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Merger of former Albany, Bunbury, Esperance ports under review

The former Albany, Bunbury and Esperance port authorities were merged to form the Southern Ports Authority in October 2014 as part of the first tranche of port governance reforms.
Nearly three years after the amalgamation, a review will now consider the performance of the relevant ports before and after amalgamation to ascertain whether the expected benefits have been achieved, whether original concerns about the merger have been justified and if further changes are required for the future operation of the ports.
A working group will provide a report with findings and recommendations to the Minister for Transport by December 2017. The group is chaired by Agricultural Region MLC Laurie Graham and will include representatives from the Department of Transport and the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation.
“Now that nearly three years have passed, it is time to conduct a post-implementation review to evaluate what benefits have been achieved as a result of the amalgamation,” said Transport Minister Rita Saffioti.
“The purpose of the review is to evaluate the outcomes of amalgamating the Albany, Bunbury and Esperance port authorities to form Southern Ports.
“It’s clear to me from my travels in the South-West, Great Southern and Goldfields-Esperance regions in the past couple of years that people hold a range of views about the success or otherwise of the amalgamation, and whether it has been good for the regions.
“The working group will go into the process with an open mind and will present their findings to Government towards the end of the year.”

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