CHOGM - Full Report - Bethesda Hospital

W e s t e r n A u s t r a l i a B u s i n e s s E n v i r o n m e n t R e p o r t 

Table of Contents 

Letter from the Prime Minister ......................................................................... 4 

Commonwealth Linkages in the New Global Economy ................................... 5 

Interview with Hon Colin Barnett, Premier of Western Australia ............................ 8 

Perth and Western Australia Welcome CHOGM 2011 ....................................... 9 

Sector Overviews 

Oil & Gas .................................................................................................... 15 

Western Australia: A Global Resources and Investment Powerhouse ................... 23 

Mining ........................................................................................................ 27 

Banking & Financial Services .......................................................................... 41 

Health ........................................................................................................ 49 

Tourism ..................................................................................................... 55 

Education .................................................................................................. 63 

Agriculture & Fisheries ................................................................................. 73 

Western Australia: A Quality Food and Fibre Producer ...................................... 74 

Professional Services ................................................................................... 81 

Construction & Manufacturing ....................................................................... 87 

Western Australia’s Water Challenge .............................................................. 93 

Energy ........................................................................................................ 95 

Acknowledgements .................................................................................... 103 

Publisher – Rupert Birch 

Chief Editorial Director – Alisdair Jones 

Research Directors – Alisdair Jones & Miyese Özcan 

Sales Director – Agostina da Cunha 

Project Director – Miyese Özcan 

Graphic Design – Özgür Ergüney & Deniz K. 

 

© Commonwealth Business Council and Global Business Reports 2010 

The Survey is intended for the use and assistance of recipients. It does not provide investment 

advice and should not be regarded as a substitute for the exercise by the recipients of their own 

judgement. The Commonwealth Business Council and/or any person connected with it accept no 

liability whatsoever for any direct or consequential loss of any kind arising out of the use of this 

Survey or any part of its contents. The views expressed in this publication do not necessarily 

reflect the views of the Commonwealth Business Council and Global Business Reports.



 

Letter from the Prime Minister 

It was with great pleasure 

that I recently joined the 

Commonwealth Secretary- 

General Kamalesh Sharma 

in announcing that the 

next Commonwealth Heads 

of Government Meeting 

(CHOGM) will be held in Perth, 

Western Australia, from 28 to 

30 October 2011. 

As part of CHOGM, Perth will 

also play host to other key 

Commonwealth meetings in 

2011, including the important 

Commonwealth Business 

Forum from 25 to 27 October. 

All members of the Commonwealth – 

including of course Australia – share a 

strong commitment to the fundamental 

principles of democracy and development, 

good governance, the rule of law, and 

the protection of human rights. We also 

share a commitment to building on the 

ties between us. 

The Commonwealth Business Forum will 

be a unique opportunity for business 

leaders and government to come together 

to look for new opportunities to cooperate 

and share experiences and expertise in 

the field of commerce. 

We all benefit from greater economic 

interaction between Commonwealth 

countries, which represent around one 

quarter of the world’s countries, and one 

third of the world’s population. 

The Australian Government looks forward 

to welcoming the Commonwealth 

business sector to Australia to showcase 

the strengths of our nation. 

We have a strong financial sector, our 

businesses are plugged into global supply 

chains and we have energy and resources 

that are critical to economies around the 

world. 

We have an investment and business 

environment that is recognised as worldclass. 

For the second year in a row, the 

World Bank’s ‘Doing Business 2010’ 

report ranked Australia in the top ten 

out of 183 economies for ease of doing 

business. 

Western Australia is the perfect host 

for CHOGM and for the Commonwealth 

Business Forum. It has a unique place 

in the Australian business sector. It is 

one of the key drivers of our economic 

strength and accounts for the majority of 

our exports of LNG and iron ore, to name 

just two commodities. 

I look forward to welcoming you to 

Australia, to Western Australia and to 

Perth. As your hosts, all Australians are 

keen to showcase our rich and vibrant 

lifestyle, our stunning landscape and 

strong economy to Commonwealth and 

business leaders. 

The Honourable Kevin Rudd MP 

Prime Minister of Australia 

Commonwealth Linkages in the 

New Global Economy 

Australia, and the State of Western Australia in particular, are well 

positioned to take advantage of the continuing realignment of the 

global economy. 

The financial crisis has highlighted 

the shift in the balance of economic 

power to developing countries, 

while many Western economies face an 

extended period of weak growth and 

are developing plans to deal with above 

average deficits in public spending. 

The rise of the BRIC countries and 

powerful new players with cash rich 

sovereign wealth funds continue to 

provide significant opportunities for both 

finance and investment for the global 

market. The scale of the crisis has led to 

the widening of international discourse 

and the greater participation of emerging 

markets in the economic and political 

arena, which will be enhanced by the role 

the G20 now takes up. 

Australia, and the State of Western 

Australia in particular, are well positioned 

to take advantage of this continuing realignment 

of the global economy. 

The city of Perth is considered one of the 

Indian Ocean Rim’s Capitals, Important 

trading relationships throughout the 

region’s key markets of China, North 

Asia, Africa, India, the Middle East and 

ASEAN members such as Malaysia and 

Singapore consistently interface with 

Western Australia’s vast resource base 

and technical expertise. 

The countries that share Western 

Australia’s time zone represent 40 per 

cent of the world’s population and 63 per 

cent of the world’s economic output. 

As the hosts of the Commonwealth 

Heads of Government Meeting and the 

Commonwealth Business Forum in 2011, 

Australia will have an opportunity to 

strengthen these important relationships 

and build new ones, drawing 

on Commonwealth linkages 

between developed and 

developing countries. 

The modern Commonwealth is 

an association of 54 countries, 

spanning 6 continents with a 

population of over 2 billion 

people worldwide. Contrary 

to its image as an association 

based solely on its history, 

the Commonwealth is a 

dynamic and vital association 

of societies with a vibrant 

and growing private sector. Today’s 

Commonwealth is very different from the 

one created in 1949. Nearly 10% of the 

Commonwealth is made up of countries 

that were never British Colonies; this figure 

is likely to increase over the coming years. 

Today the association is represented by a 

series of strong values which govern the 

club and manage its membership. 

In October 1997, following the Edinburgh 

Declaration, the Commonwealth developed 

a new focus on the economic, financial and 

business aspects of the association. The 

Commonwealth Business Council was set 

up, and the first Commonwealth Business 

Forum was held with an aim to promote 

trade and investment, whilst increasing 

the role of the private sector in national 

economies. Today the Commonwealth is 

perceived of differently, and the economic 

focus has become a key driver. 

The Commonwealth is the largest English 

speaking bloc in the world and the power 

of the language has played a crucial role 

in developing economic linkages across 

Dr. Mohan Kaul 

Director General, 

Commonwealth 

Business Council



 

Aerial view of 

Fremantle city 

and harbour; 

Photo courtesy of 

Tourism Western 

Australia 

the world. Coupled with Commonwealth 

values of multi-party democracy, human 

rights, the rule of law, good governance 

and an open media, market oriented 

economic policies have meant that 

the Commonwealth is truly good for 

business. 

Furthermore, the “Commonwealth 

factor”; its shared legal, business and 

administrative systems, can bring down 

the price of doing business between 

Commonwealth countries by more 

than 15% when compared with non- 

Commonwealth countries. Commonwealth 

businesses are well positioned as leaders 

in sectors such as ICT, financial services, 

energy, agriculture and mineral production. 

Increasingly the modern Commonwealth 

is defined by dynamic economies such 

as India, Nigeria, South Africa, Malaysia, 

Trinidad and Tobago. These, amongst 

others, are arising as potential centres 

of economic excellence; growing in 

importance to key markets such as the 

UK, Australia, Singapore, New Zealand 

and Canada. 

The economic potential of the 

Commonwealth’s emerging markets and 

developing countries is considerable. 

Investor confidence in Africa is 

demonstrated by a 16 percent rise in 

capital flows to a record US$62 billion in 

2008, while foreign direct investment fell 

20 percent worldwide in the same year. 

The success of the expanding Indian 

economy is widely acknowledged by 

international investors. Confidence has 

been reflected, for example, by FDI 

Equity inflows from the UK that were an 

estimated £864 million in 2008 - 2009. 

Australian/Indian bilateral trade achieved 

annual growth of 25% over the same 

period. Since 1993, almost 1,800 new 

joint ventures or foreign collaborations 

between Indian and UK companies have 

been approved, a rate of approximately 

200 ventures a year. The potential 

in other parts of South Asia, through 

Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka is also 

significant. The appetite for investment 

in emerging markets has remained strong 

throughout the financial crisis and is 

getting stronger as investors look for 

larger returns than those which more 

mature markets are currently offering. 

Examples such as these demonstrate the 

shifting balance of economic importance 

towards diversified, global trading 

relationships. New international structures 

are needed in order to reflect this, and 

the Commonwealth meetings, that bring 

many of the key players together, can 

play an important role. 

In this context, it is timely to take a fresh 

look at the Commonwealth. Over $3 trillion 

in trade happens within the Commonwealth 

every year and the Commonwealth has 

seen inward investment flows rise to US$ 

200 billion annually. The Commonwealth 

accounts for more than 20% of world trade 

and investment. The potential for further 

Commonwealth trade and investment 

is considerable, especially in the rapidly 

growing services sector as well as in 

the natural resources and manufacturing 

sectors. 

In these changing economic circumstances, 

there are good opportunities for Australia. 

Trade and investment links with Britain 

remain strong. The UK is the largest 

source of total foreign investment in 

Australia. In 2008, total UK foreign 

investment in Australia was valued at 

AU$427.1 billion and total investment by 

Australian interests in the UK was worth 

AU$158.1 billion. There are also obvious 

opportunities in other regions. 

Australian linkages with India, for 

example, are developed in the areas 

of ICT services such as software 

development and outsourcing, as well as 

the growing education services sector. 

There also exists a huge opportunity in 

the massive infrastructure development 

that is required to modernize the sub 

continent. An estimated US$70 billion per 

year is required over the next five years 

to complement GDP growth in India, 

and government funding will need to be 

matched by private investment. Indo- 

Australian trade was worth AU$20.7 

billion in 2009. 

The domestic market driven Indian 

economy offers a different dynamic 

for Australia’s production and services 

based industries. The recently concluded 

Australia-India Free Trade Agreement 

(FTA) Joint Feasibility Study recommends 

the negotiation of a comprehensive 

bilateral free trade agreement and predicts 

a net increase in Australia’s GDP of up to 

US$32 billion and India’s GDP by up to 

US$34 billion over a period of 20 years 

would result from such a deal. 

There is also growing interest in Australia 

for doing business with African nations. 

Australia’s trade with Africa has grown 

steadily over the last ten years at an annual 

average of over 9 per cent. Australia’s total 

merchandise trade with Africa was valued 

at US$5.5 billion in 2008-09. Around 40 

per cent of Australian mining companies’ 

overseas projects are in Africa, and actual 

and prospective investment by Australian 

resource companies in Africa are estimated 

to be around US$20 billion, spread across 

38 African countries. It is now widely 

recognised that Australian expertise 

and their approach to business are very 

welcome in Africa. Again, infrastructure 

development is a major requirement 

for countries now experiencing growth 

levels of more than 5% per year, offering 

further opportunities. Agriculture and 

agro-processing also present significant 

opportunities within the Commonwealth 

community. 

Given a shifting global economy and 

Australia’s location and expertise, 

2011 will be an auspicious time for the 

Commonwealth to be gathering in Perth. 

The world class mining and resources 

based industries, its construction sector 

and its agricultural expertise, mean that 

the country’s private sector is ready to 

seize the opportunities offered by the 

emerging markets. The Commonwealth 

Business Council is glad to be a partner in 

this process and act as a bridge between 

the developed and the developing markets 

of the Commonwealth.



 

Interview with the Honourable Colin Barnett, 

Premier of Western Australia 

Q – What does it mean 

for Perth and Western 

Australia to be hosting 

CHOGM in 2011? 

CB – This is a unique and 

fortuitous opportunity 

for Western Australia 

to promote itself 

internationally through 

the Commonwealth. I 

am very conscious that 

Australia is the host 

and that Perth is Australia’s city on the Indian 

Ocean. To have 52 heads of state at one time 

visit Western Australia has to be a great plus for 

increasing awareness about the state. 

Q – From a business perspective, what is the 

significance of Western Australia? 

CB – From a business perspective, Western 

Australia is the future. Western Australia has 

just over 10 per cent of Australia’s population, 

but accounts for more than a third of national 

exports. In terms of distance, ease and time of 

travel, Perth is closest to the main economic 

hubs of Asia. Sydney and Singapore are pretty 

much equidistant from us. Western Australians 

are not only emotionally and physically 

orientated towards Asia, our economy is also 

directed that way. 

Western Australia provides around 70 per cent 

of Australia’s exports to China, more than 50 per 

cent of national exports to India and around 40 

per cent to Japan. With 500 commercial mining 

and petroleum projects currently underway, 

Western Australia dominates the Australian mining 

industry. It has an extraordinary percentage of 

world market share of many commodities and is 

undisputedly the world’s leading mining economy. 

Q – What sectors of the Western Australian 

economy outside of mining and resource 

extraction are of greatest importance? 

CB – There is a huge amount of world class 

technology and science behind Western 

Australia’s massive mining sector. This state 

produces around half of the world’s mining 

software and plays an important part in other 

market niches such as subsea technology 

development, engineering and environmental land 

care. We are involved in some processing and 

downstream manufacturing industries, but we 

have not developed these enough. Our approach 

is to encourage the customers of our mining 

companies to re-locate to Western Australia. 

Agricultural output is currently worth AU$8 billion 

across the state; we think this has the potential to 

increase. Western Australia competes in a global 

economy, so our business and finance sectors are 

world class. We have high standards of education 

and medical services and important education, 

training, research and innovation businesses have 

grown in these sectors. 

Q – How important is the broader Commonwealth 

community to the economy of Perth and Western 

Australia? 

CB – In addition to traditional links with Britain, 

Australian companies are increasingly involved in 

Africa, and many are building strong relationships 

with Indian companies. They gravitate towards 

Commonwealth countries because there is a 

consistency of language, legal systems and 

government systems; this is important. 

Currently, we are helping Tanzania develop its 

mining law and we have been very successful in 

exporting gold and other mining technologies to 

African Commonwealth members. 

In the future, I am very keen to see young 

professionals from Commonwealth countries, from 

geologists to engineers and chemical analysts, 

coming to Western Australia to improve their skill 

levels. Also, we have very sophisticated industries 

employing highly skilled individuals, but our 

population is only 2.2 million. In the coming years, 

you will see a strong inflow of skilled migration, 

including from the Commonwealth. Through their 

remittances and the skills they acquire, such 

workers could be a stronger force for development 

in their own countries than foreign aid. 

Q – Do you have any final messages for the 

Commonwealth community? 

CB – I hope that the people that come here for 

CHOGM take the time to see other beautiful 

parts of the State: Margaret River with wonderful 

wines; Ningaloo, the world’s largest fringe coral 

reef; the Kimberley, one of the world’s great 

wildernesses; and the Burrup Peninsula, with a 

million ancient rock carvings, between eight and 

forty thousand years old. 

Perth and Western Australia 

Welcome CHOGM 2011 

In 2011, Western Australia will welcome business and government 

representatives from more than 50 nations for the Commonwealth 

Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) and associated 

Commonwealth Business Forum. 

When arriving by air, visitors’ first 

impressions may well be of the 

isolation of the State capital, 

Perth, and of Western Australia’s vast 

size. Western Australia is the largest 

of Australia’s states and territories: a 

landmass stretching across 2.5 million 

square kilometres (965,000 square miles). 

It covers a third of continental Australia, 

spanning 2400 km (1500 miles) from 

north to south, and has more than 12,000 

kilometres (8000 miles) of coastline. Perth 

is located more than 2000 kilometres 

from the nearest Australian state capital, 

and is closer to Jakarta, Indonesia, than 

it is to Sydney. 

Western Australia is home to 2.25 million 

people, more than 1.6 million (74 per 

cent) of whom live in the metropolitan 

area around the capital city, Perth, making 

it comparable in size to Lusaka in Zambia, 

Montreal in Canada, or Chandigarh in 

India. 

Western Australia’s geography – its size, 

its sparse population, its location and its 

isolation – has presented many challenges 

for economic and social development, but 

it has also created exciting opportunities. 

The state’s land and sea resources 

have provided rich bounties in minerals, 

agriculture, forestry and fisheries. These 

rewards have only been earned through 

the innovation and enterprise applied in 

dealing with challenges, including harsh 

climates, difficult terrains and vast 

Author: 

State Government 

of Western 

Australia 

Above: 

Perth city skyline 

and Swan River; 



Australia



Convoy of vehicles 

for the Canning 

Stock Route 

Project, July 2007 

(FORM); Photo 

courtesy of Tim 

Acker 

distances. The challenges of isolation and 

a relatively small population have brought 

a sharp focus on global competitiveness to 

both industry and the state government. 

Western Australia’s location is proving 

another advantage: it shares its time 

zone (UTC + 8 hours) with about 60 per 

cent of the world’s population, including 

China and much of Asia, making it easier 

to do business. The state’s major iron ore 

and petroleum ports, more than 1000 

kilometres north of Perth, are closer to 

major Asian markets and industrial centres 

than those of its competitors. 

Western Australia’s ability to take 

advantage of these opportunities means 

that the state, already Australia’s leading 

economy and driving national prosperity, 

is confidently looking forward to continued 

economic expansion in the 21st century. 

A State of Prosperity 

Over the last 10 years, Western Australia 

has consistently been the state with the 

highest gross state product (GSP) per 

capita. In 2008–09, Western Australia’s 

GSP per capita was AU$71,052 – well 

above Australia’s gross domestic product 

(GDP) per capita of AU$55,195 – and 

its export earnings of more than AU$86 

billion equalled 38 per cent of the national 

total. 

Over the coming decade, many more 

billions of dollars will be invested in new 

mining and processing projects, building 

ports and transport infrastructure and 

constructing community and tourism 

facilities, further adding to the state’s 

exports and its wealth. 

While Western Australia owes its current 

prosperity primarily to its mineral wealth 

and strong growth in demand from 

Asia, its economy is diverse and well 

developed. 

Almost 70 per cent of the workforce is 

employed in services industries, which 

include sophisticated engineering and 

construction, finance and public services, 

well developed retail, commercial and 

tourism businesses and world-class 

education and scientific and medical 

research sectors. 

In addition, Western Australia has a 

growing manufacturing base that includes 

a global leader in fast light shipbuilding, 

chemicals and mineral products. It also 

has a diverse agriculture, food and 

forestry sector. 

By any standard, most Western Australians 

enjoy a high standard of living with access 

to quality housing and world-class health 

and education systems. 

A State of Harmony 

Western Australia, with a population 

growing at more than three per cent 

annually, is a lively, diverse and 

harmonious society. Western Australians 

can trace their origins to more than 200 

countries, primarily from Europe, but 

also from Asia, Africa, the Middle East 

having been born overseas. Indigenous 

people, Western Australia’s traditional 

landowners, make up three per cent of 

the state’s population. 

While English is the common language, 

between them Western Australians speak 

about 270 different languages and they 

practise more than 100 religious faiths. 

Immigration continues to play a vital role 

in the state’s economic development, 

and helps foster an open society that 

accommodates diversity and offers 

opportunity for enterprising and hardworking 

people, whatever their origin. 

This is reflected by a lively cultural life 

that encompasses and nurtures a wide 

range of contemporary and traditional 

art, music, dance and theatre, including 

indigenous performance and film, a worldclass 

orchestra and ballet company, and 

a vibrant nightlife. It is also reinforced 

by high levels of participation and 

achievement across many fields of team 

and individual sports, at local, national 

and international levels. 

For Western Australians, community 

harmony and individual opportunity are 

also underpinned by access to quality 

education, health, housing and the 

protection of law enforcement and 

emergency services. Most community 

services are provided through a 

combination of government, private 

sector and non-government organisations 

and systems, but all conform to standards 

set and monitored by relevant local, state 

and national authorities. 

The Western Australian government 

invests in and emphasises innovation 

in seeking to improve the services it 

provides, and responds to changing 

community needs and expectations. 

Participation in approved education, 

training or employment is compulsory to 

age 17 in Western Australia, with more 

than 350,000 students enrolled in preprimary, 

primary and secondary classes. 

Australian educational institutions 

attracted enrolments from more 

than 56,000 overseas students from 

140 countries, including from many 

Commonwealth member states. 

The state’s tertiary education sector, 

along with private organisations and 

government agencies, has a strong record 

in research and development across a wide 

range of fields and many international 

collaborative linkages. 

Two researchers from Royal Perth 

Hospital, Professor Barry Marshall and Dr 

Robin Warren, won the 2005 Nobel Prize 

for Medicine for their groundbreaking 

research into the causes of gastritis 

and stomach ulcers. Professor Marshall 

continues to teach and is currently head 

of the molecular biology laboratory at the 

University of Western Australia. 

Advanced medical research is just one 

aspect of a comprehensive health system 

that delivers to Western Australians a high 

standard of emergency and specialised 

hospital care and community-based 

health services. A major state government 

investment in hospital infrastructure is 

underway, building Australia’s newest and 

best tertiary care hospital and redeveloping 

hospitals in regional centres. 

The government is also developing new 

partnership approaches to attract private 

sector involvement in designing and 

building public hospitals, and providing 

hospital services. 

Innovative use of advanced information 

and communications technology helps 

the Western Australian government 

deliver better services across the vast, 

sparsely populated state. An example 

is the development of broadband 

telecommunications infrastructure to 

better service some of the world’s most 

remote communities in the indigenous 

Ngaanyatjarra lands, more than 1500 km 

east of Perth. 

Through CHOGM 2011, Western Australia 

Western Australians are also well served Maintaining Western Australia’s social 

will share with Commonwealth colleagues 

for world-class tertiary and technical harmony through improving access 

its experiences in overcoming a wide range 

institutions, with five universities and to quality services and community 

of challenges and offer opportunities for 

a state-wide network of polytechnic infrastructure is a strong priority for the 

10 

future co-operation and development. and the Americas, with 27 per cent 

and trade colleges. In 2009, Western Western Australian government. 

11



Perth, Western Australia’s Capital 

In 2009, the London-based Economist 

Intelligence Unit placed Perth, Western 

Australia’s capital city, fifth among the 

world’s most liveable cities. The Perth 

metropolitan region spreads over 6000 

square kilometres, more than three times 

the area of Greater London, and has more 

than adequate space to accommodate 

future growth. 

Stretched between golden beaches on 

the Indian Ocean and the foothills of the 

Darling Scarp, it is a great place to live, 

to visit and to do business. Residential 

areas are well planned with good-quality 

infrastructure and services, as well as 

access to parks and playing fields, cultural 

facilities, cinemas and restaurants. 

Safe, clean beaches are only 20 minutes 

from the central business district (CBD) 

and accessible along the entire 110- 

kilometre length of the metropolitan area. 

Beaches, along with large areas of riverside 

foreshore parks and other reserves, linked 

by the city’s growing network of cycle 

ways, support a lifestyle that combines 

work and active outdoor leisure time with 

family and friends. 

Vehicle ownership is high, and a well 

developed road system caters efficiently 

both for personal and commercial traffic, 

and is monitored and managed centrally 

through a state-of-the-art traffic control 

centre. 

An integrated bus and rail public transport 

system, which includes electronic 

ticketing and a 105-kilometre rail spine and 

serves an area in excess of 5000 square 

kilometres, has experienced growth of 40 

per cent in just three years. 

