Bid to make Perth a hub for LNG promises a jobs bonanza for WA, plans to build a new plant for manufacturing railcars in Perth unveiled, and a new bill to modernise the state’s outdated water laws to be introduced; all in our WA monthly briefs.
Proposed LNG hub promises job bonanza for WA
WA is making a push to have multinational logistics and engineering companies establish their southern headquarters in Perth to create a hub for servicing Australia’s numerous LNG projects. If successful, the resulting investments would make Perth an energy capital similar to Doha, Houston and Aberdeen while locking in thousands of high-paying jobs.
The WA government hopes that the locked-in pipeline of work from the country’s LNG projects that promise $ 9 billion-a-year of work will help woo industry heavy-weights such as WorleyParsons, Halliburton, and Schlumberger to set up their regional bases in Perth and create specialist jobs that could command average yearly salaries of $ 200,000.
Another drawcard that officials are counting on is an exemption from competition laws that allows LNG operators in the country to coordinate their maintenance programs thus creating certainty over the shutdown and servicing schedules for the engineering firms.
The push will be led by an LNG task force that includes the Premier, Mark McGowan, UnionsWA secretary, Meridith Hammat, and several senior officials from Chevron, Shell, Woodside, Santos and the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association.
(Source and VIDEO: https://www.perthnow.com.au/business/economy/jobs-bonanza-promise-as-perth-puts-its-case-as-lng-hub-ng-b88942001z)
$1.6 billion Railcar manufacturing facility for Perth
Bellevue, in eastern Perth, has been selected as the preferred site for the construction of a $1.6 billion facility to manufacture railcars for the Metronet. The proposed plant will be co-located with the Public Transport Authority’s new railcar depot, where Transperth will also maintain the broader train fleet.
The new plant will be used to assemble many of the additional 246 railcars needed to service Metronet Projects and replace Transperth’s ageing trains.
A shortlist of three consortia that will participate in the tender for supplying the new railcars has already been created. The commitment and ability to assemble or manufacture at least 50% of the railcars locally is a key consideration in the final selection scheduled to happen in 2019.
The first phase of the project will involve the delivery of the first 102 railcars in 2021 to be used on the new Metronet projects as they come online. The remaining 144 railcars are expected to be delivered between 2023 and 2028.
(Source: http://www.manmonthly.com.au/news/1-6b-railcar-manufacturing-facility-built-bellevue/)
New Water resources Management Legislation for WA
The government of Western Australia has made public its intention to modernise WA’s hundred-year-old water laws in a bid to mitigate the risk to water security posed by climate change. The planned Water Resources Management Bill will update and consolidate six pieces of water legislation in a new bill that will be both easier to understand and administer.
According to Water Minister Dave Kelly, the proposed reforms seek to ensure that the state’s water resources are utilised sustainably over the long-term and reduce the red tape that plagues licensing decisions and trading.
He added that the new laws would provide tools needed to manage high-use water resources such as WA’s south-west and Perth’s Gnangara groundwater systems that are being affected by climate change as well as help establish new and innovative water utilisation strategies.
(Source: https://www.news.com.au/national/western-australia/wa-water-resources-management-bill-aims-to-ensure-sustainability-amid-climate-change-concerns/news-story/5ef122e1b46f2da36c361d0eba437c47)
