‘Rushed and poorly written’: Labor moves to tear up laws allowing sale of Utah Point

Labor will repeal laws passed in the dying days of the Barnett Liberal Government allowing the sale of a Pilbara port facility in the heart of Port Hedland. The Utah Point Bulk Handling facility — central to the operations of Pilbara Ports — offers junior miners access to export services and common-user ship loading capacity. Following the 2016 laws and as a part of a bid to make as much as $6 billion from the sale of public assets, the Liberals eyed the sale of the facility as an option in a potential third term after 2017. Labor’s election victory and opposition to the sale meant the process was never pursued. The facility was identified by the Barnett Government as option for sale back in 2014, along with the Kwinana Bulk Terminal. Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said selling off the facility to private operators would undermine access to port facilities for smaller operators, hurting future private investment and risking Western Australian jobs. “We did not support and will never support the sale of Utah Point. This Act was a bad idea at the time and I’m yet to see any evidence to suggest it would have ever created any benefit for the taxpayer or the Government,” she said. “The Act was rushed and poorly written, failing to mention Utah Point by name, meaning that by rights, the Act granted blanket powers to sell any and all assets of Pilbara Ports. “This was simply a desperate attempt to get a one-off sugar hit that would paper over the cracks of a fiscally reckless Liberal National Government.” Labor’s bill, to be introduced this week, comes amid debate over the future of ownership of Darwin Port, which became a heated Federal campaign topic earlier this year. Under a deal between the Northern Territory Government the Chinese-owned Landbridge, the facility was leased for almost a century, despite national security concerns.