State government and local government 

planning and environmental policies and 

administration ensure that residential, 

commercial and industrial development 

meets high standards and that emissions 

and waste are properly managed. 

including the Kwinana Industrial Area, 

Western Australia’s premier heavyindustry 

area. At its eastern edges, 

irrigated horticulture and the vineyards of 

the Swan Valley provide fresh food, wines 

and a wide range of tourist attractions. 

Perth’s Central Business District 

Perth’s central business district (CBD) 

stretches more than five kilometres 

alongside the Swan River and the 

magnificent 400-hectare Kings Park 

and Botanical Gardens. As construction 

cranes atop rising office towers and new 

residential developments attest, Western 

Australia’s current economic growth 

is having a strong impact on the city 

centre. 

The CBD accommodates more than 

100,000 visitors and commuters each 

day and more than 16,000 residents 

live within the City of Perth’s municipal 

boundaries. It serves as the centre 

for government administration and for 

business in the state, and increasingly as 

the regional headquarters for resourcesand 

petroleum-related companies in the 

wider Southeast Asian region. 

A diversity of retail outlets, boutique 

shopping and cafes provide a lively heart 

to the city. To its north is the nightlife 

district and cultural precinct, with the 

state’s museum art gallery and new live 

theatre centre. On its southern side, 

the state-of-the-art Perth Convention 

and Exhibition Centre and a concert hall 

overlook the Swan River. 

The completion of CHOGM 2011 will 

signal the commencement of a major 

redevelopment of the city’s waterfront, 

which will provide better access to the 

river, as well as greater integration of 

river and city. 

Western Australia’s Regions 

Regional Western Australia covers a vast 

area and a wide range of landscapes, 

livelihoods and lifestyles, offering many 

opportunities for investment and business. 

Regional cities and towns offer highstandard 

government and private sector 

services, advanced communications and 

The state government carefully manages 

the state’s forests, beaches and 

waterways and, with a network of National 

Parks, protects key environmental values 

and natural attractions. To Perth’s south, 

through the Peel region’s farmlands and 

residential developments, is Mandurah, a 

coastal city and holiday centre linked by 

commuter rail to Perth. To the east of the 

region, the forested Darling Range is rich 

in bauxite, an important mineral export. 

Bunbury, 185 kilometres south of Perth, 

is the industrial and services centre of the 

South West region. It is known worldwide 

for its wines, forests and surf, as well 

as for significant minerals, forestry and 

fruit. As a prime tourism and recreational 

destination, both for Western Australians 

and visitors, the South West offers 

natural beauty and the great diversity 

of arts, crafts, culinary and adventure 

experiences. 

The adjoining Great Southern region, with 

its spectacularly located city of Albany, 

is a significant producer of livestock, 

crops and plantation timber and offers 

striking scenery, quality wines and 

fine foods. Current redevelopment of 

Albany’s waterfront is delivering a new 

entertainment centre, marina and luxury 

hotel, overlooking the beautiful Princess 

Royal Harbour. 

To Perth’s east, beyond forested hills, the 

farmlands of the Wheatbelt, stretching 

for hundreds of kilometres to the north, 

south and east, have produced wool, 

grains and meat for world markets for 

more than a century. A highway continues 

eastwards alongside the railway that 

links to Australia’s Eastern states, and 

the 560-kilometre water pipeline that 

a century ago took water from Perth’s 

hills to Kalgoorlie-Boulder at the heart 

of fabled goldfields. Kalgoorlie-Boulder 

remains an important mining, processing 

and services centre for surrounding 

gold and nickel projects, with new 

uranium and rare earths projects under 

The metropolitan area also incorporates 

airports, Fremantle Port – the state’s 

major container terminal – and numerous 

industrial and commercial estates, reliable road and air linkages. 

12 13



State Migration Centre 

One of Western Australia’s key economic 

challenges relates directly to the issue of labour 

supply. According to a recent study by Western 

Australia’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 

76 per cent of Western Australian businesses 

report labour as scarce. It is estimated that 

an extra 400,000 workers will be required to 

sustain the economy by 2017, and, at current 

rates of growth in the labour force, there will 

be a 150,000 shortfall in available labour in WA 

by this time. The State Migration Centre works 

alongside other key government agencies such 

as the Department of Training and Workforce 

Development (DTWD) and the Department of 

Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) in order to 

develop an integrated human capital strategy for 

WA. Together these agencies act as a gateway 

for potential skilled migrants and businesses to 

enter Western Australia. They also undertake 

promotional activities on the international stage to 

further boost WA’s reputation as an ideal region 

in which to live, study and work. State Migration 

CEO Jacky Finlayson maintains: “Western 

Australia definitely has a lifestyle element. On 

top of this, the economy is doing so well that 

Western Australia is naturally attractive for 

ambitious people. The government works hard to 

promote Western Australia as an excellent place 

to come to live and work.” 

Western Australia’s economic strength presents 

significant opportunities for the Commonwealth 

community’s labour force. Commonwealth 

countries such as India, Malaysia, UK and 

South Africa form the key markets for labour 

migration into WA. Jacky Finlayson highlights 

the opportunities presented by CHOGM 2011 for 

bringing the Commonwealth’s labour force closer 

together: “CHOGM is a fantastic opportunity and 

certainly one that the whole of Western Australia, 

from government to small businesses, will 

embrace. This is an excellent forum for Western 

Australia to promote our lifestyle, culture, 

economy and opportunities.” 

S e c t o r O v e r v i e w 

Oil & Gas 

development, and exploration continually 

revealing new wealth. Esperance, 350 

kilometres to the south of Perth, is the 

regional port and a significant agricultural 

centre. It boasts some of the world’s 

most beautiful beaches and spectacular 

coastal scenery. 

Further north, the iron ore mines in the 

Pilbara region and petroleum production 

platforms in offshore waters are powering 

Western Australia’s – and Australia’s – 

economy. The region’s largest population 

centres, Karratha and Port Hedland, 

more than 1500 kilometres north of 

Perth, are growing rapidly, with major 

government and industry investment 

underway to assist their development as 

modern cities. 

To Perth’s north, the coastline is home 

to the state’s rock lobster fishery, and 

to towns that are growing as holiday 

destinations. The city of Geraldton- 

Greenough, 420 kilometres north of Western Australia’s northernmost region, 

Perth, is the services centre and port the Kimberley, is world renowned for its 

for the state’s Mid West region. The spectacular landscapes and coastlines. 

Mid West is set to become a major iron The region’s largest town, Broome, is a 

ore region and industrial centre with a global tourism destination famed for its 

AU$4 billion port, rail and industrial land pearls. In the east, Kununurra, near Lake 

development project underway at Oakajee Argyle Dam, is at the centre of a major 

to service new mining projects. Further expansion of irrigated agriculture and 

north, through the arid rangelands of investment in community infrastructure. 

the Gascoyne region, the regional centre 

Carnarvon services fisheries, pastoralists New petroleum fields are being developed 

and a well established and expanding in offshore waters and promise further 

irrigated horticultural sector. Along the opportunity for LNG processing and export, 

Gascoyne coastline, the dolphins of to strengthen the regional economy. 

Monkey Mia and the white beaches and 

underwater corals of the 260-kilometre Western Australia’s regions are at 

Ningaloo Reef attract visitors from around the forefront of the state’s economic 

14 

the world. 

development. 

15



Oil & Gas 

Western Australia’s oil and gas sector has grown from relatively 

humble beginnings, from drilling on the Exmouth Peninsula in 

1953 to a sector of breathtaking industrial magnitude. 

10 per cent. West Australian oil and gas 

production activity is centred upon the 

North West Shelf coastal region, offshore 

from the Pilbara. As investment in the 

region continues to increase, projects are 

spreading further west into the Indian 

Ocean and north into the Timor Sea. 

As demand in Western Australia’s key 

oil and gas markets (Japan, Korea, China 

and Taiwan) continues to increase, 

the potential returns are huge. Led by 

Chevron’s Gorgon LNG project, in which 

AU$44 billion will be invested over 20 

years, investment into Western Australia’s 

oil and gas sector is set to increase by 

AU$100 billion by 2016. 

The scale of investment coming into the 

oil and gas sector has galvanised a wave 

of services companies and specialist firms 

coming to set up office in Perth. Western 

Australia is now anticipating a boom in oil 

and gas over the coming years. 

Western Australia has two state 

departments responsible for the 

development of Western Australia’s 

resources sectors. One is the Department 

of State Development, which comes 

under the jurisdiction of the Premier. 

The DSD is involved with major projects, 

which then become State Development 

Acts, whereby projects become an Act of 

Parliament. These agreements are viewed 

as very positive by the private sector in 

terms of raising capital. The Department 

of Mines and Petroleum is more of 

a regulator; its job is fundamentally 

to regulate the mines and petroleum 

industries. The Department of Mines and 

Petroleum allocates the acreage onshore 

and offshore; it then provides the approvals 

for exploration to take place. It monitors 

ongoing activities, as well as ensuring that 

projects are decommissioned sustainably. 

The Department of Mines and Petroleum 

also collects royalties on behalf of the 

Treasury.’ 

Section Cover 

(previous page): 

LNG Karratha Gas 

Plant North West 

Shelf Venture; 


Ministry for Mining 

and Petroleum 

Above: 

Kwinana refinery; 

Photo couresty of 

BP Australia 

As the importance of Western 

Australia’s oil and gas reserves 

to emerging Asia continues to 

increase, so too does the attention paid to 

the region by some of the world’s leading 

energy giants. Capital investments into 

Western Australia’s oil and gas sector are 

currently setting national records. 

This industrial sector is now directly 

competing with the mining sector to be 

Western Australia’s most exciting area of 

business activity. 

Overview 

projects; Gorgon alone requires 10,000 

staff during peak construction. 

Western Australia accounts for 66 

per cent of Australia’s crude oil and 

condensate production, as well as 71 

per cent of national gas production. Oil 

and gas accounted for 27 per cent of the 

AU$3.2 billion in royalties received by the 

state from Western Australia’s resources 

sectors. Western Australia’s total gas 

reserves are estimated to be 160 trillion 

cubic feet, attracting some of the largest 

international petroleum firms. 

Regulatory Regime 

Following a change of state government 

in 2009, Western Australia’s approach to 

regulating the state’s resources sectors 

has changed significantly. Following 

re-election in 2008, Norman Moore, 

Minister for Mines and Petroleum in 

Western Australia’s Liberal government, 

has restructured management of Western 

Australia’s resources projects in order to 

speed up the state’s approvals process. 

‘We set about establishing a more 

conducive environment for investment 

by splitting up the former Department of 

Industry and Resources that dealt with 

all industries across the board,’ explains 

Minister Moore. ‘We put the major projects 

into the Department of State Development, 

smaller-scale manufacturing and industry 

into the Department of Commerce, and 

the resources approvals went into the 

Ministry of Mines and Petroleum. By 

doing this we have achieved speedier 

approvals that pay due attention to issues 

such as environmental sustainability 

and indigenous title. We have also used 

the internet to make the progress of 

companies’ applications available to 

them, in order to help them track what is 

As a result of Minister Moore’s changes to 

the regulatory regime, activity in Western 

Australia’s oil and gas sector has spiked 

significantly. Oil and gas exploration 

activity has grown by AU$770 million 

between 2008 and 2009 to a state record 

of AU$2.9 billion. Western Australia’s 

renewed approach to regulating the 

state’s valuable oil and gas resources 

lays an excellent foundation for future 

investment coming into the sector. 

Key Industry Players 

The Australian Petroleum Production 

and Exploration Association (APPEA) 

is Australia’s oil and gas sector’s key 

industry body. ‘APPEA is the peak national 

body promoting Australia’s oil and gas 

exploration and production,’ explains 

CEO Belinda Robinson. ‘We have 80 full 

member companies that produce and/or 

explore for oil or gas – and about 200 

associate member companies. These are 

companies that provide a range of goods 

and services to the industry. This year, 

we are celebrating our 50th anniversary. 

APPEA’s primary goal is to ensure that 

the policy, regulatory and fiscal settings 

in Australia are conducive to responsible 

and sustainable oil and gas industry 

Australia is expected to become the 

Western Australia’s oil and gas sector world’s second-largest exporter of 

accounted for AU$21.3 billion in 2008– liquefied natural gas (LNG) after Qatar 

09, a nine per cent increase from 2007– by the year 2020; this translates into 

08. This equates to 14 per cent of gross LNG export earnings increasing by 500 

state product (GSP). The industry directly per cent over the same time period. 

employed an average of 6922 employees Presently, LNG accounts for 38 per cent 

throughout 2009, a number set to of Western Australian petroleum exports, 

16 

increase dramatically with future major crude oil for 35 per cent and condensate 

happening with approvals applications. growth.’ 

17



Offshore oil rig; 


Ministry for Mines 

and Petroleum 

APPEA is active throughout the industry, 

maintaining high standards through a 

variety of awards and events. 

Western Australia’s oil and gas sector 

is dominated by four major operators: 

Woodside, Apache, BHP Billiton and 

Chevron. Despite there being a number of 

relatively new entrants into the market, 

such as ENI and Total, as well as a range 

of incumbent majors involved at an 

investment level, production operations 

are dominated by the aforementioned 

four major players. 

Krzywosinski explains the importance of 

Western Australia to Chevron’s global 

operations: ‘At an upstream level, 

Western Australia is one of four focus 

areas that we have around the world. We 

have a great portfolio, great confidence 

and a fantastic opportunity to move that 

forward. We are applying a great deal of 

human resource to develop the projects 

we have now undertaken.’ 

Chevron has a close relationship with 

Western Australia’s research institutions, 

investing AU$15 million in 29 different 

projects through 2008-09. Innovative 

techniques form the cornerstone of 

what Chevron is able to achieve in 

Western Australia as highlighted by Roy 

Krzywosinski: ‘On Gorgon there’s got to 

be at least half a dozen technologies that I 

would call cutting edge. The water depths 

that we are working with combined with 

the sub-sea technology we are using 

has galvanised cutting edge welding and 

installation techniques. 

‘We are working closely with the 

universities to understand what new 

ideas our engineers can apply. Without 

innovation, Gorgon would not be 

happening. Innovation has been a key 

enabler for Gorgon. Perth is beginning to 

establish itself as an intellectual centre 

for talent in oil, gas and mining. Some of 

the best technical minds are in Perth, and 

more and more coming every day.’ 

Between the Gorgon and Wheatstone 

projects alone, Chevron is set to invest 

AU$59 billion dollars in Western 

Australia’s oil and gas industry. 

international operations in Algeria and the 

Gulf of Mexico are fledgling; we are trying 

to develop businesses in these regions. 

Clearly the LNG strategy we have in 

Western Australia is the lynchpin of our 

company.’ 

Highlighting Western Australia’s potential 

as a hub for LNG production, Voelte 

says, ‘Over the course of the next 10 

to 15 years, Western Australia will be 

challenging Qatar as the world’s leading 

supplier of liquefied natural gas for export. 

Australia has huge potential to become 

a major player on the international LNG 

market.’ 

Woodside also has a series of megaprojects 

scheduled for development 

or currently under development in 

North Western Australia. Of greatest 

significance are the Pluto, Browse and 

Sunrise projects. 

With 16 oil and gas production facilities 

throughout Western Australia, Apache 

is the state’s second-largest oil and gas 

operating producer behind Woodside. 

Apache holds 4.3 million acres throughout 

the North West coast in 31 exploration 

permits, 14 production licenses and three 

retention leases. The John Brookes, 

Van Gogh and Stag wells are some 

of Apache’s most significant Western 

Australian producers. Apache plays a 

key role in Western Australia’s domestic 

gas market, providing a significant 

proportion of output to power Western 

Australia’s commerce and industry. 

Apache is currently involved in a number 

of significant projects, such as the BHP 

Billiton-operated Pyrenees project and 

the Chevron-operated Wheatstone LNG 

project. 

Although synonymous with Western 

Australia’s mining sector, BHP Billiton is 

also a significant player in the state’s oil 

and gas industry. BHP Billiton has been a 

longstanding joint venture partner on the 

North West Shelf Venture, as well as a 

significant operator on the Stybarrow and 

recently completed Pyrenees projects. The 

Pyrenees project was one of significant 

complexity to deliver, and now has a 

production capacity of 96,000 barrels 

of oil per day. Pyrenees has a reinjection 

capacity of 60 million cubic feet of gas 

per day; gas is pumped into the adjacent 

Macedon well for later recovery – a 

remarkable technical achievement. 

ENI, Inpex, Shell, Santos and ConocoPhillips 

are some of the more prominent 

international oil and gas companies also 

operating in Western Australia. Entering 

the Western Australian oil and gas 

sector in the 1960s, ConocoPhillips now 

operates the Bayu-Undan project in the 

Timor Sea. Such projects are governed 

under the Joint Petroleum Development 

Authority (JPDA), a joint commission 

with representation from both Australia 

and Timor Leste. 

‘‘ 

Australia is Japan’s 

fourth largest 

source of imports 

and the third 

largest exporter 

of LNG in the Asia 

Pacific region 

Seiya Ito, 

Managing Director 

of Inpex 

‘‘ 

Chevron first came into Western Since entering Western Australia’s oil 

Australia over 60 years ago as part of and gas sector in 1963 as a pioneering 

the drilling consortium exploring the exploration company, Woodside has 

Exmouth Peninsula in 1953. Chevron grown into Australia’s largest independent 

currently operates Western Australia’s producer of oil and gas. Woodside is the 

oldest oil field on Barrow Island at 45 operator of the North West Shelf Venture, 

years old. Western Australia has been which represents approximately 40 per 

identified by Chevron as one of four cent of overall Australian oil and gas 

key exploration areas throughout the production. Woodside CEO Don Voelte is 

firm’s global operations. Chevron is all too aware of the importance of Western 

Australia’s largest holder of natural gas Australia to Woodside’s operations. 

resources and is at the centre of some ‘Western Australia is paramount for 

of Australia’s most exciting oil and gas Woodside,’ he admits. ‘Frankly it is all 

projects such as Gorgon and Wheatstone. about Western Australia; 95 per cent of 

18 

Chevron Australia Managing Director Roy our assets are in Western Australia. Our 

19



Austal trimaran 

utilising the 

Floating Dock 

during the 

development phase 

of the advanced 

hull form; Photo 

courtesy of 

Australian Marine 

Complex (AMC) 

Outlining the importance of Western 

Australia for the firm, ConocoPhillips 

Australia President Joe Marushack 

says, ‘Australia is a key area of growth 

for ConocoPhillips. We have very good 

relationships with the government here, 

and conditions for doing business in 

Australia are very good.’ 

Major Projects 

The North West Shelf Venture was the 

first oil and gas mega-project to have been 

undertaken in Western Australia. With 

construction having begun in 1980, the 

North West Shelf Venture now accounts 

for AU$27 billion worth of investment. 

The project has undergone significant 

development since first production in 

1984, and now has an annual production 

capacity of 16.3 million tons of LNG. The 

North West Shelf Venture accounts for 65 

per cent of Western Australia’s domestic 

gas consumption, and has so far delivered 

more than 2800 LNG cargos to Asian 

markets. The North West Shelf Venture 

has six key participants: Shell, BP, BHP 

Billiton, Chevron, Japan Australia LNG 

and Woodside as the operator. 

enough equivalent gas to power a city 

of one million inhabitants for around 800 

years. Gorgon has roughly a five year 

construction window, so we expect to 

see first gas for export in 2014. 

‘In terms of benefit for the region, 

Gorgon is expected to provide around 

10,000 direct and indirect jobs during 

construction, and to sustain 3500 direct 

and indirect jobs throughout the project 

lifecycle. 

‘Gorgon will result in around 33 billion 

dollars in local expenditure for goods and 

services in Australia. The government 

will also win in terms of expanding their 

revenue base and tax base to the tune of 

about 40 billion dollars. 

‘The estimates are that Gorgon will have 

a 60 billion dollar impact on GDP over the 

course of the project’s first thirty years. 

Our focus is on building the three train, 

15 million tonnes per annum project but 

there is also scope to expand to four or 

five trains in the future if required. 

‘Gorgon will include the world’s leading 

carbon sequestration project in the 

“Carbon Dioxide Injection Project”. With 

AU$2 billion invested, the project aims to 

be one of the world’s most greenhouse 

gas efficient LNG projects, reducing 

emissions by approximately 40 per cent 

when compared with industry standards 

Woodside’s Pluto project is one of the 

world’s fastest-ever LNG developments: 

approval for construction was received in 

July 2007, and first production is expected 

towards the end of 2010. Pluto’s fields 

contain around 5 trillion cubic feet of oil 

and gas reserves, providing significant 

energy resources to Western Australia’s 

domestic market and international markets 

throughout Asia. Articulating what Pluto 

means for Woodside, Don Voelte says, 

‘When Pluto comes on stream in 2011, it 

will be the world’s fastest-ever transition 

from discovery to production for a gas 

project. We are very proud of what 

Woodside has achieved. We compete 

against the major companies, and usually 

win.’ 

The Gorgon project is, at AU$43 billion, 

Australia’s largest single resource project 

ever. Roy Krzywosinski of lead operator 

Chevron outlines the projects highlights: 

‘Gorgon is a three train project, with 

the capacity to produce 15 million tons 

20 

per annum. The project will provide for LNG processing plants.’ 

21 

Services 

Western Australia’s oil and gas sector has 

a vast range of positive multiplier effects 

throughout the state economy, from 

royalties paid to government through 

to work for key subcontracting service 

companies such as Worley Parsons and 

TSmarine, as well as specialised law firms 

involved with the sector, such as Minter 

Ellison. Some of the key players involved 

from a service perspective are detailed 

below. 

The Australian Marine Complex (AMC) is 

a unique common-user facility based to 

the south of Perth. It provides industrial 

capacity for the development of machinery 

and components for major projects to be 

undertaken in Western Australia. 

Wholly owned by Western Australia’s 

state government, the AMC is now 

facilitating the construction of Western 

Australia’s major resources projects, such 

as Gorgon. 

Outlining the importance of the complex, 

AMC General Manager Mike Bailey 

explains, ‘The AMC is starting to become 

vital because we have laid down the 

expectation that much of the work for 

upcoming projects will be done locally. If 

this facility suddenly disappeared, there 

would be serious questions about where 

much of this work would be carried out. 

The AMC is also vital to helping diversify 

and improve the depth of Western 

Australia’s resources industries.’ 

Worley Parsons 

Worley Parsons is one of Western 

Australia’s leading professional engineering 

and subcontracting firms, serving Western 

Australia’s oil and gas sector. Worley 

Parsons is currently working on major 

oil and gas projects, such as Woodside’s 

Pluto, helping to design and construct 

much of the cutting-edge infrastructure 

essential to the project’s success. Worley 

Parsons Operations Manager Western 

Australia Bradley Andrews knows what 

brings success in such a highly competitive 

industry. 

‘‘ 

Australia has huge 

potential to become 

a major player on 

the international 

LNG market. 

Don Voelte, 

Managing 

Director & CEO of 

Woodside 

‘‘



‘It is about adding value, taking a long 

term view, understanding our customers’ 

business requirements and ensuring 

delivery of results that are in full 

accordance with their expectations,’ he 

says. 

TS Marine 

Originally an Aberdeen-based company, 

following a November 2009 management 

buyout TSmarine is now a fully-fledged 

West Australian oil and gas services 

provider, operating in one of the world’s 

most exciting offshore resources regions. 

Established on the back of a five-year 

contract with major domestic operator 

Woodside, TSmarine’s growth prospects 

are extremely promising given their unique 

approach to complex offshore engineering 

and maintenance. 

TSmarine’s top-tier fleet of Norwegiandesigned 

clean comfort class vessels 

are able to perform a diverse range of 

activities, from initial exploration and 

development work through to construction 

and decommissioning of infrastructure. 

