Maritime union’s fresh warning on AUKUS security risk, labour supply

The MUA argues that the WA government’s own recent assessment further supported the case to delay the development of a new container port near HMAS Stirling naval base.

MUA (WA) state secretary Will Tracey at Fremantle Wharf.

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The Western Australian branch of the Maritime Union of Australia has launched another attack on one of the state government’s key infrastructure projects, and renewed its warnings about security risks posed to AUKUS by the development.

MUA (WA) state secretary Will Tracey told The Australian the Cook government’s plans to relocate WA’s main container port from Fremantle to a new fully automated facility at Kwinana, near the HMAS Stirling naval base, risked overstretching the state’s labour market and would present a security danger to the future home of Australian, US and UK nuclear-powered submarines.

The MUA has long harboured concerns about the impact Westport would have on its members, and Mr Tracey said the way the world had changed since the project was announced made Westport even more problematic.

“The geostrategic context is evolving rapidly, and we need to adjust to new realities. It was never a good idea – but it is definitely a bad idea in the current context,” he said.

“In this era of heightened geostrategic tensions – when our Chinese friends conducted live-fire exercises a drop punt from the port – there are serious national security issues relating to an automated port of this type. Automation opens us to cyber security, modern espionage and choke point concerns.

“Its construction will heighten resource competition, when our American and British allies want us to sharpen our focus on AUKUS infrastructure.”

The comments from Mr Tracey follow revelations in The Australian earlier this year that sitting Labor MP Kyle McGinn had secretly met with multiple US politicians to express reservations about the security risks purportedly posed to AUKUS by Westport.

Mr McGinn had missed out on preselection for another term in WA’s upper house and left the WA parliament at the end of May. He has since taken on a senior position as an organiser in the MUA’s WA branch.

Mr Tracey also seized on the findings of a recent assessment of the Westport proposal by Infrastructure WA, arguing that the study supported the case to keep the port at Fremantle over the medium term.

While the Infrastructure WA assessment found that the business case for Westport provided sufficient information for the project to move to the next stage, it warned of significant key risks around the project.

The agency cautioned that the scale and complexity of Westport was greater than other projects previously attempted by the state and that programs of such magnitude were prone to cost overruns and delays. It also warned of risks around carrying out the project at the same time as major defence works are being carried out nearby.

It found that delaying Westport by 10 years would offer a better economic return, although it said the immediate progression of Westport – which would see it completed by the late 2030s – was the “preferred option” after other factors were taken into account.

The USS Minnesota Virginia-class fast attack submarine off the WA coast. Picture: Colin Murty/Pool/NewsWire Handout

The works at Westport will take place across the water from HMAS Stirling, which will be home to a rotational force of nuclear-powered submarines from 2027, and will overlap with major nearby developments of a naval shipyard and dry dock at Henderson.

Premier Roger Cook has said those defence projects will create more than 10,000 jobs.

Mr Tracey said those overlapping major infrastructure projects between defence and Westport risked driving up the costs of all the projects, recalling the inflation that occurred in WA when multiple LNG projects were being built simultaneously more than a decade ago.

“Everyone remembers Gorgon cost blowouts of 40 per cent, when two major oil and gas projects were being built at the same time – this will be a repeat of that mistake except the risk to national security is much higher,” Mr Tracey said.

“Infrastructure WA has asked for a 10-year delay, due to concerns over competing resources, and a stated position that a more productive and better spend for the state would be investing in Fremantle Port instead.”

A spokesman for Mr Cook said the Infrastructure WA assessment of Westport confirmed that pushing ahead with the plan was “the only viable solution to resolve future long-term container trade constraints”.

“The state government has undertaken a thorough and detailed planning process, and this assessment backs that up,” the spokesman said.

“Failure to act on the future constraints on container trade will come at a considerable cost to our state and future generations.

“Westport will future-proof WA’s trade capabilities for the next century, ensuring costs for imports, exports and everyday goods remain low and our economy the strongest in the country.”

The Pentagon is currently carrying out a review of AUKUS.

Mr Cook travelled to England last month for meetings with UK government officials to discuss AUKUS opportunities.