliver an integrated strategy to meet the future freight and trade logistics needs for Perth and surrounding regions. The strategy will consider the development and growth of the Fremantle Port at the inner and outer harbours, as well as the potential for the Port of Bunbury to contribute to the handling of the growing trade task.

Next steps

Proponent to identify initiatives and develop options (Stage 2 of Infrastructure Australia’s Assessment Framework).