Where TSmarine really sets itself apart as 

an oil and gas services provider is in its 

niche market speciality of rigless subsea 

well intervention. 

TSmarine’s unique placing in the 

market is best summarised by Regional 

Sales Manager Ian Rowson, who says, 

‘Woodside are more than happy with 

the range of work and service we have 

already done for them. The diversity of 

operations is well over and above what 

was anticipated. Our vessels are very 

much multi-purpose, so we can do multiple 

tasks at once without demobilising and 

remobilising. This saves a fortune for our 

customers. One of the problems on the 

North West Shelf that we have overcome 

has been a lack of quality vessels that are 

able to fulfil multiple complex tasks at a 

cost-effective price.’ 

Minter Ellison 

as an international centre for oil and gas 

production, Minter Ellison’s Perth office 

has now developed a core speciality in 

the legal management of major resource 

project lifecycles, from conceptual stages 

to decommissioning. 

Unique features of the Western Australian 

approvals process, such as Native Title 

and rigorous environmental regulations, 

provide a complex proposition for new 

entrants to the Western Australian oil and 

gas sector. This also provides an excellent 

operating environment for well-informed, 

delivery-focused legal teams, such as 

those at Minter Ellison. 

Managing Partner John Poulsen believes 

that Minter Ellison’s key competitive 

advantages are the firm’s people and 

their focus on building relationships. ‘Our 

clients tell us that we are easy to work 

with,’ he says. ‘We are not arrogant, 

we understand their businesses and we 

don’t throw huge teams unnecessarily at 

projects we undertake on their behalf. We 

make the right connections with the right 

people and always strive to be smarter, 

sharper and more focused.’ 

Minter Ellison is extremely well placed to 

assist international businesses entering 

Western Australia’s buoyant oil and gas 

sector, having offices throughout the Asia 

Pacific region in key hubs such as Hong 

Kong, Singapore and Beijing, as well as 

in international financial centres such as 

London and New Zealand. Minter Ellison 

already boasts an excellent track record, 

advising international clients on Western 

Australia’s largest oil and gas projects, 

such as the North West Shelf Venture 

and Gorgon. 

Industry Outlook 

As global demand for gas continues to 

increase by around 2 trillion cubic feet 

per annum, and is set to exceed supply 

by 2015, Western Australia’s oil and gas 

sector seems set to enjoy a period of longterm 

sustainable growth. Mega-projects 

such as Gorgon, Pluto and Wheatstone 

are driving Western Australia towards 

becoming a pivotal player on international 

gas markets. Investment opportunities 

abound throughout Western Australia’s 

Western Australia: A Global 

Resources and Investment 

Powerhouse 

Western Australia is a secure place to invest, with sophisticated 

legal and financial systems, an independent judiciary that 

ensures commercial rights are protected, and very low levels of 

sovereign risk. 

The state’s economy is growing 

strongly, and its medium and longterm 

prospects appear good due to 

growing demand for its mineral resources 

from nearby Asian markets, especially 

China. 

New resources projects worth many 

billions of dollars are under construction 

and others are at advanced stages of 

planning. These include investment in 

LNG production (foremost the AU$43 

billion Gorgon LNG project) and increases 

in iron ore production, as well as new 

and expanded projects extracting and 

industrial minerals and rare earths. In 

addition, development of the state’s vast 

uranium resources and exploration of 

highly prospective geothermal resources 

is underway. 

In 2008–09, the state’s mineral and 

petroleum production was valued at 

more than AU$71 billion and accounted 

for 62 per cent of national mineral 

production (excluding coal), 73 per cent 

of natural gas and 64 per cent of crude 

oil and condensate. Total private fixed 

capital formation in Western Australia, at 

AU$126 billion, was 44 per cent of the 

Author: 


of Western 

Australia 

Above: 

Blacktip natural 

gas project 

condensate tanks 

being transported 

to the Northern 

Territory; Photo 

courtesy of 

Australian Marine 

Complex (AMC) 

Operating in Western Australia for more 

than 110 years, Minter Ellison is one 

of the Asia Pacific region’s leading fullservice 

commercial law firms, engaged 

in a diverse range of sectors from energy 

and resources to agriculture. Given 

Western Australia’s increasing standing oil and gas value chain as a result. 

processing a wide range of base metals, national figure. 

22 23



Iron Ore Port of 

Western Australia; 


Ministry for Mines 

and Petroleum 

New capital investment in Western 

Australia was worth more than AU$30 

billion, almost 30 per cent of the national 

total. 

investment. Consequently, a local culture 

has developed that is accommodating 

to foreign investment. A highly skilled 

workforce and innovative local industries 

and businesses are accustomed to 

meeting the demanding standards of a 

globally competitive resources sector. 

However, Western Australians also 

require that resources development 

occurs responsibly. Resources projects 

are therefore assessed to ensure that 

safety standards and impacts on the 

environment, on indigenous traditional 

land owners and on the community 

are properly managed, before they are 

approved. 

Infrastructure Support 

The state government has a key role 

in ensuring that land and industrial 

infrastructure are available to support 

resources-related development. It is 

currently developing a multi-user LNG 

processing precinct and a supply base 

to enable the opening of a vast new 

petroleum field in the Browse Basin, off 

the state’s northern coast. 

In the Pilbara, close to Karratha and the 

Port of Dampier, on the Burrup Peninsula, 

the state government has developed 

serviced land suitable for heavy industry. 

It is working with industry proponents to 

develop new ports and industrial land in 

the Pilbara, at Ashburton North for new 

LNG processing and at Anketell for iron 

ore and other mineral exports. 

The state government is negotiating 

development of the Oakajee Industrial 

Estate and Port Project, which will open 

up the Mid West mining province by 

establishing an integrated port, rail and 

industrial estate and is supporting the 

development of the resources sector 

in the region. Joint state and federal 

funding will provide common-use port 

infrastructure at Oakajee and the state 

government will develop an appropriately 

serviced and buffered heavy industry site 

adjoining the port. 

At Shotts, near Collie, and at Kemerton, 

near Bunbury in the South West, the state 

government is developing project-ready 

land suitable for heavy industry use, so 

that project-specific approvals processes 

can be accelerated. 

Information drawn from the results of 

thousands of private-sector exploration 

and mining programmes and from the 

extensive work of the Geological Survey 

of Western Australia is made available 

through a detailed online mapping and 

information database system. 

The government also provides financial 

support and incentives for geophysical 

and geochemical surveys and drilling 

programmes in underexplored areas. It 

administers exploration and mining titles, 

which secure the titleholder’s exclusive 

entitlements to resources in a specified 

area and set requirements for activity, as 

well as stipulating the conditions under 

which the area can be developed. Online 

information allows proponents to lodge 

exploration and mining proposals for 

assessment, make relevant payments and 

track their progress through the approvals 

process of various government agencies. 

Western Australia offers a sophisticated, 

efficient and secure environment 

for mineral and petroleum explorers, 

producers and investors participating in 

the state’s development. 

Selected* Western Australian Mineral 

Commodities as a Proportion of Global 

Production, 2009 

There is a strong incentive to actively 

encourage and support large-scale 

Nickel 

13% 

resources development, with the resources 

Encouraging Future Resources 

sector paying more than AU$3 billion in 

LNG 

9% 

Development 

annual royalties to the state, in addition 

Iron ore 

22% 

to other direct and indirect contributions 

Despite the considerable scale of its 

to state and federal government revenues. 

resources sector, Western Australia Ilmenite 

10% 

However, Western Australia faces 

remains relatively unexplored for Gold 

6% 

strong global competition in attracting 

minerals, petroleum and potential sources 

investment, and proponents of major new 

of geothermal energy. The Western Garnet 

11% 

investment projects require certainty to 

Australian government works closely Diamonds 

7% 

strengthen their investment in production, 

with industry to help identify resources 

processing and infrastructure. 

To build investor confidence in its 

and encourage exploration. This includes Alumina 

23% 

As a community, Western Australians decision-making, the state government 

providing explorers and investors with 

*More than 50 minerals are currently in production 

are aware that large projects, which gives a high priority to ensuring the 

information about the state’s geology 

have underpinned the state’s economic efficiency, timeliness and transparency of 

and prospectivity, in order to help focus Source: WA Department of Mines and Petroleum 

growth, have depended largely on foreign its approvals processes. 

exploration activity and reduce risk. 

24 25 

Commodity 

Zircon 

Tantalum 

Salt 

Rutile 

Western Australia 

19% 

15% 

4% 

17%



World-Class Expertise, Services 

and Equipment 

Western Australia’s history of mining 

and minerals processing has seen the 

state develop as a significant provider 

of services, equipment and technology 

to the resources sector. As well as 

supporting local industry, competitive 

Western Australian companies are actively 

involved in resource projects across the 

globe, including in many Commonwealth 

countries, with capabilities in geosciences, 

mining and processing engineering, 

construction, information technology and 

project finance and management. 

The state’s tertiary and technical 

institutions provide high-quality 

resources-related education and training 

both to local students and to others from 

across the globe. Along with industry and 

government organisations, they conduct 

world-leading research and development. 

The scale of the state’s resources 

industry has also helped to make Perth an 

attractive location for international service 

and equipment companies to establish 

their operations, including servicing 

projects in the wider Indian Ocean and 

South East Asian region. Throughout 

Western Australia, the state government, 

local governments and private developers 

provide land and facilities to accommodate 

the wide range of service, supplies and 

equipment providers that support the 

state’s considerable resources sector. 

The Australian Marine Complex 

(AMC) 

The growth of Western Australia’s 

petroleum sector has significantly boosted 

the offshore and subsea equipment and 

services capacity, both through local 

companies acquiring new expertise and 

many global players relocating to the 

state. 

To support the continued development 

of the resources and petroleum sectors, 

the state government has made a major 

investment in developing the Australian 

Marine Complex (AMC) at Henderson, 

south of Perth. 

The AMC is a world-class centre 

for manufacturing, fabrication, 

assembly, maintenance and technology 

development, aiming to service the 

marine, defence, oil and gas, and 

resource industries. 

Common-user facilities at the AMC 

include a deepwater harbour, wharves 

and berthing pockets, a ship lifter with 

12,000-tonne capacity, extensive 

fabrication halls with workshops and 

offices, and a 40-hectare sealed and 

serviced laydown and construction area. 

More than 100 organisations are based 

at the AMC, covering a wide range of 

activities, and many others make use of 

these facilities for their major projects. 


Mining 

26 27



Mining 

Since the beginning of the resources boom in the early 1960s, 

Western Australia’s mining sector has grown to world leading 

proportions. Traditionally Western Australia’s economic strength 

has flowed in tandem with global commodities markets. 

Section Cover 


Reclaimer at BHP 

Billiton Iron Ore’s 

Port Hedland 

operations; Photo 

courtesy of BHP 

Billiton 

Above: 

Ore stacker at 

BHP Billiton Iron 

Ore’s Port Hedland 

operations; Photo 


Billiton 

As the world’s largest wave of 

urbanisation takes place in 

emerging Asia, Western Australia’s 

key challenge is to ensure long-term 

sustainable growth from the state’s 

leading industrial sector. 

Overview 

Western Australia’s mining sector 

accounted for AU$61.2 billion worth of 

exports in 2008–09 and 68,000 jobs in 

the state over the same period. 

Mining accounts for the majority of 

Western Australia’s industrial activity 

and it is estimated that one in five jobs in 

Western Australia is linked either directly 

or indirectly to the mining sector. 

funding constraints on projects underway 

or scheduled during the global financial 

crisis (GFC). 

Western Australia’s key mineral resources 

are iron ore, gold, alumina, nickel, mineral 

sands and base metals. Western Australia 

currently accounts for 38 per cent of 

Australia’s total merchandise exports, 

and 68 per cent of Western Australia’s 

merchandise exports come from the 

mining sector. 

Overall, Western Australia’s mining sector 

is of extraordinary strategic value to the 

entire Australian economy and has played 

a major role in the country’s relatively 

benign experience of the GFC. Western 

Australia’s mining sector is almost entirely 

export focused, with key markets being 

China (31%), Japan (20%), UK (9%) and 

Iron ore is Western Australia’s dominant 

mining export, accounting for 43 per 

cent of exports, followed by gold (22 

per cent), alumina (5 per cent) and nickel 

(3 per cent). Western Australia’s highly 

efficient and productive mining sector has 

played an extremely important role in the 

urbanisation and industrialisation of the 

emerging economies of Eastern Asia. 

Increasingly, India will be of growing 

importance for key commodities such as 

iron ore and gold. Western Australia’s 

close trade links with some of China and 

Japan’s leading industries lay an excellent 

foundation for the state to ensure longterm 

sustainable growth, supplying key 

metals to some of the world’s fastestgrowing 

economies. 

State Premier Colin Barnett describes 

Western Australia as ‘the world’s leading 

mining economy’. Within the context 

of CHOGM 2011, there are enormous 

opportunities for members of the broader 

Commonwealth community to better 

understand best-practice methodologies 

and technologies employed in Western 

Australia and to enter joint-venture 

arrangements with some of the state’s 

leading industrial players, such as BHP 

Billiton, Rio Tinto and Fortescue Metals 

Group. 

Indeed, a number of Western Australianbased 

mining firms, including BHP Billiton 

and Palladin Resources, already have 

numerous operations throughout the 

Commonwealth, in countries such as 

South Africa and Namibia. 

Regulatory Regime 

Western Australia’s mining sector 

has enjoyed recent improvements to 

the approvals process on the back of 

state-level restructuring of government 

involvement in the industry. 

Minister for Mines and Petroleum Norman 

Moore has ensured the speedingup 

of approvals by streamlining state 

involvement and encouraging a businessfocused 

approach to approvals, as well 

as implementing information technology 

upgrades to make the process more 

To give an indication of how such reforms 

have worked at a practical level, 60 per 

cent of mineral-exploration environmental 

applications were processed within their 

30-day timeline target in 2008. This 

increased to 94 per cent in the first nine 

months of 2009. 

Of particular interest from a regulatory 

perspective is a recent administrative 

change in state policy, permitting the 

exploration and production of uranium. 

This change has stimulated a significant 

amount of activity with regards to this 

metal, with BHP Billiton at an advanced 

stage with the Yeelirrie Project. 

Highlighting the impact of this policy 

change, Norman Moore says, ‘Western 

Australia’s state government has now 

implemented a policy change on this issue 

and permitted uranium mining. There 

are now four private-sector companies 

that are very excited about this, the 

biggest being BHP Billiton with Yeelirrie. 

There is also Toro with Lake Way, and a 

Canadian company called Mega with Lake 

Maitland. 

‘Uranium is a highly political issue, so 

we are insistent that everything is done 

according to the world’s highest best 

practices. The Department for Mines and 

Petroleum will be working with these 

companies on the transportation and 

export of yellowcake out of either Darwin 

or Adelaide. We expect there to be a 

uranium mine in Western Australia within 

the next two to three years. World demand 

for uranium is experiencing an upward 

trend as many groups see uranium and 

nuclear power as a solution to concerns 

over energy security and sustainability.’ 

Iron Ore 

Western Australia’s iron ore industry has 

experienced a period of extraordinary 

growth in recent years. Massive 

urbanisation projects underway in China 

are largely responsible for the sustained 

demand underpinning this sector. 

China accounts for 65 per cent of Western 

Australian iron exports, followed by Japan 

and South Korea representing 21 per cent 

Employment in the mining sector dropped 

by four per cent between 2007–08 and 

28 

2008–09. This reflected the increased Korea (8%). 

efficient. 

and 10 per cent of demand respectively. 

29



30 31



‘‘ 


is of pivotal 

importance to BHP 

Billiton’s overall 

business model. 

Ian Ashby, 

President Iron Ore 

of BHP Billiton 

‘‘ 

Western Australia’s output 

of iron ore grew by 8.5 per 

cent between 2008 and 

2009, up to a record 316 

million tons. The value of 

iron exports grew by 53 per 

cent over the same period, 

increasing to AU$33.56 

billion; this places iron 

ore at the forefront of 

Western Australia’s mining 

economy. 

Of Western Australia’s 

iron exports, 90 per cent 

are controlled by two key 

companies: BHP Billiton 

and Rio Tinto. As Western 

Australia’s international 

iron ore sales are set to 

increase from 887 million 

tons in 2009 to 998 million 

tons in 2010, and as pricing structures 

change in favour of producers, Western 

Australia’s outlook for iron ore mining is 

exceptionally positive. 

Key Iron Ore Players 

BHP Billiton 

In 2010 BHP Billiton is celebrating the 

company’s rich and diverse history with 

its 150 anniversary and three significant 

milestones: Billiton’s establishment on 28 

October 1860, BHP’s incorporation on 13 

August 1885, and BHP Billiton’s listing 

on the Australian and London Stock 

Exchanges on 29 June 2001. Having 

entered Western Australia’s mining 

sector in the mid twentieth century, BHP 

Billiton, through a series of acquisitions 

and organic expansions, has grown into 

the largest diversified resources company 

in the world, with approximately 41,000 

employees and 100 operations throughout 

25 countries. With interests spanning ten 

different resources groups of which five 

operate in Western Australia including 

aluminium, iron ore, petroleum, stainless 

steel materials (nickel) and uranium. 

importance of Western Australia to 

BHP Billiton’s global operating model as 

follows; “Western Australia is of pivotal 

importance to BHP Billiton’s overall 

business model, particularly in iron ore. 

BHP Billiton has been operating in Western 

Australia for more than 40 years now, 

building significant infrastructure and 

output capacity to supply growing global 

demand.” 

Western Australia’s enormous reserves 

of iron ore form the cornerstone of BHP 

Billiton’s operations in the region. BHP 

Billiton currently operates seven world 

class iron ore mines in the Pilbara, 

including the world’s largest single pit 

open cut iron ore mine in Mt Whaleback. 

Mt Whaleback currently stands at more 

than five kilometres in length and one and 

a half kilometres in width and contributes 

significantly to BHP Billiton’s annual iron 

ore output from its Western Australia 

operations in the Pilbara. 

This colossal level of production is 

supported by one of Australia’s largest 

privately owned rail networks and some 

of the world’s busiest bulk commodity 

ports such as Port Hedland. BHP Billiton’s 

world class transportation infrastructure 

in the Pilbara currently involves almost 

1,000 kilometres of railway track, 

comprising some 114 locomotives and 

4800 ore cars. These are supported by 

the port facilities in Port Hedland. 

BHP Billiton’s plans to further leverage 

their infrastructure base to expand 

production are outlined by Ian Ashby: 

“Moving forward, we have rapid growth 

projects designed to meet ever increasing 

global demand, notably from China and 

emerging regions of Asia. In FY09, we 

produced 125 million tonne from our 

Western Australian iron ore operations 

in the Pilbara and we are ramping up to 

155 million tonnes per annum following 

the completion of Rapid Growth Project 

4. We have plans to increase capacity 

to 350 million tonnes per annum in the 

longer term. 

of calendar year 2011. The company’s 

proposed Rapid Growth Project 6 will 

increase installed capacity to 240 million 

tonnes, but the project is not yet approved 

the BHP Billiton Board. 

However, a proposed production joint 

venture of Western Australia operations 

with fellow Pilbara behemoth Rio Tinto 

Iron Ore is expected to deliver synergies 

and economies of scale representing 

savings in the billions of dollars, providing 

the deal is approved by the appropriate 

regulators and shareholders. 

BHP Billiton has invested more than 

US$18 billion in developing Western 

Australian resources projects since 2001. 

Of greatest importance to BHP Billiton 

beyond iron ore in Western Australia is its 

alumina, petroleum, nickel and uranium 

projects and operations. 

BHP Billiton’s Worsley Alumina operation 

in the South West of Western Australia 

is one of the world’s largest and most 

efficient refineries, currently producing 

approximately 3.5 million tonnes per 

annum of alumina, with a scheduled 

“Efficiency and Growth Project” due to lift 

capacity to 4.6 million tonnes per annum. 

BHP Billiton’s oil and gas operations in 

the Pilbara region of Western Australia 

represent a significant proportion of 

overall production at 41 million barrels per 

annum, with BHP participating as both an 

operator and syndicated investor. BHP 

Billiton’s fully integrated West Australian 

nickel operations in the Goldfields region 

represent the world’s third largest 

producer of nickel in concentrate. 

As the Western Australian state 

government approach to the mining of 

uranium has changed in order to permit 

production of this valuable resource, BHP 

Billiton’s positioning to take advantage 

of this is second to none, as is pointed 

out by Ian Ashby: “BHP Billiton currently 

has licenses on Western Australia’s 

most exciting uranium prospect in the 

Yeelirrie deposit. Our aim is to develop 

this and begin production of uranium 

oxide concentrate.” BHP Billiton’s current 

plans to mine at Yeelirrie envisage first 

production of uranium oxide concentrate 

As one of Western Australia’s most 

prominent companies, BHP Billiton is fully 

aware of the company’s importance to 

the community beyond creating a wealth 

of employment opportunities. BHP Billiton 

is a substantial contributor to the state 

government’s “Royalties for Regions” 

program, whereby 25 per cent of 

resources related royalties are reinvested 

in local communities’ infrastructure and 

services. Furthermore, BHP Billiton is an 

active participant in the university sector, 

working to drive innovation in Western 

Australia’s resources sector through 

partnerships with the University of Western 

Australia’s Business School, and Curtin 

University’s Resources and Chemistry 

Centre. Perhaps of greatest importance 

is BHP Billiton Iron Ore’s commitment 

to community programs. In FY09, the 

company’s iron ore business invested 

more than AU$30 million in community 

programs in Western Australia, focusing 

on health, the arts, education, indigenous 

well being and employment and township 

amenity. 

The global headquarters of both BHP 

Billiton’s Iron Ore and Stainless Steel 

Materials (Nickel) businesses in Perth 

demonstrates both the company’s 

commitment to the region and Perth’s 

growing importance as the world’s leading 

centre of resources excellence in oil and 

gas as well as minerals. 

BHP Billiton 

Iron Ore’s port 

operations in Port 

Headland; Photo 


Billiton 

The magnitude and scale of BHP Billiton’s 

operations in Western Australia provide 

an excellent indication of the importance Rapid Growth Project 5 is BHP Billiton iron 

of Western Australia’s resource wealth ore’s current growth project in the Pilbara 

to the broader global economy. President which will increase installed capacity to 

32 

of Iron Ore, Ian Ashby, highlights the 205 million tonnes by the second half 

in 2014. 

33



Argyle Diamond 

Mine; Photo 

courtesy of Rio 

Tinto 

Rio Tinto 

Founded in 1873, Rio Tinto has grown 

into one of the world’s leading diversified 

mining companies, with operations 

throughout six continents. Rio Tinto’s 

operations are focused in Australia 

and Canada, but the company also has 

operations throughout Latin America, 

Africa and Asia. Rio Tinto is a strategic 

global producer of iron ore, aluminium, 

copper, uranium, diamonds and coal. 

Following the company’s 1966 entry 

into Western Australia’s mining sector, 

Rio Tinto has grown rapidly into one of 

the sector’s two leading companies, 

alongside BHP Billiton. Rio Tinto’s most 

important product in Western Australia is 

iron ore, followed by salt, diamonds and 

talc. Western Australia’s rich endowment 

of iron ore is of vital importance to Rio 

Tinto’s global operations. 

Western Australia are one of the most 

concentrated sets of assets that Rio Tinto 

has anywhere in the world. As a result, 

Western Australia is of pivotal importance 

to Rio Tinto as a business.’ 

Given continuing demand for iron ore 

from China in particular, Rio Tinto is 

now committing to a massive capital 

expenditure programme in the Pilbara. 

