Only the Cook Labor Government has the vision and commitment to make long term decisions in the best interests of our State. 

It was announced in November 2024 that the Cook Labor Government will invest $273 million to progress Westport to project definition planning, signalling a major step forward for the project. This announcement signals that the project has entered final detailed planning for a new WA container port in Kwinana, to build the economic and generational project, setting up Western Australia for the next century. 

The announcement comes as the Cook Government confirmed the Westport business case has been finalised, showing significant risk to the WA economy from future constraints on container trade if Westport is not built in time. 

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 costs and putting WA's economic self-sufficiency at severe risk. 

Only the Cook Labor Government has a plan to remove trucks from Leach Highway+

Fremantle port is situated within a growing cosmopolitan area that will be home to 45,000 more people by 2046. There are significant challenges in accommodating a larger port with heavier services out of Fremantle port. This increase would see Fremantle need to accommodate more than double the current truck movements by 2051. These trucks would also be interacting with almost twice the level of general traffic as compared to today's traffic movements, on roads such as Leach Highway. 

Resolving freight congestion impacts in the long-term would require extensive and expensive road upgrades that would impact a large number of properties and businesses and would leave broader noise issues unaddressed. 

Why Kwinana is the answer 

The Kwinana Industrial Area was identified as the most suitable location fora new container port in 2020. Locating the new port in Kwinana means there is capacity to build a modern and fit-for-purpose port precinct and integrated road and rail network.