WA GOVERNMENT'S $16 BILLION ASSET SALES PROGRAM
- Western Power was previously expected to net as much as $15 billion, but a more conservative $12 billion is now expected. The proposal is being fiercely fought by the Electrical Trades Union and Australian Services Union, which protested outside parliament after the 2016-17 budget was handed down, citing Victoria's deadly Black Saturday bushfires in opposing privatising the poles and wires utility.
- The budget confirmed the state government also seeks to privatise Pilbara poles and wires owned by regional energy utility Horizon, potentially netting $800 million. It's yet to be seen whether the Liberal's alliance partners the Nationals will support it.
- The sale of WA's sole container port at Fremantle will almost certainly not proceed before the March 2017 state election as it has been strongly opposed by the Nationals. The party is concerned about access and pricing for users of the monopoly asset, which include livestock exporters and grain producers.
- The sale of betting agency TAB, the last in Australia to be privatised, has also languished, with the Premier rejecting the racing industry's push to play a central role in the transaction. The state government is expecting a conservative $200 million sale price.
- The only major sale the Barnett government has got over the line and booked in its balance sheet is the Canning Vale-based Market City wholesale fruit and vegetable hub for $135.5 million.
- The WA government has also sold a swag of unwanted land, mainly around the metropolitan area.
- Its slow progress in privatising assets cost it the chance to access Commonwealth infrastructure money through the $5 billion asset recycling fund, which Victoria and NSW collected $3.3 billion from, but which was scrapped in the recent federal budget.