‘Rio Tinto is currently operating at 220 

million tons of iron ore in the Pilbara,’ 

says Sam Walsh, outlining Rio Tinto’s 

strategy. ‘We have plans to increase 

that to 330 million and then 440 million 

tons. These plans will require huge capital 

investments. The Pilbara is an ideal 

location for such expansion, both because 

of the resource endowment in the region 

and the Pilbara’s close proximity to key 

markets in emerging Asia.’ 

sector is the company’s firm commitment 

to innovation and the development of 

world-class technologies. 

‘Rio Tinto’s stand-out feature is our 

remote operations centre out near Perth 

Airport,’ says Walsh, highlighting some 

of the company’s achievements so far. 

‘It is a bit like the NASA control room. 

From that we control 12 mines, a 1400- 

kilometre railway, a port and our power 

operations. We are doing that with 400 

people some 1500 kilometres away from 

the actual sites. That is a phenomenal 

achievement. Rio Tinto does this through 

skilled staff and a series of computer 

networks and cameras. 

‘We have another programme looking at 

automating our train locomotives, haul 

trucks and drill rigs. All of this is leadingedge 

– very little of this is happening 

anywhere else in the world. There is 

nobody in the world with an automated 

heavy-haul railway; these trains are two 

and a half kilometres long and up to 

24,000 tons. This is very challenging 

engineering and we have run many more 

successful trials. 

‘As we expand, we will need more and 

more operators. It is getting harder to find 

people with the right skills, as well as to 

retain them in such remote areas. Being 

able to set up automated equipment and 

a remote operating centre is something of 

a solution to the labour issue in Western 

Australia. Rio Tinto is leading the world 

with this technology right now. I am sure 

that many will follow once our patents 

run out. We are finding huge efficiency 

gains, such as 20 per cent fuel efficiency 

when using automated haulage trucks.’ 

Rio Tinto’s commitment to Western 

Australia’s mining industry, and the 

continued progression of techniques 

used in the region is exemplified in the 

company’s approach to decommissioning 

mine sites. 

‘It is important to ensure that Rio Tinto 

has the smallest footprint that we 

possibly can from an environmental 

viewpoint,’ explains Walsh, ‘as well as 

energy usage and water consumption. It 

is important to go in and backfill wherever 

we have decommissioned 

where you would not be 

able to tell we had been 

there. We use local seeds 

and plants to rehabilitate 

regions that we have 

operated in. Water usage 

is an extremely important 

issue in the Pilbara. We 

are looking at transferring 

water from some of our 

sub water table mines into 

water-scarce regions on 

the coast. These are big 

projects, with big visions.’ 

Rio Tinto is one of 

Western Australia’s 

longest-standing mining 

firms still operating in the 

state. The firm has made 

extraordinary contributions 

towards the development of some of the 

world’s richest iron ore resources, serving 

international markets throughout Europe 

and Asia. 

Rio Tinto continues to innovate in order 

to cope with some of Western Australia’s 

leading economic challenges, such as 

labour shortages and the operation 

of major projects in extremely remote 

regions. This contribution from a leading 

company puts Western Australia’s overall 

mining sector in a very good position 

moving forward. 

Fortescue Metals Group 

Established in July 2003, Fortescue Metals 

Group has grown from a visionary idea 

with three staff to Western Australia’s 

third major player in the export of iron 

ore in the short space of seven years. 

Fortescue is one of Western Australia’s 

great business stories, embodying the 

pioneering spirit found throughout the 

economy. 

Explaining the process that encapsulates 

the company’s rapid evolution, Fortescue 

CEO Andrew Forrest says, ‘Once Fortescue 

understood the size and scale of the 

operations we would require to succeed 

sustainably, we then thought through the 

size of properties and infrastructure we 

would require to make such an operation 

‘‘ 

We will construct 

the rail and ports 

infrastructure, to 

ensure Fortescue 

can produce iron 

ore for export 

competitively and 

sustainably. 

Andrew Forrest, 

CEO of Fortescue 

Metals Group 

‘Rio Tinto’s 2009 annual full-year results Rio Tinto currently operates nine iron 

showed that iron ore accounts for mines in the Pilbara, through subsidiaries 

approximately 60 per cent of Rio Tinto’s Hammersley Iron and Robe River Iron. 

revenues,’ explains President of Iron Ore The stand-out feature of Rio Tinto’s 

34 

Sam Walsh. ‘The scale of operations in participation in Western Australia’s mining 

we can. There are numerous sites that succeed. 

35 

‘‘



‘Fortescue then went into the Pilbara and 

purchased enough properties, making 

enough discoveries of iron ore to facilitate 

the financing of necessary infrastructure, 

such as rail and deepwater ports to ensure 

the success of our business. 

‘We acquired over time 60 to 70,000 

kilometres squared in the Pilbara, we 

brought on geologists that were not 

influenced by the iron ore industry, who 

were happy to try new theories which 

other people had dismissed as having no 

value. 

‘This led to an initial small discovery called 

Mount Nicholas that nearly bankrupted us. 

However, this discovery gave us enough 

intellectual clues. The discovery was 

wrong, but the geology was right. We 

then went on to test the theories that we 

had established and discovered Christmas 

Creek and soon afterwards discovered 

Cloudbreak; and really the rest is history. 

‘The value of those massive iron ore 

discoveries enabled us to put into action 

the plans we had originally come up with 

as per constructing the rail and ports 

infrastructure, to ensure Fortescue could 

produce iron ore for export competitively 

and sustainably.’ 

Fortescue Metals Group has now 

achieved incredible success with the rapid 

development of fully operational mines at 

Cloudbreak, combined with the concurrent 

development of a 256-kilometre-long 

heavy-haulage railway from the mine to 

Fortescue’s Herb Elliot deepwater port at 

Port Hedland. 

Stories such as Fortescue’s are the 

reason why so many of the international 

mining industry’s leaders regard Western 

Australia as the world’s leading mining 

economy. 

ensure their competitive positions on the 

international market. 

‘This will enable Rio Tinto to ensure 

that our business remains competitive 

long into the future,’ says Sam Walsh, 

emphasising the value of merging the 

Pilbara operations. ‘We are competing on 

the global stage with countries such as 

Brazil. It is important for both companies 

to leverage synergies where possible, to 

ensure that we each retain a competitive 

position.’ 

Aside from Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, 

numerous smaller operators in the Mid 

West and Pilbara regions are undertaking 

expansion and development projects on 

their iron ore resources. Fortescue Metals 

Group, Atlas Iron, Mount Gibson Mining, 

CITIC Pacific Ltd and Aquila Resources 

are just some of the operators based in 

these two regions working to further 

increase Western Australia’s international 

prominence in international iron ore 

markets. 

Of greatest interest in the Mid West 

region is the Oakajee Port and Rail project, 

currently underway under the control of 

the Western Australian state government 

and Crosslands Resources Ltd. Set for 

completion in either 2013 or 2014, 

Oakajee Port and Rail will open the iron 

ore rich Mid West state to international 

markets and a raft of further investment 

into Western Australia’s iron ore sector. 

Gold 

The global financial crisis has had a 

positive impact on the price of gold, as 

the commodity is seen as a stable store 

of wealth by investors when faced with 

volatile global currency markets. The 

average price of gold through 2008–09 

was AU$1,171, 28 per cent higher than 

in 2007–08. 

2008–09, and 62 per cent of Australia’s 

total gold production. Gold production 

has declined in Western Australia as a 

result of declining production from large 

established mines, and the closure of 

older mines. 

A number of key projects scheduled for 

development over 2010 are set to rectify 

this trend, however. Western Australia’s 

key markets for gold are the UK, with 41 

per cent consumption; India, with 34 per 

cent; and Thailand, with 8 per cent. 

Giving his views on the prospects for 

gold prices, Bruce McFadzean, Managing 

Director of Catalpa Resources, says, ‘My 

view is that gold will continue to increase 

throughout 2010 and that next year it will 

rocket. The next level of understanding 

coming from the global financial crisis is 

the exposure to countries sovereign debts 

now. Gold will re-establish itself as the 

commodity that doesn’t lose value. The 

global financial crisis has re-established 

gold as a key store of wealth. Whilst 

things can go crazy with everything else, 

gold will hold its value.’ 

Key Gold Players 

Newmont Mining Corporation 

Following Newmont’s entry into Western 

Australia’s gold market in 2002, this 

Denver-based gold mining company has 

grown into the state’s most significant 

producer of gold. 

With a 50 per cent joint-venture stake in the 

annual 20-ton-producing Kalgoorlie Super 

Pit, alongside the Boddington and Jundee 

mines, Newmont represents Western 

Australia’s largest gold producer. 

Newmont is one of the world’s leading 

gold producers, with approximately 

30,000 staff and contractors. 

Newmont’s Asia Pacific assets are of 

greatest value to the company, reflecting 

the inherent value in Western Australia’s 

rich endowment of gold. 

Newcrest Mining 

Newcrest Mining is Australia’s secondlargest 

gold producing company and one 

of the world’s top 10 leading mining 

companies. 

After entering Western Australia’s gold 

mining sector in July 2005, Newcrest 

has redeveloped the Pilbara’s Telfer Mine 

into Western Australia’s second-largest 

gold producing mine at 18.1 tons for 

2008–09. 

Major Gold Projects 

Western Australia’s gold mining sector 

is undergoing a period of significant 

development in line with the decline of 

long-established mines and the upward 

trend on global gold prices. Kalgoorlie 

Super Pit joint-venture partners Newmont 

Major Iron Ore Projects 

Despite gold production in Western 

Of greatest significance to Western Australia declining by 136 tons throughout 

Australia’s overall iron ore output are BHP this same period, revenues from sales 

Billiton and Rio Tinto’s aforementioned hit a state record with AU$5.2 billion, 

rapid expansion programmes. As well as a 25 per cent increase on the previous 

these two growth programmes, Rio Tinto year. Western Australian gold exports 

and BHP Billiton are in the process of accounted for 26 per cent of overall mining 

36 

merging their operations in the Pilbara to exports from Western Australia through 

37



AngloGold 

Ashanti’s facility 

at Sunrise Dam; 


AngloGold Ashanti 

and Barrick have received environmental 

clearance for the deepening of Australia’s 

largest gold producing mine by 600 

metres. This development will extend the 

life of the mine by up to 10 years. 

Following construction, it is expected that 

Edna May will produce 100,000 ounces 

per annum. 

AngloGold Ashanti and joint-venture 

partner Independence Group are 

commencing feasibility studies on a 

gold prospect at Tropicana, northeast 

of Kalgoorlie. Expected investment of 

AU$500 million is expected to achieve a 

production capacity 400,000 ounces per 

annum. 

Key Alumina Players 

Alcoa Australia 

Alcoa operates the world’s largest 

integrated bauxite mining, alumina refining 

and aluminium smelting operation out of 

Western Australia. Alcoa’s Huntly Mine, 

established in 1970 near Dwellingup, is 

the world’s largest bauxite mine. 

Alcoa has contributed significantly 

in terms of adding value to Western 

Australia’s raw materials by developing 

downstream processing capacity in the 

company’s three alumina refineries at 

Kwinana, Pinjara and Wagerup. 

Alcoa’s three Western Australian alumina 

refineries have a combined annual output 

of approximately 10 million tons of 

alumina per annum. 

Worsley Alumina 

Worsley Alumina is a joint venture 

between BHP Billiton (86 per cent stake), 

Japan Alumina Association (10 per cent) 

and Sojitz Alumina (4 per cent). 

China dominates Western Australia’s 

nickel exports, accounting for 39 per 

cent of consumption in 2009, followed 

by Finland (19 per cent), Singapore (17 

per cent) and the Netherlands with 5 per 

cent. 

Key Nickel Players 

Established in September 2008, Catalpa 

Resources is a relatively new entrant to 

Western Australia’s gold mining sector. 

Worsley Alumina is Western Australia’s 

Elucidating on the gold sector’s growth 

second-largest producer of alumina, with 

potential, Catalpa Resources’ Bruce 

its Boddington bauxite mine and refinery Western Areas’ Forrestania Project, 

McFadzean says, ‘In March 2009, 

near Collie in the southwest of Western located 400 kilometres east of Perth, 

Catalpa was a $15 million company, and 

Australia. Worsley Alumina produces 3.1 contains one of the world’s highest-grade Iron Ore 

now we are a $200 million company, an 

million tons of alumina per annum. nickel mines. Western Areas plans to 

Alumina 

Transportation; 

interesting bit of growth for us. We have 

construct five mines in the area for an Photo courtesy of 

raised $40 million; we managed to get Australia is the world’s largest bauxite 

Major Alumina Projects 

estimated production capacity of 35,000 Ministry for Mines 

$70 million-worth of debt in the middle and alumina producer, accounting for 25 

tons of nickel per annum. 

and Petroleum 

Worsley Alumina has Western Australia 

of the financial crisis at the beginning of per cent of global production. Western 

expansion strategies in place for 2010, 

last year. ‘We were able to put a hedge Australia accounted for 63 per cent of 

with the continuation of the firm’s AU$2.5 

in place, which is at $1,560 per ounce, total Australian bauxite and alumina 

billion Efficiency and Growth expansion 

which is well over $300 an ounce higher production through 2008–09. 

project. By completion in 2011, Worsley’s 

than today’s prices. We started building 

alumina production capacity will have 

our plant, which is a $92 million spend Alumina is Western Australia’s fifth-largest 

increased from 3.5 to 4.6 million tonnes 

in July last year, and we have nearly sector, accounting for AU$4.6 billion in 

per annum. 

finished. On top of this, we did a merger sales over 2008–09. Despite US dollar 

with our biggest shareholder and picked prices of alumina declining by 16 per cent, 

up 30 per cent of another producing mine prices in Australian dollars remained stable 

Nickel 

in Queensland. ‘So 2009 has been a at AU$371 per tonne, as the Australian 

Demand for nickel is very closely linked with 

whirlwind year, which has continued into dollar depreciated against the US dollar. 

global GDP growth, thus the commodity 

2010. When I joined here in June 2008, Demand for alumina is driven globally 

declined in price by 53 per cent in US 

I was the third person in this office; we by the automotive industry. Western 

dollar terms throughout 2008–09. 

now have 80 people, moving up to 145 in Australia’s key export markets are China, 

the next two months.’ Catalpa Resources with 21 per cent of exports; South Africa, 

Nickel sales revenues for Western 

are currently in the process of developing Bahrain and UAE, with 14 per cent each 

Australia dropped by 42 per cent in 2009 

their Edna May Mine, with estimated of exports; and Mozambique, with 10 per 

from the previous year, to just under 

38 

capital expenditure of AU$92 million. cent of exports. 

AU$3 billion. 

39 

BHP Billiton 

Through wholly-owned subsidiary Nickel 

West, BHP Billiton is Western Australia’s 

key nickel producer, thanks to the firm’s 

nickel mines at Mt. Keith and Leinster, 

which form the beginnings of Nickel 

West’s fully integrated nickel production 

cycle in Western Australia. 

This integrated production system also 

consists of Nickel West’s Kalgoorlie 

smelter and Kwinana refinery. Nickel 

West is the world’s third-largest producer 

of nickel in concentrate. 

Major Nickel Projects 

Western Areas NL is presently the most 

active Western Australian nickel producer 

in terms of new project construction and 

development.



‘‘ 

Skywest is very 

proud of the unique 

value proposition 

we carry to the 

regions of Western 

Australia. 

Mark Shelton, 

CEO of Skywest 

‘‘ 

Services 


dominant industry has 

positive ramifications 

through the state and 

national economy through 

the broad-based multiplier 

effects that come out of 

the mining sector. Western 

Australia has developed 

a world-class resources 

services sector in recent 

decades as mining’s 

economic significance has 

increased. 

Perth’s software and mining 

companies now account for 

50 per cent of the world’s 

mining software. From 

boutique investment banks 

to airlines, Western Australia’s services 

sector is where the mining industry’s 

multiplier effects are felt most tangibly. 

Azure Capital is a Perth-based boutique 

investment bank specialising in the 

resources sector. Having completed an 

array of mergers and acquisitions, debt 

advisory and capital raisings for many of 

Western Australia’s leading mining firms, 

Azure has helped to bring significant 

investment into Western Australia’s 

mining sector and is very well placed to 

continue doing so. 

Worley Parsons is a world-class resources 

and civil engineering company, working 

on some of Western Australia’s largest 

industrial capital investments, such as 

Oakajee Port and Rail and Karara Iron 

Ore. Worley Parsons is one of Western 

Australia’s most respected contractors in 

the resources sector and, with a global 

presence throughout the Commonwealth, 

is well positioned in the global market to 

work alongside Commonwealth member 

states on resources and civil engineering 

projects. 

Australia’s mining sector in that it is the 

only airline in Western Australia that flies 

directly into mine sites. ‘Skywest provides 

a vital service in that many communities 

would be cut off and industrial projects 

rendered unviable without the services 

that we provide,’ explains Skywest CEO 

Mark Shelton. 

‘We engage with the community all the 

time. Skywest is very proud of the unique 

value proposition we carry to the regions 

of Western Australia.’ 

Skywest provides a vital service for 

Western Australia’s key mining firms, 

operating direct flights to Rio Tinto’s 

Argyle Diamond Mine and Fortescue 

Metal’s Cloudbreak iron ore mine, 

among many others throughout Western 

Australia. 


Western Australia’s world-class mining 

sector is renowned internationally for the 

industry’s productivity, efficiency, best 

practice and environmental awareness. 

Western Australia’s proximity to Asia’s 

emerging economies – such as China, 

India and Vietnam – renders the region’s 

iron ore sector extremely competitive on 

the international market. 

The state’s gold and alumina industries 

are also of global strategic significance, 

representing a sizeable proportion of 

global output. 

CHOGM provides an excellent opportunity 

for the Commonwealth community to 

better understand Western Australia’s 

cutting-edge mining technologies and 

techniques. 

Western Australia’s vast landscape still 

offers a wide range of opportunities 

for further prospecting and mining 

production. 


Banking & Financial Services 

Skywest 

As one of the world’s most open 

Skywest is Western Australia’s leading markets to come and do business, 

state airline, flying to remote regions of Western Australia provides an excellent 

the state and serving mining communities proposition for Commonwealth states 

throughout the regions. Skywest and businesses interested in mining and 

40 

provides an invaluable service to Western mineral commodities. 

41



Banking & Financial Services 

Following the first establishment of banks in the mid to late 

1800s in Western Australia, financial services is one of the 

region’s long-standing industries and a cornerstone of economic 

development throughout the state. 

Section Cover 


Perth Central 

Business District; 


GBR 

Above: 

Australia’s 

smallest bank 

in Shackleton; 



Australia 

Western Australia’s economy has 

registered an almost 50 per 

cent increase in gross value 

added over the past decade, during which 

period the financial services sector’s 

contribution has increased by 33 per 

cent from AU$5.6 billion in 2000–01 to 

AU$7.5 billion in 2008–09. As cumulative 

capital investment in the resources sector 

is set to grow from around AU$50 billion 

in 2010 up to AU$170 billion in 2012, 

Western Australia’s financial services 

sector has enormous potential to play an 

ever increasing role and realise Perth’s 

evolution into one of Asia Pacific’s finance 

hubs. 

Overview 

in employment between 2007 and 2009 

reflects Western Australia’s finance 

sector’s relative strength through the 

global financial crisis. 

From a regulatory perspective, Australia’s 

financial services sector is governed by 

the Australian Securities and Investments 

Commission (ASIC), who issue financial 

licenses, and the Australian Prudential 

Regulation Authority (APRA), who 

maintain regulatory standards. 

Australia’s financial services sector has 

been widely praised for the balanced 

regulatory regime focused on maintaining 

an equilibrium between efficiency, 

regulation and innovation. The strength 

of Australia’s financial sector through the 

financial crisis has been seen as an ideal 

opportunity to press the country’s status 

Perth’s educated and highly productive 

workforce, combined with the city’s 

proximity to Asia, makes Western 

Australia’s capital an ideal financial 

services centre moving forward. 

Western Australia’s status as an exciting 

growth economy is best described by 

Bankwest Managing Director Jon Sutton, 

who says, ‘I am a big believer that 

Western Australia is on a long-term path 

to sustained economic growth. China and 

India will be key markets for this region 

for many years. We also have a thriving 

services industry supporting the resources 

sectors. ‘There are excellent engineering 

companies in Western Australia. It is also 

very important not to forget that Western 

Australia is a huge centre of agricultural 

production. As per-capita incomes in 

Asia increase, so will the profile of 

food consumption in these regions.‘The 

agricultural industry in Western Australia 

is extremely well placed to take advantage 

of this shift in demand.’ 

In a competitive market economy such as 

Western Australia’s, economic strength 

such as this will naturally translate into 

growth opportunities for the financial 

services sector. Western Australia’s 

financial services sector has a clear focus 

upon Perth, with all major financial players 

operating in the region headquartered in the 

city. The banking sector is dominated by 

Australia’s four major banks: ANZ, NAB, 

Commonwealth Bank and Westpac, who 

between them control the vast majority 

of retail, business and corporate banking, 

either directly or through wholly-owned 

local subsidiaries such as Bankwest (in 

the case of Commonwealth Bank). 

Of increasing significance to both Perth’s 

financial services sector and broader 

economic activity throughout Western 

Australia are a small collection of highly 

specialised top-tier corporate-advisory, 

boutique-investment banks such as Azure 

Capital and Argonaut Ltd, both of whom 

specialise in advisory and capital-raising 

services for the international resources 

industry. The key opportunity for Perth 

and the banking sector within the city is to 

increase the proportion of capital used to 

finance major Western Australian projects 

raised from Perth. Currently a great deal 

of capital originates from Australia’s east 

coast, or global financial centres such as 

London. Perth is also home to a nascent 

wealth-management industry, servicing 

the growing wealth in Western Australia 

and emerging Asia. 

Financial services in Western Australia 

accounted for 4.8 per cent of gross state 

product in 2008–09, and approximately 

42 

33,000 jobs. An increase of 12 per cent as a regional financial hub. 

43 

Banking 

Western Australia’s banking sector plays 

a vital role throughout most sectors of 

the economy, with limited involvement 

in mega resource projects at this stage. 

National Australia Bank (NAB) and 

Westpac are the two dominant major 

banks in the corporate banking arena, 

while Bankwest is the most important



‘‘ 

I am a big believer 

that Western 

Australia is on a 

long-term path to 

sustained economic 

growth. 

Jon Sutton, 


of Bankwest 

‘‘ 

retail bank, benefiting from 

a strong local affiliation with 

the brand and a widespread 

branch network throughout 

the region. 

Bankwest 

Bankwest was established 

in 1894 as a prime 

industries bank supporting 


nascent agricultural and 

mining industries. Since 

then, Bankwest has evolved 

into Western Australia’s 

leading retail and SME 

bank in the region’s 

extremely competitive 

market. Bankwest’s iconic 

brand very much sets the 

bank apart from competitors in Western 

Australia. 

Describing market conditions and 

Bankwest’s positioning, Managing 

Director Jon Sutton says, ‘Bankwest’s 

view is that credit growth in Western 

Australia will be far greater than in other 

states of Australia. As an incumbent bank 

with an iconic brand throughout the state, 

Bankwest is very well placed to benefit 

from this.’ 

As a brand very much synonymous with 

Western Australia, Bankwest has a clear 

focus upon local communities, allowing 

a budget to all branch managers for 

investment in local projects. Jon Sutton 

insists upon the importance of businesses 

being involved in the local community, 

commenting, ‘It is very important to 

participate in thought leadership. As 

a business, you need to participate in 

debates and throw ideas into resolving 

some of the challenges we all face 

together. ‘I think it is incumbent on local 

business leaders to get involved with 

these debates and participate with the 

community.’ 

Western Australia to showcase one of the 

fastest-growing state-based economies in 

the world. People don’t really understand 

the enormous growth levels that are 

coming out of Western Australia right 

now; we are very confident that they 

will be very pleasantly surprised. CHOGM 

2011 will be a great opportunity not just 

for Western Australia, but for the whole 

of Australia as well.’ 

National Australia Bank and Westpac have 

both been active in Western Australia for 

over 150 years, and both occupy around 

30 per cent of the business and corporate 

banking market. Western Australia’s 

leading corporate banks benefit from a 

very close relationship with the region’s 

business community. As Jay Watson, 

Westpac’s State General Manager 

Commercial Banking, explains, ‘Both NAB 

and Westpac have very close links with 

the business community and compete 

with each other rigorously to bank with 

Western Australia’s businesses.’ 

One of the key ways for corporate 

banks to distinguish themselves from 

the competition is to develop specialised 

competencies in specific industries. 

‘NAB is the leading small and medium 

business bank in the country and services 

all industries, however it has specialised 

businesses in the agriculture, health, 

education and government sectors,’ 

says NAB State General Manager 

Andrew Whitechurch. ‘We have bankers 

with substantial experience and wellestablished 

knowledge bases in relation 

to these industries.’ 

Both NAB and Westpac are very well 

placed to help new businesses coming 

into Western Australia for investment, 

working on strategies of consolidating 

their Australian presence as opposed to 

expanding into the Asia Pacific region. 

The GFC, although having an impact on 

each bank’s ability to access wholesale 

funding on the international markets, was 

seen more as an opportunity to build up 

staff numbers with quality new people. 

A remarkable trend when one looks at 

the severe impact the GFC had on other 

developed market economies throughout 

‘The main impact of the GFC was in terms 

of access to funding and liquidity,’ says 

Jay Watson of the sentiment and impact of 

the GFC on Western Australia. ‘Australia 

relies heavily on wholesale markets for 

lending. Over the past 18 months, we have 

increased our staff base by 50 per cent, 

from 210 to 310, in business banking. The 

economy is growing here massively at the 

moment; there are huge opportunities for 

banks. Westpac sees Western Australia 

as a very important business market that 

we have to be performing well in. Western 

Australia is perfectly placed in the Asia 

Pacific market, which is of huge benefit to 

the local economy.’ 

ANZ Bank, another member of Australia’s 

illustrious big four banks, entered the 

Western Australian market in 1837 and 

has adopted a very different strategic 

approach from NAB and Westpac. ANZ has 

a clear focus upon international expansion 

given the opportunities presented by 

Western Australia’s northern hinterland. 

‘The region that we sit in reflects huge 

opportunities for ANZ Bank in Western 

Australia,’ says ANZ Western Australia 

Chairman John Atkins. ‘We sit in a time 

zone where 40 per cent of the world’s 

population sit and 63 per cent of the 

world’s GDP is created. Our regional 

strategy is based upon extending ANZ’s 

links with emerging Asia. ANZ bank is 

active in China and we are growing our 

business throughout emerging Asia. As a 

result we are a natural partner for many 

investors coming into Western Australia. 

‘Our Acquisitions from RBS and ING are a 

clear indicator of our strategy to increase 

our presence in Asia. ANZ Bank is the 

fourth-largest institutional business in 

the Asia Pacific region, following HSBC, 

Standard Chartered and Citibank. ANZ 

Bank’s focus is to be a super-regional 

bank, not a global bank.’ 

Given the extraordinary attention being 

paid to Western Australia from emerging 

Asia’s investment community, ANZ bank 

Bankwest is excited about the prospect 

of the international community coming 

to Western Australia for CHOGM 2011, 

having a chance to see what is happening in 

the state. Jon Sutton captures Bankwest’s 

anticipation when he declares, ‘It is an 

absolutely fantastic opportunity for the world. 

44 45



is very well placed with relation to growth 

markets in the region. 

In the long term, Perth’s diversified 

banking sector and status as a financial 

services centre has huge potential to grow 

into a regional hub. Outlining the immense 

opportunities of the region, NAB’s Andrew 

Whitechurch says, ‘The growth prospects 

over the next three to five years are very 

good, given the number and value of 

projects that are planned and underway in 

the region. I don’t think many companies 

will leverage themselves the way that they 

had done in the past. We are more likely 

to see a steady build-up of lending and 

investment over the course of the next 

18 to 24 months. ‘We are expecting to a 

see a housing bubble in Western Australia 

again, thus home lending will take off as 

Western Australia’s population increases 

and demand on housing goes up. I think 

that Perth has the potential to become 

Australia’s financial hub over the next 

20 years. 

‘One of the fastest-growing elements 

of our business is our Asian banking 

business, where high-net-worth expats 

and Asian-based investors are starting to 

bank with NAB in Perth. The amount of 

investment this group wants to make in 

Australia is growing rapidly, and Perth is 

increasingly the point of entry for such 

investors, given our natural advantages 

in terms of geographical proximity and 

time zone. Increasingly, NAB is funding 

acquisitions on the east coast from Asian 

investors using Perth as their investment 

base. I expect to see a natural capability 

build-up come on the back of this shift 

in how capital flows out of Asia into 

Australia.’ 

Corporate Advisory Services 

As Western Australia’s prominence 

increases throughout regions such 

as north Asia and India, with an ever 

increasing hunger for natural resources, 

the emergence of independent corporate 

advisory services or boutique investment 

banks, such as Azure Capital, Argonaut 

Ltd and Euroz, has become a feature 

of the evolution of Perth’s financial 

services sector. Employing some of the 

highest-qualified and best-connected 

financiers, lawyers and engineers in the 

global resources industry, firms such as 

Azure have built close links with some of 

Western Australia’s emerging resources 

powerhouses, such as Moly Mines and 

Fortescue Metals Group. 

Azure Capital 

Azure Capital is widely acknowledged 

as the most prominent corporate adviser 

headquartered in Perth. It has been lead 

adviser on a number of ground breaking 

transactions over the past few years and 

Azure’s rapid growth has mirrored the 

resources sector that the firm serves so 

well. It is particularly active in cross broader 

M & A transactions involving clients and 

projects in Australia, Asia, Africa and 

North America. Azure’s equity capital and 

debt market success is reflected in the 

substantial outperformance of its clients 

when compared to the ASX 300. 

CEO Geoff Rasmussen best describes 

Azure’s strategy for such success: ‘When 

identifying potential clients to support 

we look for three things: a quality Traditionally Western Australian firms John Poynton, 

management team and experienced board have found raising money from institutions Executive 

of directors; a world class resource or in Sydney and Melbourne a challenge, but Chairman of Azure 

the capacity to deliver one and thirdly, a this is changing as companies recognise Capital 

willingness to grow. We have been able to the value of using highly-credentialed 

forge very strong relationships on the basis Perth-based firms. Argonaut is one of the 

that we have exceptional people, who are region’s leading companies and has built 

able to take on complex transactions and relationships with financial institutions 

deliver.’ Given Azure Capital’s remarkable throughout the Asia Pacific Region. 

record in Western Australia and the firm’s Argonaut’s local grounding and expertise 

excellent underpinning within the region’s enables the firm to build long-term 

business culture, there are very few other relationships with some of the world’s 

options for major resource players with leading resource companies with their 

a demand for reliable, delivery focused head offices in Western Australia, while 

corporate advisory services interested in at the same time enhancing the region’s 

entering the Western Australian market. exposure to global investment houses. 

Chairman John Poynton articulates 

Azure’s ambitions: ‘In the short term As quality relationships increasingly 

we are focused on continuing to underscore what Perth’s resource industries 

deliver outstanding service in our core prioritise in their financial arrangements, 

competencies to our many local and financiers such as Argonaut – who 

international clients. In the immediate have demonstrated their commitment 

future we will grow our current service to Perth throughout the economic cycle 

offerings to other jurisdictions and – are best placed to work with both 

expand into funds management, property established businesses and new players 

46 

advisory and M & A.’ 

to the market. Managing Director Edward 

47 

Argonaut 

Established in 2002, 

Argonaut has drawn on 

top-tier investment banking 

experience from the 

world’s leading financial 

centres to consolidate a 

partnership of the utmost 

quality. All of Argonaut’s 

partners are Perth-born 

and raised but after 

spending time elsewhere, 

have returned to Western 

Australia with a unique 

mix of local expertise and 

global experience. 

Argonaut operates as an 

integrated investment 

house, combining stock 

broking, corporate advisory 

services and private equity business in its 

overall portfolio. Unashamedly proud of 

being a resources-industry-based financial 

services firm, Argonaut has taken the 

unique step of employing experts from 

the field, such as geologists and mining 

engineers. Such experts are best placed 

to evaluate the viability of each deal 

Argonaut is involved with. 

‘‘ 

We will grow our 

current service 

offerings to other 

jurisdictions. 

‘‘



Rigg best describes both Argonaut and 

Western Australia’s business philosophy 

when he says, ‘Western Australia is a 

great environment to work in; particularly 

because of the “can-do” attitude here. If 

we don’t help ourselves, then nobody’s 

going to help us. We have a pioneering 

spirit here.’ Argonaut is committed to 

Western Australia, developing a team 

that is best equipped to add value to 

clients with an interest or connection in 

the region. 

Firms such as Azure and Argonaut are 

the most exciting features of Perth’s 

financial services sector, consolidating 

their influence and specialisations in 

Western Australia while continuing to 

build links throughout the world. Both 

firms are extremely well placed to assist 

with resources projects throughout the 

Commonwealth, as well as to facilitate 

new entrants into Western Australia’s 

resources sector. 

Wealth Management 

Perth’s relatively new wealth 

management sub-sector of the financial 

services industry is led by Plan B Group 

Holdings, the Southern Hemisphere’s 

only internationally-accredited fiduciary 

wealth management service. 

Fiduciary is best explained by Plan B 

Managing Director, Denys Pearce, who 

says, ‘I differentiate what Plan B does 

from simply selling products on behalf of 

third-party institutions to a far more longterm 

strategic view. We try to understand 

our clients’ ambitions as best as possible; 

our fiduciary approach means that we 

truly act in our clients’ best interests.’ 

Plan B reported a 32 per cent increase 

in returns over the last six months when 

compared to the six preceding months, 

a remarkable achievement given current 

volatility on global financial markets. 

Denys Pearce is optimistic about the 

opportunities that CHOGM 2011 will 

bring for Perth and Western Australia’s 

economy, and believes ‘from a state point 

of view, the opportunities are enormous. 

One thing that Western Australia needs is 

capital investment to fulfil the economy’s 

potential. CHOGM 2011 can definitely 

raise awareness about this.’ 


As Western Australia’s economy 

continues to achieve annual growth rates 

of around 5 per cent, the financial services 

sector is extremely well placed to benefit. 

From both a domestic and international 

perspective, there is an exciting array 

of opportunities within Perth’s financial 

services sector. International investors 

would do particularly well by entering into 

Western Australia’s capital markets. The 

city’s ambition to become an Asia Pacific 

finance hub is realised more and more 

each year. 


Health 

48 49



Health 

Widely acknowledged as one of the world’s leading healthcare 

centres of excellence, Australia’s healthcare sector is predicted 

to more than double in coming decades as populations increase, 

populations continue to age, technologies improve, and lifestyle 

choices continue to change among consumers. 

Section Cover 


Pathology lab 

technician working 

with samples; 

Photo courtesy 

of Department of 

Health 

Above: 

Aged care nurse 

and patient; 


of Department of 

Health 

Western Australia is at the 

forefront of this change, with 

Australia’s fastest population 

growth and geographical proximity to 

emerging Asia’s lucrative international 

health-tourism market. A wide range of 

investment, employment and knowledgesharing 

opportunities prevail for the 

broader Commonwealth community 

throughout this rapidly shifting market 

place. 

Overview 

past 15 years at an average annual rate 

of 7.5 per cent, significantly higher than 

Western Australia’s economy overall. The 

health sector’s rate of growth appears 

to be increasing each year as Western 

Australia’s demographics and population 

continue to evolve. Health sector 

employment grew by 12 per cent through 

2008–09 to 122,000 employees. 

The health sector is generally predicted by 

economists to be one of the world’s leading 

drivers of economic growth throughout 

the 21st century. Western Australia is in 

a unique position as a developed market 

economy, in that the state faces the dual 

challenges of an ageing and increasing 

population, two of the key drivers behind 

the health sector’s importance moving 

forward. It is expected that the Perth 

by 28 per cent to 1.87 million inhabitants 

by 2021, and that average life expectancy 

will grow from 85 to 94 years old by 

2050. Although such figures may appear 

abstract, these trends are the fundamental 

drivers behind paradigm shifts in how 

healthcare is managed, administered and 

consumed in developed market economies 

such as Western Australia. 

Bethesda Hospital CEO, Yazmin Naglazas, 

underlines this point: ‘Australia currently 

spends around 9.1 per cent of GDP on 

health, which is around 1.4 billion dollars 

annually. Over the course of the next 

four decades, health care spending is 

set to double. Health will be one of the 

major drivers of the next phase of world 

economic development in years to come 

in Western Australia due to trends such 

as an ageing population and an increasing 

life expectancies.’ As medical technology 

continues to advance, lifestyle trends 

and consumer choices are also evolving 

to place further demands upon the 

health sector as pointed out by Yazmin 

Naglazas: ‘Longevity medicine is gaining 

momentum and within ten years people 

will routinely be living over 100 years 

old with new technologies such as 

nanotechnology, based medical therapies 

and DNA profiling.’ 

The combination of shifting consumer 

expectations, demands and ever 

increasing advances in medical technology 

are re-shaping the profile of private 

health provision in particular, creating 

a myriad of opportunities for investors 

and aspirational medical practitioners 

in Western Australia’s rapidly growing 

health care sector. 

Public health policy in Australia is 

established at a federal government level, 

with state governments, such as Western 

Australia, managing hospitals’ day-to-day 

operations and staffing. Primary healthcare 

(such as general practitioners) is regulated 

at a federal level, with minimal state 

government intervention in operations. All 

Australians are entitled to free universal 

access to public healthcare, funded at a 

federal level through programmes such as 

Medicare. From a hospital’s perspective, 

Australia has two different systems: 

licensed at a state level and accredited at 

federal level through a quasi-governmental 

organisation, the Australian Council for 

Health Care Standards (ACHCS). Through 

the Rudd government’s National Health and 

Hospitals Reform Commission (NHHRC) 

report, the status quo could be subject to 

change with such proposals as streamlining 

regulation and allowing a greater role for 

the private sector in public health, which 

are currently subjects of debate. 

Describing the current system, Dr Kim 

Hames, Western Australian State Minister 

for Health, says, ‘We have two types of 

health: public and private. Everyone has 

to pay a healthcare levy to Medicare; this 

is a percentage of their income – so if they 

don’t work, they don’t pay. Everyone is 

given universal access to free healthcare 

in government-run hospitals, as well as 

access to private hospitals up to a limited 

cost. This has traditionally been 85 per 

cent of the cost. If a patient decides 

to use a private doctor, the patient will 

pay the bill and then claim a percentage 

of the bill refund from Medicare via the 

Commonwealth government.’ 

Over the past 10 years, there have been 

significant moves by Australia’s federal 

government to increase the proportion 

of citizens with private health insurance. 

These include premium subsidies for 

insurance cover and the Medicare levy 

surcharge alluded to above. This policy 

direction lays the foundation for greater 

involvement of the private sector in 

Australia’s public health system, in line 

with potential outcomes of the NHHRC 

report. 

The private healthcare sector in Western 

Australia is widely acknowledged, as per 

a recent Productivity Commission Report, 

as being ‘less costly, more efficient and 

safer’ when compared to public sector 

counterparts. The private healthcare 

sector is a major contributor to Western 

Australia’s healthcare system 

Healthcare in Western Australia is 

capacity to raise significant capital, raise 

broadly defined by the Australian Bureau 

standards, drive innovation and increase 

of Statistics (ABS) as ‘The provision 

capacity in Western Australia’s overall 

of healthcare and social assistance by 

portfolio of healthcare infrastructure. 

practitioners with specific qualifications 

Outlining the private sector’s contribution 

and expertise.’ The industry has 

to Western Australia’s infrastructure and 

50 

experienced pronounced growth over the Metropolitan Area’s population will grow 

public and private. Private hospitals are healthcare capacity, Dr Shane Kelly, CEO 

51 

in its 

‘‘ 


also has a balance 

between private 

and public patients 

with increasing 

private public 

partnerships 

developing across 

the state of 

Western Australia. 

Yasmin Naglazas, 

CEO of Bethesda 

Hospital 

‘‘



‘‘ 


has the fastest 

population growth 

in Australia, as well 

as the strongest 

economy. 

Justin Walter, 

General Manager 

of Mount Hospital 

‘‘ 

of St John of God Hospital, says, ‘We 

are the first and only hospital in Western 

Australia to introduce robotic surgery; our 

urological surgeons are able to perform 

“robotic prostatectomies” for prostate 

cancer which provides a number of 

advantages over other surgical treatment 

methods. This technology is only available 

in a handful of sites in Australia, albeit 

it is more widespread in the US and 

elsewhere.’ 

Western Australia has the second-largest 

proportion of privately insured citizens, 

at 50 per cent of the total, due to the 

region’s relatively high per-capita incomes 

in comparison to Australia as a whole. 

This translates into a significant role for 

the private sector in Western Australia’s 

world-class health sector. 

A total of 23 private hospitals are located 

in Western Australia. Private healthcare is 

effectively broken down into two different 

systems at a hospital level. There is the 

‘not for profit’ private or benevolent 

institution model, and the ‘for profit’ 

private model. Benevolent institutions 

such St John of God and Bethesda Hospital 

take no profits and reinvest all revenues. 

‘All of the surpluses from operations at 

St John of God are reinvested back into 

our health services and the community,’ 

says Dr Shane Kelly. On the other hand, 

the ‘for profit’ private sector is driven by 

generating shareholder value and takes a 

margin from healthcare revenues. Overall 

the sector is extraordinarily competitive 

and widely regarded as world class. 

Western Australia has a quality of care 

in tertiary hospitals equal to anywhere in 

the world,’ comments Minister Hames. 

‘The statistics show that in areas such 

as medical procedure, survival rates and 

mortality rates, Western Australia is as 

good as anywhere. Western Australia has 

a number of famous doctors that have 

won Nobel Prizes for their endeavours in 

the medical sciences.’ 

profit’ private institution with over a 

century’s tradition of care in Western 

Australia. Smaller stand-alone private 

hospitals, such as Bethesda Hospital, 

make up the rest of Western Australia’s 

private healthcare portfolio. 

Similar to much of Western Australia’s 

industry, the key point of competition 

amongst private sector hospitals is for 

skilled labour, surgeons and doctors 

in particular. Outlining the competitive 

advantage that the ‘not for profit’ sector 

has in the labour market, Justin Walter, 

State Manager of Health Scope’s Mount 

Hospital, says, ‘Benevolent institution 

status presents a number of benefits for 

the “not for profit” sector, such as not 

having to pay payroll taxes. This gives 

a significant competitive edge for such 

institutions in terms of the salaries they 

can offer. The market is skewed with an 

unlevel playing field and the only way 

that this can change is if the government 

takes the lead.’ 

This cycle of competition for staff 

continues to drive further investment 

in technology and facilities in Western 

Australia’s hospitals, further increasing the 

region’s status as a centre for healthcare 

excellence. A number of opportunities are 

presented for aspirational Commonwealth 

doctors and surgeons to come into Western 

Australia in order to mitigate labour 

pressures. ‘St John of God is focused 

upon working with international doctors 

to help them along with their training,’ 

comments Dr Shane Kelly. ‘These doctors 

come from a variety of locations, such as 

Canada, India, Pakistan, South Africa and 

Malaysia. Labour shortages are a definite 

issue within the health sector; it is our 

number-one challenge. It takes up to 15 

years to train medical students to become 

specialists.’ 

International Profile 

Western Australia’s key strengths as 

a centre for healthcare relate to the 

extremely high standards in quality and 

safety, as well as a highly skilled and 

professional workforce. A continued focus 

upon innovation and close links with the 

university sector are fundamental drivers 

behind continuous improvements in 

medical institutions such as the University 

of Western Australia, Notre Dame, 

Murdoch University and Curtin all have 

close ties with the state’s health sector. 

‘Our facilities are far more modern than 

most places around the world,’ explains 

Justin Walter. ‘We are also very well 

placed in terms of our geography and time 

zone. The workforce in Western Australia 

is very impressive, which is a significant 

strength for Western Australia’s health 

sector.’ 

Western Australia’s ideal placing in the 

Asia Pacific Region, within a time zone 

that occupies 60 per cent of the world’s 

population and 40 per cent of the world’s 

economic output places the state ideally 

in terms of developing as a hub for 

treating international patients. Reflecting 

on the constraint on health tourism posed 

by capacity, Justin Walter says, ‘We 

have our own strategy for expansion 

into the Pacific Rim and Asia. Our main 

challenge at Mount Hospital is that we 

are space-limited. I think more could be 

done to promote health tourism; we need 

to develop capacity for that before we do 

more.’ 

Minister Hames points out that treating 

international patients is a significant 

opportunity for Western Australia. 

‘Western Australia has one of the best 

healthcare systems in the Asia Pacific 

region,’ he says. ‘The private sector in 

particular has an excellent opportunity 

to benefit from the growing trend in 

international health tourism.’ 

Undoubtedly Western Australia has an 

enormous service offering in health that 

is of significant value to not just the Asia 

Pacific region, but also to the broader 

Commonwealth community. Western 

Australia is a vast region, with a very low 

density population similar to that of many 

Commonwealth countries. Innovations 

such as the Royal Flying Doctors and 

Western Australia’s commitment to 

regional infrastructure development 

underscore the region’s leadership in 

resolving challenging issues associated 

with providing vital services throughout 

vast wilderness regions. Western 

Australia is home to Nobel Prize winners 

who were awarded the Nobel Prize for 

their groundbreaking work on the origins 

of stomach ulcers. Meanwhile, Western 

Australian medical practitioners Fiona 

Wood and Fiona Stanley have won the 

Australian of the Year Award for their 

discoveries in the fields of critical skin 

care and maternal health respectively. 


Western Australia’s health sector is 

extremely well positioned in terms of 

increasing demands from a growing 

and ageing population and increasing 

international focus upon the sector. 

Innovation within the health sector 

leads on the global stage, boasting 

Nobel Prize winners and the most up-todate 

technology, which is consistently 

implemented. 

Significant investment opportunities 

present themselves within a sector 

averaging 7.5 per cent growth per annum, 

notably in international labour exchanges, 

regional infrastructure development and 

age care. ‘Age care presents massive 

opportunities,’ says Justin Walter. 

‘Traditional operators have not been able 

to leverage very good returns from age 

care. We believe that we could work 

far more efficiently and do very well 

from this area within the overall health 

sector picture.’ As Western Australia’s 

state government continues to increase 

capacity with major infrastructure projects 

such as the AU$1.7 billion Fiona Stanley 

Hospital, the health sector’s future in 

Western Australia seems to be extremely 

buoyant. 

Aerial view of the 

Bethesda Hospital; 

Photo Courtesy of 

Bethesda Hospital 

The private health sector’s competitive 

environment in Western Australia is 

dominated by three key organisations: 

Health Scope and Ramsay Health Care are 

the two ‘for profit’ private sector players 

leading the industry in Western Australia; 

52 

followed by St John of God, a ‘not for Western Australian standards. Exceptional 

Dr Barry Marshall and Dr Robin Warren, 

53



This page: The 

Swan Bells Tower; 



Australia 


Tourism 

54 55



Tourism 

To the average international traveller, tourism in Australia casts 

immediate images in the mind’s eye of the Sydney Harbour Bridge 

and Great Barrier Reef. Western Australia is perhaps Australia’s 

least-known international travel destination. This is not, however, 

for the lack of sites or things to do, but on account of the 

remoteness of Australia’s best-kept travelling secret. 

Section Cover 


Coastal scenery 

looking west 

across Quoin 

Head, in Fitzgerald 

River National 

Park; Photo 

courtesy of 


Australia 

Above: 

Greens Pool in 

the William Bay 

National Park; 



Australia 

Tourism has such a diverse set of 

multiplier effects throughout the 

economy that quantifying the 

sector’s contribution to the economy in 

terms of employment and wealth creation 

is a difficult task. 

From international airlines such as Qantas 

to remote restaurants in the Kimberley, 

the touch of tourism is felt throughout 

Western Australian society. Western 

Australia is home to approximately 

2000 businesses involved in the tourism 

sector. 

Overview 

Western Australia’s tourism industry 

is governed through the Ministry of 

Education and Tourism, and promoted by 

Tourism Western Australia. National policy 

measures that impact upon the tourism 

sector, such as immigration policy, are 

set at a federal level. Western Australia’s 

key origin markets for tourism are from 

Western Australia itself, representing 

75 per cent of total visitors, while the 

country’s other six states represent 

another 15 per cent of visitors. The 

remaining 10 per cent are international 

visitors. 

the UK. Australia’s strong currency and 

limited air access routes into Western 

Australia are some of the key challenges 

that the industry presently faces. 

Western Australia’s tourism profile is best 

understood when broken down into the 

state’s five key tourism regions. These 

are Perth and the Swan Valley, the South 

West, the Golden Outback, the Coral Coast 

and the North West. Overall, Western 

Australia is a region in which one can find 

a vast array of diverse experiences, an 

area that is truly stunning in its wildlife 

and natural environment. 

Tourism Western Australia 

Tourism Western Australia is a quasigovernmental 

body that is at the centre 

of managing and promoting Western 

Australia’s tourism sector. 

Tourism Western Australia has six 

fundamental strategic objectives: 

improving the quality of visitor experiences; 

securing the future of regional tourism; 

growing visitor expenditure faster than 

visitor numbers; accelerating the growth 

of Aboriginal tourism; influencing major 

infrastructure priorities and attracting 

private investment; and building 

recognition that tourism and events 

enhance the unique Western Australian 

lifestyle, as well as supporting the natural 

environment. 

Tourism Western Australia has now 

embarked upon a major advertising 

campaign, branding Western Australian 

tourism as ‘Experience Extraordinary’. 

‘The facts of scale inherent within 

Western Australia are extraordinary,’ 

says Kate Lamont, Tourism Western 

Australia Chair, of the branding. ‘You just 

have to look at the scale of the coastline 

or the vast nature of the Kimberley. We 

are communicating this message as a 

compelling reason for potential tourists to 

visit Western Australia. We are confident 

that we can deliver an extraordinary 

experience for anyone that visits here. 

For a place to be compelling, it has to 

have a very true sense of place. Western 

Australia is compelling in its depth on that 

Perth and the Swan Valley 

Perth is where most visitors to Western 

Australia will arrive. By no means 

a sprawling metropolis, Perth is a 

beautiful city blessed with a wonderful 

Mediterranean climate. Perth is dissected 

by the Swan River, to the North of which 

lies the urban centre and the Southern 

Hemisphere’s largest urban park in King’s 

Park, which is rich in flora and fauna. 

Sitting on the south bank of the Swan River 

is the Burswood Entertainment Complex, 

a casino, hotel, conference centre and 

live music venue. Burswood is Western 

Australia’s largest single employer on a 

single location, hosting a range of guests 

from international high rollers flown in 

on private jets, to weekend visitors from 

across Australia. 

Perth has numerous beautiful city beaches 

to the western end of the city, such as 

Cottesloe and Scarborough, as well as a 

vibrant cultural centre in Fremantle to the 

south. 

Rottnest Island, just 19 kilometres to the 

west of Fremantle, is the Perth area’s 

answer to the Seychelles. Rottnest is 

a beautiful island, with crystal-clear 

Indian Ocean waters and unique species 

of marsupial, such as the Quokka. 

Rottnest Island is currently Western 

Australia’s largest tourist destination, 

oversubscribed by aspiring visitors to the 

tune of 5000 applicants to every available 

bed. Rottnest is a model of sustainable 

development, unwilling to sacrifice the 

island’s ecological balance for short-term 

profitability. 

‘In terms of sustainability, we are 

very strong,’ explains Rottnest Island 

Authority’s CEO Paolo Amaranti. ‘Our 

desalinisation plant is powered by wind 

turbines. All of our waste is disposed of 

outside of the island in Canning Vale. 

‘We continue to monitor the island in terms 

of the numbers of people that we are able 

to accommodate. We are tendering for a 

five-star hotel to be built on the island. 

That will be the final development here; 

it is essential for us maintain Rottnest 

‘‘ 

We are confident 

that we can deliver 

an extraordinary 

experience for 

anyone that visits 


Kate Lamont, 

Chair of Tourism 


The tourism industry is of greatest 

importance to remote communities at Key international markets for tourism 

the periphery of Western Australia’s in Western Australia are New Zealand, 

56 

geography. 

Japan, Korea, Singapore, Germany and 

front; it truly has a heart and soul.’ Island’s sustainably.’ 

57 

‘‘



Winery; Photo 

courtesy of 


Australia 

Perth is one of the rare cities in the world 

to have a sumptuous wine-growing region 

on its doorstep in the Swan Valley. Home 

to internationally renowned wineries such 

as Sandalfords, the Swan River Valley is 

an ideal place for Perth’s tourists to visit, 

for a taste of Western Australia’s rich 

wine-producing culture. 

Western Australia’s South West 

Western Australia’s South West region is 

akin to the south west of France, with its 

array of beaches, forests and world-class 

wineries. Western Australia’s Margaret 

River region is where the link between 

tourism and wine is at its strongest. Home 

to numerous internationally renowned 

wineries, such as Leeuwin Estate and 

Mosswood, Margaret River attracts wine 

lovers from around the world, eager to 

sample Western Australia’s finest wines in 

some of the most beautiful surroundings. 

Leeuwin Estate now puts on an annual 

concert in the winery, one of Western 

Australia’s key social events. 

Margaret River is also an internationally 

renowned surfing venue, attracting 

surfers from around the world to some of 

Australia’s best waves. The vast expanse 

of uninterrupted ocean between South 

Africa and Western Australia creates ideal 

waves for surfing. 

Western Australia’s Golden 

Outback 

Western Australia’s outback region 

stretches from the south coast up to the 

Pilbara, a significant proportion of Western 

Australia’s land mass, encompassing a 

diverse range of sites and activities for 

tourists to get involved with. From beach 

experiences on the south coast to fun 

farm experiences in the Wheatbelt, the 

Golden Outback offers excellent familyorientated 

adventure, as well as more 

challenging activities in the Goldfields 

and Gascoyne-Murchison for the more 

intrepid travellers. 

Mount Augustus in the Gascoyne- 

Murchison region is Australia’s largest 

rock and an excellent location for hiking 

and exploring. Mount Augustus is also 

known as Wajjari by local Aboriginal 

people, with numerous cave engravings 

found on many parts of the rock. Mount 

Augustus is an ideal location for finding 

out more about Western Australia’s 

ancient indigenous cultures. 

Another highlight of the region is the 

Canning Stock Route self-drive route, a 

2000-kilometre track through beautiful, 

isolated landscapes first surveyed over 

100 years ago by Albert Canning. 

The Super Pit forms part of the Golden 

Mile, rumoured to be home to the richest 

square mile of gold-bearing soil in the 

world. One can access Kalgoorlie by 

plane, train or road, with regular public 

services from Skywest, the Prospector 

Train and Goldrush Tours respectively. 

Western Australia’s Coral Coast 

Western Australia’s Coral Coast is home 

to the Ningaloo Reef, one of the largest 

in the world and a showcase for an 

extraordinary array of marine wildlife. 

Ningaloo’s coral stretches up to within 

five metres of the beach on many areas 

of the coastline. For snorkelling and 

diving enthusiasts, the Ningaloo Reef is a 

must-visit. One can swim with dolphins, 

turtles, manta rays and whale sharks, to 

name but a few species on offer. 

Monkey Mia, Shark Bay, Exmouth and 

Coral Bay are among the highlight towns 

of the Coral Coast, all of which offer 

spectacular white beaches and crystalclear 

ocean waters teeming with wildlife. 

Fishing is one of the most popular activities 

for enthusiasts visiting the region, with 

towns such as Cervantes and Geraldton 

having a longstanding angling culture. 

Shark Bay was Western Australia’s first 

world heritage listed area, recognised 

for its white beaches, turquoise waters 

and rich variety of marine wildlife in 

1991. Tourists are presented with an 

array of experiences in Shark Bay, from 

the region’s 17 species of mammals, 98 

species of reptile and 230 species of bird 

to be found on land, to the vast diversity 

in marine wildlife. Those with a passion 

for the natural world are in their element 

in and around Shark Bay. 

Western Australia’s North West 

and Kimberley 

From Broome on the North West coast 

over to Kununurra to the North East, the 

Kimberley region is an awe-inspiring place 

that, through its rugged terrain and ancient 

forms of wildlife, very much embodies 

the historic spirit of Western Australia. 

Hundreds of kilometres separate towns 

and cities in the Kimberley, and a fourby-four 

vehicle is almost essential to see 

the most interesting sites that the region 

has to offer. 

Broome was first established as a coastal 

town in 1883 by John Forrest, soon 

becoming home to much of Western 

Australia’s pearling industry, as well as 

a submarine cable between the town 

and Singapore, which was completed in 

1889. Broome’s most important tourist 

location, Cable Beach, derived its name 

from this construction. Broome is an 

excellent small coastal town for visitors 

to relax in, eat well and spend time at 

the beach. For the more adventurous 

travellers, four-wheel drive tours and 

camel rides are available. 

The East Kimberley is for many West 

Australians the heart and soul of their 

state. Rock formations throughout the 

region, such as the world-renowned 

Bungle Bungle Range, are home to rocks 

that are billions of years old. Boab trees, 

an iconic feature of the landscape unique 

to this region and Madagascar, live for 

thousands of years. It is usual for visitors 

Whale Shark; 



Australia 

Leeuwin Estate has been the most 

proactive winery with regards to tourism, 

having identified tourism’s close link with 

wineries at an early stage. ‘Because we 

are such an isolated winery, it makes 

Beyond the Coral Coast’s world-class 

sense for us to attract people to come Western Australia first discovered gold 

marine environment and coastal activities, 

down here and see what we are doing,’ in the 1890s, heralding a gold rush and 

one can discover the region’s selection 

explains CEO Denis Horgan. ‘From this, sudden population explosion as fortune 

of wildflowers with a walk through over 

we came up with the concept of linking seekers from around the world descended 

17,000 hectares of heathland at Nambung 

fine wine, food and art. In 1985, we had on the region. 

National Park. 

the London Philharmonic Orchestra here 

and we have put art on our labels. We Kalgoorlie is an excellent city for travellers 

The Coral Coast is also an excellent region 

also have a fantastic environment here for to get a flavour of Western Australia’s 

to learn more about Western Australia’s 

tourists in Margaret River. The concerts pioneering spirit. Not far from the city is 

geological history, with 3.6-billion-yearold 

that we put on are an excellent way to the Super Pit, one of the largest open-cut 

fossils such as those found at the 

58 

get publicity.’ 

mines in the world. 

Pinnacles near Jurien Bay. 

59



to the Kimberley to find themselves 

surrounded by thousand-year-old trees, 

growing from billion-year-old rocks. 

El Questro Wilderness Park, approximately 

100 kilometres from Kununurra in a 

four-wheel drive, is perhaps the East 

Kimberley’s greatest location to come 

and explore the finest sites and natural 

features that the region has to offer. El 

Questro is a million-acre site, home to 

some of the Kimberley’s most spectacular 

rivers, waterfalls, gorges, flora and 

fauna. One can find boab trees up to 

2000 years old throughout the park, as 

well as saltwater crocodiles, barramundi 

fish and numerous species of snake and 

lizard. El Questro offers visitors boat 

tours down the ancient Chamberlain 

River, where they can see rock wallabies, 

crocodiles and barramundi. A number of 

four-wheel drive tours will also deliver 

hiking enthusiasts to a range of gorges 

and waterfalls that vary according to 

hiking ability. El Questro’s numerous park 

rangers also act as guides for groups that 

want to hike accompanied, as opposed to 

those more courageous visitors that want 

to go it alone. El Questro’s highlights are 

its beautiful gorges, such as Emma Gorge 

and Armalia Gorge, and hot springs such 

as Zebedee Springs. As an experience, 

El Questro offers an affordable, rustic 

outdoor experience for those that enjoy 

camping – or, alternatively, an extremely 

luxurious experience in the homestead 

for those that can afford it. El Questro 

Wilderness Park is famous throughout 

Western Australia, and is not to be missed 

for those that are fortunate enough to 

experience the Kimberley. 

Transportation In and Around 


Without a doubt, the greatest challenge 

for those travelling around Western 

Australia is access to remote locations 

great distances from Perth. As Western 

Australia’s aviation market continues to 

develop, airlines such as Skywest provide 

an invaluable service to local communities 

dependent upon mining and tourism, by 

delivering visitors and workers to their 

regions. 

‘Skywest provides a vital service,’ 

comments Skywest CEO Mark Shelton, 

‘in that many communities would be 

cut off and industrial projects rendered 

unviable without the services that we 

provide. We engage with the community 

all the time and hear this message echoed 

constantly. Skywest is very proud of the 

unique value proposition we carry to the 

regions of Western Australia.’ 

Skywest was established in 1963 and has 

since developed a comprehensive service 

throughout Western Australia, flying 

to remote locations such as Exmouth, 

Monkey Mia, Broome and Kununurra. 

Skywest’s business model of integrating 

routes has enabled the airline to provide 

such an invaluable service at a very 

reasonable cost to the consumer. 

‘Our key routes are from Perth to regional 

hubs such as Karratha and Broome,’ says 

Shelton. ‘However, we operate integrated 

routes so that we can stop off at several 

mine sites along the way. This provides 

us with an excellent level of scale that 

enables us to service Western Australia’s 

industrial regions and remote communities 

so effectively. The key challenge that 

airlines face in Western Australia is 

servicing very remote locations where 

there is such a thin spread of population. 

At Skywest, we have been able to 

devise a model that allows us to do that 

sustainably.’ 

and Kimberley. Aboriginal art is rapidly 

becoming a global phenomenon, with 

curators from the world’s top galleries 

in Tokyo, New York, London and Berlin 

all expressing a growing interest in this 

emerging genre. 

Visitors to CHOGM 2011 will be treated 

to one of the most exciting Aboriginal arts 

projects ever to have been undertaken, 

with the Canning Stock Route Project 

set to be exhibited at CHOGM in Perth. 

The Canning Stock Route Project 

developed as a collaboration between 

Western Australia’s independent cultural 

organisation Form and a series of 

Aboriginal arts centres throughout the 

Pilbara. It is a fascinating artistic appraisal 

of one of Western Australia’s key historic 

sites through the imagination of the 

state’s aboriginal communities. 

Perth is also home to the annual Perth 

International Arts Festival, a monthlong 

arts bonanza held at the peak of 

summer between February and March. 

Perth International Arts Festival serves 

as an excellent tourist attraction, as well 

as a means of raising Perth’s profile on 

the international arts scene. The festival 

plays host to a diverse array of acts, from 

theatre and live comedy to cinema and 

live music. 


As more and more domestic and 

international tourists become aware of 

Western Australia’s incredible diversity 

and quality as a tourist destination, 

opportunities within the sector will 

continue to grow. 

Aerial view of the 

Bungle Bungles; 



Australia 

The East Kimberley is home to a variety 

of other interesting sites and experiences, 

such as the Ord River and Lake Argyle, 

both of which are critical waterways for 

the East Kimberley’s booming horticultural 

In particular, investment opportunities 

sector. The Kimberley is one of Australia’s 

Ninety-six Aboriginal artists went camping abound in Perth’s hotel market and 

best regions for visitors to come and learn 

along the Canning Stock Route for six services sector, with demand high for 

more about Aboriginal culture and art, 

weeks, painting the stories and images hotels, cafés, bars and restaurants. Perth 

with numerous art centres and galleries 

that were of greatest importance from currently has the highest hotel occupancy 

The Arts in Western Australia 

throughout the region. Visitors are also 

the region’s indigenous heritage. Form, an rate, at around 90 per cent, of any major 

able to find out a great deal more about For a first-time visitor to Western 

extremely exciting cultural organisation, city in the world. As Tourism Western 

the fascinating relationship that Western Australia, one of the region’s key standout 

is promoting the collection throughout Australia’s ‘Experience Extraordinary’ 

Australia’s indigenous communities have 

features is the array of extraordinary 

Australia in the run up to CHOGM, as well campaign continues to roll out, tourism 

with the land, with a number of tours and bright artworks that use colours reflecting 

as to international markets in cities such arrivals in Western Australia are 

60 

stays with aboriginal guides on offer. the state’s regions, such as the Pilbara 

as Tokyo and Berlin. 

increasingly expected to roll in. 

61




Education 

62 63



Education 

Western Australia’s education sector is of vital importance to the 

state economy in terms of jobs, skills and innovation. Western 

Australia’s key challenge as an economy is labour shortages 

across a variety of industry sectors. Western Australia’s five fullyfledged 

universities, working closely with industry, are pivotal to 

overcoming this obstacle to the state’s economic growth. 

Section Cover 


Murdoch University 

student centre; 


of Murdoch 

University 

Above: 

Edith Cowan 

University (ECU) 

Chancellery 

Building; Photo 

courtesy of ECU 

As Western Australia’s universities 

continue to raise their international 

profile and operate on a global level, 

the state’s reputation as an outstanding 

place for international students is 

increasing. The university sector is vital to 

Western Australia’s ambition to become 

the global centre for excellence in mining 

and resources-based education. 

Overview 

Despite annual growth of around 5 

per cent over the past 20 years, the 

sector’s relative importance to Western 

Australia’s economy has declined as 

other sectors associated with resources 

development have grown faster. Worldclass 

universities, such as the University 

of Western Australia and Murdoch 

University, make a vital contribution to all 

of Western Australia’s industries with their 

focus on innovation and the development 

of talent for professional labour markets. 

entrants into the labour market for the 

economy to maintain optimal production 

capacity. 

Outlining the labour shortage facing 

Western Australia, CCIWA Chief 

Economist Jon Nicolaou says, ‘Labour 

shortages are a significant challenge for 

us, and have been over the past five 

years in particular. In the near future, 

labour shortages will again return to limit 

business in Western Australia.’ 

Western Australia’s universities have a 

key part to play in attracting international 

talent to come to the region for study and 

work. 

Western Australia’s Universities 

Western Australia currently has five 

universities, all of which were established 

during the 20th century. 

Edith Cowan University (ECU) is Western 

Australia’s oldest university and alma 

mater of Australian actor Hugh Jackman, 

opened initially as a traditional teachers’ 

college in 1902. ECU evolved into a 

fully operational university following a 

legislative change in the 1980s, and now 

caters to 23,000 students from around 

90 countries attending graduate and 

undergraduate courses. 

ECU has academic specialisations in the 

sports sciences, nursing, nanotechnology 

and the performing arts. Edith Cowan 

University prides itself on the institution’s 

community focus, as highlighted by 

institutional focus upon community 

engagement. Edith Cowan University 

works throughout Western Australia’s 

regions, sending trainee nurses to remote 

communities in the Pilbara, as well as 

having a regional campus in the southern 

town of Bunbury. 

The University of Western Australia 

Established in 1911 following an act of 

parliament, the University of Western 

Australia (UWA) has grown from 184 

undergraduates in 1913, to over 21,000 

today. Widely acknowledged as one of 

Australia’s leading academic institutions, 

UWA is consistently ranked within 

Australia’s top five universities; and as 

Western Australia’s leading centre of 

academic excellence. 

UWA is Western Australia’s leading 

research institution, conducting 70 per 

cent of total research in the state. With key 

specialisations in agriculture, biological 

sciences, medicine and engineering, 

UWA’s research programme is very closely 

linked to Western Australia’s economic 

strengths in the resources, agricultural 

and health sectors. As an academic 

institution whose core mission is to 

achieve international excellence, UWA’s 

flagship research programmes such as the 

International Centre for Radio Astronomy 

Research (driving Australia’s bid to host 

the US$2 billion International Square 

Kilometre Array project) and institutes 

including the Energy and Minerals 

Institute, the Oceans Institute and the 

Institute of Agriculture, lead the world’s 

understanding of issues fundamental 

to many of the challenges experienced 

throughout the broader Commonwealth 

community today. 

As UWA’s international profile continues 

to grow, collaborative research and 

teaching efforts throughout the world, 

such as in India, China and Southeast 

Asia, are maturing. UWA’s global reach 

is best demonstrated in the range of 

80 countries from which the university 

welcomes incoming students, and the 

increasing prominence of UWA within 

international networks such as the 

Worldwide University Network. ‘We 

have an ambition to be ranked within the 

world’s top 100 universities by 2013,’ 

says Vice-Chancellor Alan Robson of the 

university’s ambitious international plans, 

‘and within the top 50 by 2050. In this 

way, we can ensure our teaching and 

research best serves the communities 

that we work with as well as ensuring 

Western Australia remains fully engaged 

ECU is particularly excited about 

The education sector contributes around 

leveraging the university’s specialism in 

3 per cent to Western Australia’s gross 

nanotechnology in order to contribute 

state product (GSP), generating AU$4.7 Labour Shortages 

towards Western Australia’s bid for the 

billion in 2008–09, and is Western 

Square Kilometre Array (SKA). The SKA 

Australia’s fifth-largest employer with It is estimated by the Chamber of 

will be the world’s most powerful radio 

92,000 employees. The number of Commerce and Industry in Western 

telescope, comprising a linked array of 

employees in the sector has grown by 9 Australia (CCIWA) that, by the year 

thousands of antennas, stretching across 

64 

per cent between 2008 and 2009. 2016, the state will require 400,000 new 

a 3000-kilometre area. 

internationally.’ 

65



‘‘ 

In terms of 

international 

students on campus 

here in Perth, the 

highest number 

comes from 

China, followed by 

Malaysia, Indonesia 

and India. 

The University of Western 

Australia also plays host to 

a number of the state’s most 

interesting and prestigious 

conferences, such as the 

In The Zone conference, 

which looked at Western 

Australia’s placement in a 

time zone that represents 

60 per cent of the world’s 

population and 63 per cent 

of the world’s economic 

output. 

Speakers from throughout 

this time zone, from 

Hong Kong to Indonesia, 

were in attendance, 

discussing ways in which 

countries and regions in 

this time zone can work in 

partnership to take advantage of common 

opportunities. 

Established in 1967, Curtin University 

was Western Australia’s third university. 

Initially recognised as a university 

of technology, Curtin was awarded 

full university status in 1987. Curtin 

University has grown into Australia’s fifthlargest 

academic institution by student 

numbers, with over 43,000 graduates and 

undergraduates in attendance. Curtin’s 

key academic specialisations are in 

science and engineering, health sciences, 

the humanities and business, and it 

houses the Curtin Business School. 

We constantly review our programmes 

based upon the advice of our advisory 

committees, thus we believe that we 

understand the requirements of business 

moving forward and have tailored our 

programmes to meet these requirements. 

We work with Skills Australia to 

understand skills development, as well as 

with professional associations to further 

understand industry requirements.’ 

Curtin University is internationally 

orientated, with 19,000 of the 

institution’s 44,000 students originating 

from overseas. Curtin also has three 

external campuses, one in Sydney 

CBD and the others in Singapore and 

Malaysia. Speaking about the importance 

of the university’s international activities, 

Professor Hacket says, ‘Curtin is making 

a huge contribution to the regional 

development of the Southeast Asian 

region in terms of developing engineering 

graduates, as well as providing direct 

teaching in countries such as Hong Kong, 

Vietnam and Mauritius, where we have 

1000 students. In terms of international 

students on campus here in Perth, the 

highest number comes from China, 

followed by Malaysia, Indonesia and India. 

However, Curtin is very strong throughout 

the whole Asia Pacific region.’ 

Curtin University has very strong links 

with the Commonwealth community, 

and Professor Hacket is also well aware 

of the importance of the Commonwealth 

to education in Western Australia. ‘Our 

Commonwealth links through the English 

language and shared background in terms 

of law and education are vital to much of 

the success of our overseas engagements. 

These shared links enable us to work 

together extremely well. Commonwealth 

countries have underscored the quality of 

our offering extremely well. For example, 

we have struggled to a certain extent to 

engage with Chinese institutions, as we 

don’t have the shared history in language 

and education that we have through 

the Commonwealth. We are working in 

Curtin makes a key contribution to 

Professor Jeanette 

Western Australia, with the university’s 

Hacket, 

strong focus upon applied education and 

Vice-Chancellor 

and President of 

collaboration with the private sector. 

Curtin University 

By adopting this approach, Curtin 

has ensured that graduates from the 

university are immediately ready for the 

labour market, helping to sustain Western 

Australia’s economic growth. ‘For each 

of our course sectors, we have an 

industry advisory committee,’ says Vice- 

Chancellor Professor Jeanette Hacket. 

‘The purpose of these groups is to identify 

the challenges moving forward in terms of Mauritius to offer a range of business and 

human resources, science and research, construction-management programmes. 

as well as the overall development of the The Commonwealth relationship opened 

industry. This enables us to shape our up awareness for all of us to develop a 

academic programmes in a way that best mutually beneficial shared relationship 

66 

suits the industries of Western Australia. based upon education.’ 

67 

‘‘



Award winning 

library building; 


of Edith Cowan 

University 


The fourth tertiary education institution 

to be established in Western Australia 

was Murdoch University. Established 

in 1973 as Western Australia’s second 

university and a specialist veterinary 

sciences institute, Murdoch University 

has evolved into a thriving, diversified 

research institution since welcoming its 

first undergraduates in 1975. Teaching 

quality has formed the cornerstone of 

Murdoch’s development as a university, 

frequently achieving top rank scores in 

this sphere. 

‘There are a variety of different ranking 

systems,’ explains Vice-Chancellor 

John Yovich, ‘but, in terms of student 

satisfaction, Murdoch University ranks 

number one. We have had the highest 

student-satisfaction rankings for any 

Australian university consistently for 13 

out of the past 15 years.’ 

and renewable energies to media 

marketing and branding onto the campus. 

Murdoch’s Veterinary school is accredited 

at an international level by London’s Royal 

College, as well as its North American and 

Australasian counterparts. 

Of particular interest to the Commonwealth 

community is Murdoch’s specialisation 

with regards to biotechnology and 

agricultural sciences. Murdoch is set to 

have the Southern Hemisphere’s largest 

biotechnology and agricultural consortium 

located on its enormous 224-hectare 

campus, following the physical relocation 

of Western Australia’s Department of 

Food and Agriculture. 

Further opportunities for building scale in 

Murdoch’s research interests are on the 

horizon, with the proposed construction of 

the Fiona Stanley Hospital just to the east 

of the university campus. Vice-Chancellor 

Yovich has pointed out Murdoch’s 

‘significant excitement at the prospect of 

working with the Fiona Stanley Hospital 

on a variety of biotechnology research 

activities.’ 

From a commercial perspective, Murdoch 

University is involved with significant 

multimedia and marketing activities, with 

the institution’s Interactive Television 

Research Institute having contracts with 

multinational brands such as Nike and 

Coca-Cola. Furthermore, Murdoch has 

leveraged its status as the only research 

institute in Australia accredited to test 

the viability of renewable technologies 

through partnerships with companies 

such as Carnegie Wave and Western 

Power, both of whom are at the forefront 

of Western Australia’s 2020 renewable 

energies challenge. 

On top of this, Murdoch works closely 

with Western Australia’s resources giants, 

investigating methods for processing 

minerals through the university’s 

longstanding affiliation with the Parker 

Centre. Vice-Chancellor Yovich is very 

clear on maintaining relevance to Western 

Australia’s economic requirements through 

Murdoch’s research agenda, saying, ‘We 

are very enterprising at Murdoch; we 

have an active commercialisation unit on 

to bring our findings to market. We were 

the first Australian university to develop 

a partnership with a superannuation fund 

that has a portfolio of investments based 

around Murdoch’s research activities. 

‘This gives us an overlay of understanding 

when working with other commercial 

entities in a variety of our research 

activities. We are very careful to ensure 

that our research units are closely linked 

with industry partners, thus ensuring 

commercial viability throughout the 

research cycle.’ 

With 18,000 students from over 80 

countries and campuses throughout 

the Commonwealth in countries such 

as Malaysia and Singapore, Murdoch 

University’s international profile is 

without question. Murdoch is increasingly 

establishing itself as an outward-looking 

institution with an international focus. 

Asked for a reaction to CHOGM 2011 

coming to Perth, Yovich epitomised 

Western Australia’s excitement. 

‘Sensational!’ he declared. ‘We would like 

to take the opportunity to get involved 

as much as we can. We would like to 

host sessions or seminars that are of 

particular interest to the Commonwealth 

research and investment communities. 

Murdoch sees CHOGM 2011 as a 

significant opportunity to increase the 

knowledge base of what we can offer 

internationally.’ 

University of Notre Dame 

Western Australia’s most recent university 

to be established is the University of Notre 

Dame, established in 1994. University of 

Notre Dame in Fremantle was established 

after a group of local Catholics identified 

the need for facilities to teach Catholic 

schoolteachers in Western Australia. 

Through a chance meeting with the 

President of the University of Notre Dame 

in Indiana, University of Notre Dame in 

Western Australia became a reality. 

University of Notre Dame has expanded 

throughout Australia following its initial 

establishment, with campuses in Broome 

and Sydney established in 1994 and 

2004 respectively. University of Notre 

Dame has a unique philosophy towards 

education, based upon a comprehensive 

programme of learning. 

‘Education is supposed to be about opening 

the minds of the people involved with it,’ 

explains Vice-Chancellor Professor Celia 

Hammond. ‘University of Notre Dame has 

a fundamental curriculum for all students 

of theology, philosophy and ethics. That 

is designed to open our students’ minds 

to the world that we live in and their place 

within it. This is vitally important to our 

philosophy behind education. Education 

should be about broadening people’s 

minds and contributing to society. We 

would always describe our approach to 

education as the education of the whole 

From a research perspective, Murdoch is 

the only university ranked in Australia’s 

top 10 research institutions that doesn’t 

have a medical school. Such research 

intensity, combined with Murdoch 

University’s commercial acumen and 

agility, has drawn a wealth of world-class 

68 

research contracts, from biotechnology campus working with our research units 

69



‘‘ 

A total of 60 per 

cent of the world’s 

population lives in 

the same time zone 

as Perth. We are 

looking towards the 

North to engage 

internationally. 

Professor Alan 

Robson, 

Vice-Chancellor of 

The University of 


‘‘ 

person, which goes back 

to the idea of enabling 

people to participate in a 

profession and in society.’ 

University of Notre Dame 

works closely with the 

Catholic Church in order to 

improve access to education 

for Western Australia’s 

indigenous communities. 

Highlighting University of 

Notre Dame’s approach 

to this vital local issue, 

Professor Hammond says, 

‘The Catholic Church has 

had a big role in education 

since Western Australia 

was born. Indigenous 

education made up an 

important part of that. Ever 

since University of Notre 

Dame was established in 1994, indigenous 

education has formed a very important 

part of our mandate. We implement 

pathways for indigenous school-leavers 

to go into higher education. Our two key 

courses for undergraduates are medicine 

and education in Broome; however we are 

currently working with the private sector 

to introduce courses relating to natural 

resources management.’ 

University of Notre Dame is working to 

increase the institution’s international 

profile, with a target of 10 per cent of 

students to come from an overseas 

location. Presently University of Notre 

Dame has strong links with the USA, 

with exchange programmes partnering 

University of Notre Dame in Indiana and 

the University of Portland. Of particular 

interest to potential international students 

from the Commonwealth is University 

of Notre Dame’s ambition to increase 

entrants to the university from Latin 

America, Africa and India. 

Innovation and Industry Links 

programme to an investment fund in order 

to ensure sustainability in the research 

cycle. Furthermore, by building close links 

with industry through institutions such as 

the Parker Centre and business schools 

such as UWA’s, Western Australia’s 

leading institutions of knowledge and 

research ensure that those graduating 

from them retain relevance for the local 

economy. 

Elaborating upon UWA’s links with the 

private sector, Professor Alan Robson 

explains, ‘University of Western Australia 

has very close relationships with a major 

industry players: Woodside funds two and 

a half professorial chairs on the university 

professorial board, Chevron funds one 

and a half chairs, Alcoa funds a chair as 

does BHP Billiton. The engineering firm 

Monadelphus is funding an integrated 

learning centre in our engineering faculty. 

Our business school board comprises of 

leading corporate figures including Don 

Voelte (Woodside CEO), Richard Goyder 

(Wesfarmers CEO), John Poynton (Azure 

Capital Chairman) and Ian Ashby (BHP 

Billiton President Iron Ore).’ 

Key research programmes such as UWA’s 

Geothermal Centre of Excellence, Energy 

and Mineral Institute and Institute of 

Agriculture are very closely linked with the 

strengths and challenges associated with 

Western Australia’s economy today. 

By ensuring this approach is followed, 

Western Australia’s universities are 

able to ensure that graduates find local 

employment opportunities plentiful, 

and that a sustainable cycle of research 

and innovation is maintained. Murdoch 

University has taken proactive steps 

to ensure the university’s proximity to 

commerce, engaging with Wesfarmers 

Energy and the Department of Food and 

Agriculture, in order for their divisions 

to relocate to Murdoch’s campus. Curtin 

University has taken similar steps, with 

the development of Bentley Technology 

Park adjacent to Curtin’s main campus. 

Curtin University, University of Western 

Australia and the Western Australian state 

government, with the AU$100 million 

International Centre for Radio Astronomy 

Research (ICRAR). 

The ICRAR forms a key element of Western 

Australia’s bid for the Square Kilometre 

Array (SKA). The Square Kilometre Array 

is expected to gather more information 

about the universe in its first 10 minutes 

of operation than has been gathered 

throughout man’s history of space 

exploration. The Square Kilometre Array is 

due to be constructed either in Southern 

Africa or Western Australia, ensuring that 

this momentous project’s home will be in 

the Commonwealth. 


Western Australia’s universities share the 

business community’s strong international 

focus in their awareness of the benefits 

of engaging on the international stage. 

Edith Cowan, Murdoch and Curtin 

Universities in particular have a remarkable 

international profile, with each institution 

educating students from over 90 different 

countries. 

Education makes up 4 per cent of Western 

Australia’s export revenues, a significant 

contribution in a region with such a strong 

export profile. By drawing on the world’s 

most talented young people, Western 

Australia’s universities are ensuring that 

the local economy benefits over the 

longer term. 

One of the world’s leading education 

companies emerged out of Western 

Australia’s international focus regarding 

education. Established in 1994, Navitas 

sets out to help international students 

adapt to new cultures and conditions. 

‘Navitas really grew out of a recognition 

that many international students coming 

to Australia were failing in the first year 

of their degree,’ says Managing Director 

Rod Jones of the company’s origins. 

‘This had nothing to do with academic 

ability; this was more to do with cultural 

changes that international students went 

through as part of studying abroad. The 

transition proved very difficult for many 

international students. What Navitas set 

out to do was assist with this transition 

in order for international students to be 

more successful.’ 

Navitas’ approach to international 

education has been remarkably 

successful, with the company now 

present throughout the world. ‘Navitas 

has maintained over the past 12 years a 

25 per cent cumulative increase in student 

numbers,’ explains Jones. ‘Navitas has 

grown from one college in 1995 to 28 

colleges internationally today. Over 15 

years, we have grown to become a global 

company.’ 

Western Australia’s universities 

distinguish themselves by how closely Western Australia’s universities also have 

they work with industry to the overall a rich tradition of collaboration, working 

benefit of Western Australia’s economy. together in order to leverage particular 

Leading universities such as Murdoch areas of expertise and produce benefits 

have innovated in very advanced ways, overall for the region. A very good 

70 

such as linking the institution’s research example of such collaboration is between 

71




Agriculture and Fisheries 

John Curtin 

Forum; Photo 

courtesy of Curtin 

University 

Western Australia’s universities’ 

international focus is not limited to 

attracting international students. Numerous 

international campuses throughout Asia 

also belong to Western Australia’s leading 

institutions. Curtin has campuses in 

Singapore and Malaysia; whilst Murdoch 

has campuses in Singapore, Dubai and 

Kuala Lumpur. Although it does not 

have any international campuses, UWA 

is active with teaching programmes in 

Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore. 

remote sensing programme in partnership 

with Rio Tinto, as well as working with 

BHP and Alcoa.’ 

Western Australia’s academic 

infrastructure and industry participation 

related to the mining industry lays an 

excellent foundation for Perth’s rapid 

growth towards becoming the leading 

centre for academic excellence, training 

and expertise with regards to mining and 

resources worldwide. 

Western Australia as a Centre for Commonwealth Opportunities 

Resources Industry Excellence Given Western Australia’s proximity to 

Western Australia’s long-held ambition many of the Commonwealth’s fastestgrowing 

of being internationally recognised as 

economies throughout the 

a global centre of excellence in the Indian Ocean Rim and South East Asia, 

resources sector is increasingly becoming the state’s education sector presents 

a reality, as links between the state’s fantastic opportunities for ambitious 

universities and leading industrial sector international students and collaborative 

continue to develop. Curtin University research programmes across borders. 

has recently opened a Resources and 

Chemistry Precinct, Murdoch works ‘CHOGM is a great opportunity for us to 

closely with widely recognised metallurgy show people around our campus,’ says 

research house the Parker Centre, and Professor Alan Robson, capturing UWA’s 

University of Western Australia is home excitement at the opportunities presented 

to the longstanding Energy and Mineral by CHOGM. ‘Sixty per cent of the world’s 

Institute. ‘Curtin University works together population lives in the same time zone as 

with Australia’s largest mining schools, Perth. We are looking towards the North 

developing a shared curriculum that is to engage internationally. CHOGM gives 

benchmarked across industry standards,’ us a great opportunity to engage more 

says Professor Jeanette Hacket. ‘For in the international arena. I think that is 

example, we have a programme with the great that CHOGM is coming to Perth. 

Colorado School of Mines. We also have a UWA is very keen to interact more with 

campus in Borneo in partnership with the Africa, India, China and the Middle East; 

Sarawak government and we partner with this gives us a great opportunity to get 

Shell in order to develop executives for to know potential partners from these 

72 

the oil and gas industry. We also have a regions more effectively.’ 

73



Western Australia: A Quality Food 

and Fibre Producer 

High-quality, locally produced food and fine wine are firmly a part 

of the Western Australian lifestyle. This is a bounty that Western 

Australians enthusiastically share, with exports accounting for 80 

per cent of the state’s annual food and agricultural production. 

Author: 


of Western 

Australia 

Section Cover 


Aerial view of 

the Diversion 

Dam, with Lake 

Kununurra and 

the Ord River; 



Australia 

This page: 

Agricultural crop 

on part of the 

Ord Irrigation 

Project, located 

in Kununurra; 



Australia 

Within Western Australia, the 

AU$8 billion agricultural and 

food sectors provide fresh 

and processed products for enjoyment 

at home or in a rich selection of cafés 

and restaurants offering cuisine from 

around the globe. The value of the state’s 

agrifood exports grew 28 per cent to a 

record AU$6.3 billion in the 2008–09 

financial year, driven particularly by 

growing demand from the Middle East 

and the continued strength of Northeast 

Asian markets. 

Western Australia’s agrifood production 

is extensive and diverse, from tropical 

latitudes through to Mediterranean and 

temperate climates. Irrigated lots, broad 

acre, dry land farms and rangeland grazing 

produce cereals, pulses and oilseeds, 

meat, milk, fruit and vegetables. Wines 

judged as among the world’s best, highquality 

dairy products and a wide range 

of chilled, milled and processed foods are 

among the state’s value-added products. 

Fisheries along a 12,500-kilometre 

coastline, which include highly prized rock 

lobster, prawns, shellfish and finfish, are 

carefully managed to protect them both 

for commercial and recreational uses. 

The state is also a significant producer and 

exporter of pearls, fine wool, timber and 

woodchips from forests and plantations, 

and animal feed. 

The state’s isolation, vast size and 

relatively small population ensures 

unpolluted agricultural land, freedom from 

many pests and diseases, and clear ocean 

waters – resources that are highly valued 

and protected. 

Western Australian food producers are 

recognised globally as among the most 

innovative and technologically advanced, 

working with researchers in both the 

public and private sectors to ensure the 

sustainability and profitability of their 

industries. Traditional varieties and 

techniques are adapted to create crops 

and livestock better suited to resist 

diseases and pests, to improve yields 

and efficiencies, and to produce foods 

and other products suited to diverse 

market tastes. New research projects are 

underway to increase the preparedness 

and resilience of farm businesses in the 

face of climate change. Researchers 

collaborate with tertiary institutions, other 

agencies and industry in Australia and in 

many countries, including Commonwealth 

members, across the world. 

As well as actively supporting targeted 

research and development, the Western 

Australian government oversees quality 

assurance and traceability programmes to 

ensure the production of safe, quality food. 

It also operates an extensive surveillance 

programme to ensure and demonstrate 

freedom from plant and animal pests, 

diseases and weeds. 

Sophisticated and extensive infrastructure 

supports Western Australia’s agriculture, 

forestry and fishing industries and the 

people who work in it. Well developed 

public roads, a grain rail network, efficient 

ports, airports and boat harbours help 

ensure that the state’s crops, catch and 

livestock reach markets and customers. 

A major Western Australian government 

investment in irrigated agriculture will 

help meet growing demand for quality 

horticultural produce, and improve 

the sustainable use of precious water 

resources. In the state’s tropical North 

East, near Kununurra, a significant 

Major Western Australian Agriculture: 

Food and Fibre Exports in 2008–09 

Rank 

Commodity 

1 Wheat AU$2.7 billion 

Canola AU$535 million 

Livestock AU$487 million 

Meat AU$464 million 

Wool AU$418 million 

6 Wood AU$322 million 

7 Seafood AU$302 million 

Source: State Government of Western Australia 

expansion of the Ord River Irrigation 

Area to 22,000 hectares is underway. 

The thriving irrigation area, fed by the 

10,800-gigalitre Lake Argyle, currently 

produces pulse, seed, fruit, vegetable and 

tree crops worth about AU$100 million 

annually, and production is predicted to 

grow by AU$50 million over the next five 

years. 

In the state’s Gascoyne region, state 

government investment in expanding 

Carnarvon’s irrigation precinct aims to 

help double the value of production, 

which includes tropical and temperate 

fruit and vegetable crops worth AU$75 

million in 2009. 

Global demand for quality products is 

creating many opportunities for investment 

in the expansion of Western Australia’s 

food and agricultural industries. 

Export Value 

74 75



Agriculture and Fisheries 

Western Australia’s rich and diversified agricultural sector has 

traditionally been a significant contributor to the state economy, 

with a vast range of products, from rock lobster and barramundi 

to better-known products such as wheat and cattle. 

Above: 

Aerial view 

of Geraldton 

Wheatbins; Photo 

courtesy of 


Australia 

Western Australia’s 2.5-millionsquare-kilometre 

land mass 

presents an extraordinary range 

of climatic conditions suitable for a 

variety of agricultural products. From the 

temperate South West and Great Southern 

to the tropical Kimberley in the North, 

Western Australia has the capability to 

satisfy international demand throughout 

the year for a plethora of diverse products. 

Given Western Australia’s relatively small 

population, the region’s heritage as a 

centre for agricultural production and 

excellence is rooted in a clear outward 

focus on international export markets. 

Overview 

12,000-kilometre coastline continues to 

grow in prestige throughout the world’s 

most valued international export markets, 

including East Asia, the European Union 

and the Middle East. 

Having experienced a 28 per cent 

increase in exports throughout 2009, 

agriculture in Western Australia is set 

to grow in prominence as Australia’s 

population continues to grow and key 

export markets in emerging Asia continue 

to see per-capita incomes and associated 

consumption increasing. Terry Redman, 

the Minister for Agriculture, Food and 

Forestry, is confident of the strength 

and potential endowed within Western 

Australia’s agricultural industry. 

the sector grows to around $13 billion. 

This represents around 10 per cent of 

the mining and petroleum industries. 

Agriculture has a strong export focus. 

The industry is very significant for 

Western Australia’s economy and will 

remain significant for some time to come. 

Western Australia is presented with an 

opportunity in its geographical proximity 

to key markets such as Southeast Asia 

and the Middle East.’ 

Western Australia’s farmers are extremely 

efficient operators, given Australia’s low 

subsidy regime when compared with 

competitor regions such as the EU, USA 

or Canada. According to the Producers’ 

Support Estimate, Australian farmers 

receive a fraction of the support that 

farming communities in contending 

OECD nations are entitled to. Such a 

regulatory regime has driven innovation 

and expansion in productive capacity 

across many agricultural sectors, such as 

horticulture and grain production. 

Western Australia’s key challenges as a 

region of international significance with 

regards to agriculture are the strong 

Australian dollar in global export markets, 

the logistical challenges presented by 

operating in such a vast region, labour 

shortages in a booming regional economy, 

and continuing dry conditions associated 

with the growing impact of global 

warming across Australia. Ironically, 

Australia’s relative strength throughout 

the global financial crisis has eroded 

profit margins for agricultural exporters 

trading in Australian dollars, competing in 

international markets against depreciated 

major currencies such as the US dollar 

and euro. 

Technological development and 

innovation in Western Australia is one of 

the agricultural sector’s key competitive 

advantages. Agricultural Research 

Western Australia (ARWA) was established 

in 2005 as an alliance of academic 

institutions, government and industry, 

set up to share knowledge and resources 

in order to further drive innovation in key 

areas of strength. These include breeding 

technologies, genetic analysis and 

plant biotechnology. Notable members 

institutions such as Curtin University, 

the University of Western Australia and 

Murdoch University, all of whom are 

widely regarded on the international stage 

for their contributions to the agricultural 

sciences and biotechnology. 

As a leading centre for agricultural 

research and best practice, Western 

Australia is well placed to capitalise upon 

growing global demand for safe, quality 

food. Western Australia has some of the 

strictest quarantine requirements in the 

world, ensuring the state’s agricultural 

sector is not hindered by pests prevalent 

in some of the world’s key agricultural 

producing regions. 

Western Australia is capitalising on its 

rich diversity in agricultural production 

through a rapidly growing suite of 

processed food products such as 

beverages, dairy products, olive oil, wine 

and animal feeds. Emerging processing 

industries linked into Western Australia’s 

agricultural value chain are of growing 

importance to the state government and 

economy in terms of adding value. They 

also present a significant opportunity for 

international investors. 

Diversified agribusiness operator Craig 

Mostyn Group embodies the benefits 

derived from diversifying into agricultural 

processing, demonstrating significant 

growth in recycling and rendering of 

agricultural waste into animal feeds and 

fertilisers. 

‘Craig Mostyn Group processes around 

100,000 tons per annum of waste 

material,’ says CEO David Lock of the 

value within such niche sectors. ‘This is 

an essential service for the state. If we 

don’t operate, then the abattoirs cannot 

operate. We have invested millions of 

dollars into ensuring our environmental 

compliance is at a world-class level.’ 

Western Australia’s diverse array of 

agricultural products is dominated by 

grains such as wheat, barley and canola, 

followed by meat and livestock products, 

pulses and oil seeds, horticultural produce, 

fisheries and wool. The majority of 

Western Australia’s production for export 

‘‘ 

We have invested 

millions of dollars 

into ensuring our 

environmental 

compliance is at a 

world-class level. 

David Lock, 

CEO of Craig 

Mostyn Group 

Accounting for 7 per cent of Western 

Australia’s exports (over AU$6 billion), 

agricultural produce originating from ‘Agriculture alone is worth around $8 

regions such as the Kimberley, Great billion,’ he says. ‘However, if you bring 

Southern and Western Australia’s the added value of food on top of that, 

of ARWA are prestigious academic is characterised by significant numbers of 

76 77 

‘‘



Grain Harvest in 



of Department 

of Food and 

Agriculture 

small member producers selling produce 

to cooperatives such as Cooperative Bulk 

Handling for grains, WAMMCO (Western 

Australian Meat Marketing Co-operative) 

for lamb and Geraldton Fisherman’s 

Cooperative for fisheries products such 

as rock lobster. 

Following the deregulation of a number 

of formerly state controlled agricultural 

sectors, such as wheat and livestock 

throughout the mid-1990s and early 

2000s, competition among processors and 

bulk exporters has increased significantly, 

presenting numerous challenges and 

opportunities for both incumbents and 

potential new entrants into Western 

Australia’s lucrative agricultural sector. 

A brief overview of Western Australia’s 

various agricultural products offers 

the best means of communicating the 

industry’s present status and investment 

opportunities as follows. 

Cereals 

Western Australia’s cereals industry is 

underpinned by wheat. Wheat exports 

from Western Australia accounted for 

AU$2.7 billion in 2008–09, followed by 

barley (AU$515 million), malt (AU$172 

million) and oats (AU$48 million). 

Western Australia accounts for 45 per 

cent of Australia’s cereals production as 

a whole, exporting to markets such as 

Indonesia, Japan, Iran, China and South 

Korea. Western Australia’s wheat and 

oats exports account for 50 per cent of 

Australia’s total, while barley accounts 

for around 37 per cent of the total. 

Western Australia’s cereals industry is 

of a very low labour intensity, with the 

vast majority of crops being rain-fed. 

This translates into a highly competitive 

product on international markets. The key 

private sector player in Western Australia 

is Cooperative Bulk Handling, through its 

wholly owned subsidiary Grain Pool. Grain 

Pool’s exports from Western Australia 

accounted for AU$2.4 billion in 2008– 

09. 

Even though there are 26 competitors in 

Western Australia’s cereals market, Grain 

Pool acquired 50 per cent of production 

in 2008–09. 

Outlining the key reasons for Grain Pool’s 

success, General Manager Brian Mumme 

says, ‘There is a certain affinity towards 

Grain Pool as still a farmer-owned entity. 

This gives confidence to our growers, 

who know that we are viable and that 

they will get paid. We believe that our 

products, our service and our reputation 

with customers differentiate us from our 

competitors. We have to continue to be 

innovative and show transparency to our 

growers, otherwise they will stop working 

with us.’ 

Despite Western Australia’s grain farmers 

suffering a challenging year in 2009 due 

to an appreciated Australian dollar and 

depressed global prices, the opportunities 

for new entrants into Western Australia’s 

cereals industry are varied and exciting. 

Producers continue to work with exporters 

in order to tailor Australian cereals for 

specific markets, thus achieving premium 

prices such as with Japanese Udon 

noodles. 

Furthermore, as competition among 

acquirers such as Grain Pool intensifies, 

consolidation and niche innovation within 

the market present opportunities for 

discerning investors. 

the growers, with a far greater emphasis 

on transparency. We are also seeing 

competitors looking at different supply 

chains. CBH has effectively a monopoly 

on storage and transportation. New 

competitors are looking at establishing 

new supply chains with a view to 

improving efficiency. There are also 

significant moves towards reducing the 

space between growers and customers, 

with a view to making the supply chain far 

more responsive to customer demands.’ 

Pulses and Oilseeds 

Western Australia’s pulse and oilseed 

exports increased from AU$496 million 

to AU$626 million between 2001 and 

2009, and have seen Western Australia 

emerge as the world’s largest exporter of 

lupins. Western Australia’s pulses exports 

are dominated by canola (AU$535 million) 

followed by lupins (AU$43 million) and 

various other varieties of oilseeds and 

pulses valued at AU$20 million and 

AU$18 million respectively. Grain Pool 

also dominates as an acquirer for Western 

Australia’s pulses and oilseeds, exporting 

to markets such as the Netherlands, 

France, Japan and Pakistan. 

Meat and Livestock 

Western Australia’s AU$1 billion meat and 

live animal export industry is dominated 

by the export of lamb and sheep products 

valued at AU$510 million in 2008–09. 

WAMMCO is the state’s leading processor 

and exporter of lamb and sheep products 

from Western Australia to the international 

market. Key markets for West Australian 

sheep products include the Middle East, 

USA and EU. Western Australia’s sheep 

industry is experiencing a challenging 

period as the sector comes to grips with 

government deregulation, the strong 

Australian dollar and a significant drop 

in the number of sheep to around 15.5 

million head. 

of smaller operators in the market. A 

lot of export processors have not made 

money this year because of the strong 

Australian dollar and shortages in supply. 

Western Australia has had a particularly 

long drought in 2009. This has impacted 

the growth of lambs and the breeding 

activity of ewes. This season was around 

2 million head below previous seasons. 

Usually Western Australia processes and 

exports around 8 million head; this year 

was around 6 million.’ 

International markets remain favourable 

for lamb and sheep products in terms 

of price. Western Australia’s generally 

favourable conditions (such as mild winters 

and heavier lambs relative to regions such 

as New Zealand) present opportunities for 

producers to come into the market and 

service ever-increasing global demand 

proximate to Western Australia. 

Horticulture 

Western Australia’s diverse climate and 

geography, combined with its counterseasonal 

orientation to the Northern 

Hemisphere, presents significant 

opportunities for the development of 

horticulture in the state. Western Australia 

has a number of ideal regions for the 

continued development of horticulture, 

from the temperate regions in the South 

West (such as Margaret River) to vast 

tropical wetlands in the north, such 

as the Ord River Irrigation Area in the 

Kimberley. 

Horticulture offers the greatest 

opportunities for value adding within 

Western Australia’s agricultural sector. 

The overall value of the horticultural 

sector in Western Australia is valued 

at approximately AU$1.9 billion, when 

value-added activities are taken into 

account. Of particular interest are Western 

Australia’s exceptionally high-quality 

wines, which are produced predominantly 

in the Margaret River region, a Western 

Australian tourism hub. Horticultural 

production in Western Australia is valued 

at AU$790 million, excluding valueadded 

activities, comprising 37 per cent 

vegetable production, 29 per cent fruit 

production, 11 per cent grape production 

and 23 per cent flowers and nursery 

‘Right now it is very difficult because 

‘There are massive opportunities 

supply of lamb is at an all-time low,’ 

emerging,’ comments Brian Mumme. 

explains WAMMCO CEO Coll MacRury. 

‘Everything is changing very quickly. We 

‘The flock has dropped to around 15 

are seeing consolidation and we expect 

million head, significantly lower than 

to see further consolidation amongst the 

around 15 years ago. The processing 

26 players in the market. A whole new 

sector is also very competitive, with 

78 

suite of products are now on offer to 

two major competitors and a number products. 

79




Professional Services 

Vasse Felix 

vineyards, 

Cowaramup; Photo 

courtesy of Vasse 

Felix and Tourism 


Horticultural exports in Western Australia 

are somewhat unique given their low 

relative value to the industry overall. 

Key export markets include Singapore, 

UAE, Malaysia and the United Kingdom. 

Vegetables (AU$52 million) are Western 

Australia’s most significant horticultural 

export, followed by beverages (AU$37 

million), floriculture and nursery products 

(AU$27 million), and fruits (AU$20 

million). Western Australia’s continued 

focus on regional development in provinces 

with vast agricultural potential, such as 

the Ord River Irrigation Area, represent 

significant opportunities for investors to 

come into the Asia Pacific region’s most 

benign horticultural market. 

West Australian Wineries 

Widely acknowledged as Western 

Australia’s key wine-producing region, 

Margaret River is home to some of the 

world’s top wine producers, such as 

Leeuwin Estate, Mosswood and Vass 

Felix. Despite producing only a fraction of 

Australia’s overall wine output, Western 

Australia accounts for 20 per cent of 

premium wine exports. 

Fisheries 

Western Australia’s coastline is home 

to some of the world’s finest and mostsought-after 

marine products, such as 

scallops, rock lobster, crab and prawns. 

Total fisheries exports for 2008–09 were 

valued at AU$377 million. A nascent 

aquaculture industry in products such 

as pearls and lobster offers significant 

scope for international investment and 

knowledge-sharing. 


Western Australia’s agricultural sector 

continues to innovate in order to overcome 

significant challenges surrounding labour 

shortages, environmental conditions and 

macro-economic constraints associated 

with a strong Australian dollar. The outlook 

for investment is very strong with regards 

to agricultural processing industries and 

innovations to mitigate producer risks on 

international markets such as currency 

and commodity price shifts. 

Western Australia’s strong technical base 

and prominence on the international market 

provides an excellent knowledge-sharing 

arena for the broader Commonwealth 

community. 

Reflecting on the importance of community 

spirit in continuing to develop world-class 

wines, Leeuwin Estate’s Denis Horgan 

says, ‘The wine industry in Margaret River 

is competitive on a very friendly level. Western Australia’s growing population, 

We are all working together for an overall combined with emerging Asia’s increasing 

improvement.’ Despite the impact of a consumption of the region’s agricultural 

strong Australian dollar on wine exports output, provides an excellent foundation 

from Western Australia, global markets in for inbound international investment 

the USA, UK and East Asia continue to to continue to develop Asia Pacific’s 

80 

demand Margaret River’s finest produce. emerging food basket. 

81



Professional Services 

As foreign direct investment and company profits have continued 

to grow in Western Australia, the focus of international 

corporations is increasingly shifting towards the region. Demands 

for professional and business services are high. 

Section Cover 


St. Georges 

Terrace, Central 

Business District; 


GBR 

Above: 

Working together 

on a planning 

application; Photo 

courtesy of Minter 

Ellison 

Gross value added to Western 

Australia’s economy from 

professional services has 

increased year on year from AU$5.7 

billion in 2000–01 to AU$7.8 billion in 

2008–09. 

It is clear that the professional-services 

sector is growing in importance to 

Western Australia’s economy, and 

that Western Australia is increasingly 

becoming the focus for international 

professional services companies across 

the board. 

Overview 

Standing at AU$7.8 billion of industry 

gross value added for Western Australia 

in 2008–09, professional, scientific and 

technical services now represent Western 

Australia’s fifth-largest industry sector, 

accounting for just over 5 per cent of 

gross state output. 

Professional, scientific and technical 

services encompass top-tier consultative 

professions, excluding those associated 

with information technology, healthcare, 

education and public administration. In 

order to best articulate the specific value 

added to Western Australia’s business 

environment from each niche sub-sector 

within the broader professional services 

cluster, a detailed breakdown is helpful. 

Of greatest importance are accountancy 

and advisory, law and professional 

Accountancy and Advisory 

Western Australia has a long-established 

tradition with some of the world’s 

largest accountancy firms, with Price 

Waterhouse Coopers (PWC) and KPMG 

having operations in Perth and Western 

Australia for well over 100 years. 

Specialist accountancy firms play a vital 

role in Western Australia’s economy, 

advising a vast range of clients, from 

government through to corporate and SME 

client bases, on regulatory matters ranging 

from auditory and tax requirements to due 

diligence on major transactions. 

Specialist firms such as KPMG are 

increasingly playing a role in Western 

Australia’s infrastructure development, 

working with the state government 

on complex business models for 

development, an example being public 

private partnerships (PPP). 

‘KPMG has audit, tax and advisory 

services,’ explains Steve Scudamore, 

Chairman of Partners at KPMG, speaking 

about the firm’s capability in Western 

Australia. 

‘Advisory represents a myriad of 

services, such as transaction services 

and corporate financing. Advisory also 

encompasses a consulting arm with 

services such as change management, 

as well as a risk advisory arm. We 

are working on significant social and 

economic infrastructure upgrades with 

the government through the PPP model.’ 

As Western Australia’s resources 

sectors in particular continue to attract 

huge investments into the state, the 

professional-services market continues to 

grow, and competition is increasing. 

‘The professional-services market is 

very buoyant right now, and extremely 

competitive,’ says PWC’s Managing 

Partner John O’Connor. 

and key ingredient to success is getting 

the right people on board with the right 

skills sets. We recruit from around the 

world to achieve that mix.’ 

Given their traditional role as a training 

ground for talented associates moving 

into executive roles, accounting firms 

such as Ernst & Young, PWC, KPMG and 

Deloitte play a vital role in bringing talented 

graduates to the broader labour market 

with an established set of professional 

skills. 

Articulating the training regime available 

to employees at PWC, John O’Connor 

says, ‘PWC is an excellent learning ground 

for our people; we offer an opportunity to 

work across a whole range of industries 

and professional specialities. 

‘Our people really do expect to be 

challenged in a diverse range of 

professional skills. As a national firm, we 

also have the ability to expose our people 

to a variety of experiences throughout 

Australia.’ 

As the global economy continues to evolve 

towards one commercial space, proactive 

advisory firms such as PWC, Deloitte and 

KPMG are increasingly working to bring 

the global investment community closer 

to Perth. 

Describing the exciting new facet of 

international professional-services 

activity, Steve Scudamore of KPMG says, 

‘KPMG has an Asian Business Group 

focused upon helping Asian clients to 

assess potential projects for investment. 

We work with partner offices throughout 

the region to develop new business across 

borders. 

‘We sometimes work with domestic midcap 

companies, in order to raise capital 

for their projects. Our key international 

markets are India, China, Japan and 

Korea. Indian companies are very much 

interested in coal, whereas China, Japan 

and Korea have major interests in iron ore 

and LNG. 

A vibrant professional-services sector in 

Western Australia serves to further raise 

efficiency, productivity and adherence 

‘Competition is good; it drives us to 

to international best-practice standards 

innovate. The environment is very exciting. 

while further diversifying the state’s 

There are enormous opportunities when ‘The time zone that Perth is in places us 

economic base, thus ensuring long-term 

you look at the growth in the resources extremely well to work with investors 

82 

commercial stability. 

engineering. 

sector, for example. ‘The main challenge from these regions.’ 

83



‘‘ 

The best point for 

us to get involved 

with a project is 

day one. 

Jason Ricketts, 

Managing Partner 

of Freehills Perth 

‘‘ 

Western Australia’s growing 

significance for the world’s 

rapidly industrialising 

markets presents excellent 

opportunities for new 

advisory firms with 

international networks to 

join this growing cycle of 

commerce. 

As a result of such a 

wide-ranging footprint, 

specialist accountancy 

firms are extraordinarily 

well placed to assist new 

entrants into Western 

Australia’s economy, 

as well as to facilitate 

outward investment from 

Western Australia to 

rapidly developing regions 

of the Commonwealth, 

such as the Indian Subcontinent and 

Eastern Africa. ‘PWC works very closely 

with numerous companies that have 

operations in overseas locations,’ says 

John O’Connor of the emerging trend. 

‘We work on both inbound and outbound 

deals. For example, I personally worked in 

Zambia earlier this year assisting a mining 

client. Our national and international 

network provided PWC a great capacity 

to support our local clients wherever they 

operate. Clients are far more comfortable 

working with global brands such as ours 

when they venture offshore.’ 

Western Australia’s major accountancy 

firms continue to exemplify Western 

Australia’s professional culture of working 

closely with the state’s communities. 

KPMG in particular works closely with 

indigenous communities on developing 

employment opportunities and cultural 

exchanges as part of the firm’s reconciliation 

plan. Furthermore, KPMG’s people get 

out into the community, working on 

educational projects with disadvantaged 

communities. The philosophy is very 

much to build relationships rather than 

just give funding. 

Law 

Western Australia’s legal sector 

experienced a rapid evolution in the 

early 1990s, from locally focused firms 

working almost exclusively with Western 

Australian clients to a raft of national 

and internationally focused companies 

that emerged following a series of 

partnerships. 

Firms such as Mallesons, Freehills and 

Minter Ellison are good examples of this 

trend, and today are able to compete on 

the international stage. 

Mallesons’ Partner in Charge, Beau Deleuil, 

explains the challenges associated with 

such a rapid shift from the local to the 

global market place. 

‘The key challenge that we have had,’ he 

says, ‘is having to shift our focus towards 

a global perspective. Perth is becoming 

one of a few global resource hubs now 

and this has driven us to develop a new 

range of skill sets. 

‘We have been able to keep up with these 

demands quite well, but an international 

staff base is essential. One of our key 

strategies for overcoming this challenge 

is to work in collaboration with our 

international offices, such as Hong Kong, 

as well as to exchange staff across 

international space.’ 

Western Australia’s legal sector is now 

widely regarded as one of the most 

competitive in the world, with several 

world-class law firms competing for 

clients involved in some of the world’s 

largest resources projects. 

Such competition inevitably drives up 

standards. This enables Western Australia’s 

commercial lawyers to increasingly 

broaden their horizons towards emerging 

Asia and the international stage. 

While Western Australia’s resources 

sectors are of greatest importance to 

the region’s law firms, government, 

agriculture, construction and the financial 

services sectors remain of significance to 

the commercial legal sector. Leading firms 

have developed a wide-ranging capacity 

‘One of the things that Freehills prides itself 

on is being able to take projects from start 

to finish,’ says Freehills Managing Partner 

Jason Ricketts. ‘Right from the moment 

a project requires land for development, 

we assist with the regulatory and 

environmental approvals. We also assist 

with the financing structures, industrial 

relations strategy, contracts and approvals 

for decommissioning. The best point for 

us to get involved with a project is day 

one.’ 

Explaining why such quality service is 

important to international businesses 

investing into the region, Beau Deleuil says, 

‘Resources companies want complete and 

utter certainty regarding the returns on 

their investments. Some of their key risks 

are regulatory, taxation and uncertainty. 

Law firms are ideally placed to mitigate 

this risk. Many of these companies are 

involved with multiple billion-dollar 

contracts; legal and regulatory certainty 

over such contracts is essential for major 

firms. Environmental and indigenous 

approvals over land development are 

some of our greatest challenges.’ 

Similarly to the accountancy and 

advisory sector, Western Australia’s 

law firms are becoming involved with an 

increasing number of deals in the global 

marketplace. Exports of legal services 

from Western Australia stood at AU$80 

million for 2009, and continue to rise on 

an upward trajectory. International firms 

such as Minter Ellison are at the forefront 

of meeting demand across international 

borders and delivering legal services to 

ensure the completion of cross-border 

transactions. 

Minter Ellison Managing Partner John 

Poulsen best describes his firm’s cuttingedge 

approach to international trade 

when he says, ‘We are one of the only 

Australian firms that has an office in 

London practising both English and 

Australian law. This provides us with 

an excellent conduit for international 

investment coming into Australia from one 

of the world’s leading financial centres. 

If you look at China, there has been a 

hugely significant change over the past 

three years, in terms of investment now 

dominated by the 120,000 

state-owned enterprises 

based out of Beijing. We 

have now reopened our 

Beijing office to capture 

working relationships from 

this change in investment 

flows. As a firm, we are 

increasing our business 

visits to China in order to 

educate investors about 

the business processes 

in Australia, as well as 

to develop relationships 

further.’ 


international law firms 

retain their connections 

to Western Australia, 

preserving the region’s 

strong ties with local 

communities through a myriad of 

social projects. Minter Ellison is widely 

acknowledged as a leader in this field, 

focusing particularly on education 

projects with disadvantaged communities. 

Nevertheless, firms such as Freehills and 

Mallesons retain a strong focus on the 

community also, working with groups such 

as the National Breast Cancer Foundation 

and Royal Flying Doctors respectively. 

Professional Engineering 

Western Australia’s vast resources sectors 

would not be able to sustain themselves 

without the myriad of support services 

and engineering firms that sub-contract 

throughout the industry. 

Western Australia’s professional engineers 

are undoubtedly world-class, with firms 

such as Worley Parsons, Sinclair Knight 

Merz, Hatch and Clough working on the 

region’s largest projects, such as Oakajee 

Port and Rail, Fiona Stanley Hospital, 

Gorgon and Pluto respectively. Western 

Australia’s engineers are particularly 

renowned for their quality in delivery, 

innovation and long-term perspective. 

Speaking about the firms; ‘ECO-nomics’ 

initiative, Worley Parsons Operations 

Manager Bradley Andrews says, ‘A couple 

of years ago, Worley Parsons began to 

look at how we could help our customers 

‘‘ 

There has been a 

hugely significant 

change over 

the past three 

years, in terms of 

investment now 

coming from China 

into Australia. 

John Poulsen, 

Managing Partner 

of Minter Ellison 

‘KPMG’s focus is to get our people 

involved with the communities rather 

than just writing a cheque,’ explains 

84 

Steve Scudamore. 

to deliver huge projects from the outset. 

coming from China into Australia. This is operate more sustainably, in order to 

85 

‘‘




Construction and Manufacturing 

Department 

of Economics, 

Commerce and 

Law at Murdoch 

University; 


of Murdoch 

University 

have a positive material impact upon the 

world. If we could help our customers use 

5 per cent less energy throughout their 

operation, which would have a significant 

impact. 

‘ECO-nomics is best defined as profitable 

sustainability, helping our customers to 

remain profitable in business through this 

changing world of increasing constraints. 

Worley Parsons has developed a world 

leading capability that allows customers 

to monetise indirect costs and benefits 

that have not generally been considered in 

more conventional project assessments. 

Worley Parsons has now used this 

expertise to analyse over 200 projects 

throughout the world.’ 


Western Australia’s professional-services 

firms have capitalised upon the region’s 

enormous resource wealth to develop 

world-class skills across a diverse range 

of sector-specific segments. 

As Western Australia’s economy continues 

to grow, the professional services sector 

is in an extremely good position to both 

contribute and benefit. 

New entrants to the market, such as 

Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey, 

demonstrate the range of opportunities 

for new players. 

As significant economic growth 

Scientific research has developed off the continues throughout the Commonwealth 

back of such innovation, with Chevron’s community, an exciting array of 

Global Technological Centre, Alcoa opportunities present themselves for 

Alumina’s R&D Centre and Rio Tinto’s members’ business sectors to both 

Remote Operations Centre all located in invest in Western Australia and work 

Western Australia in coordination with in partnership with Western Australia’s 

86 

the state’s universities. 

exceptional professional-services sector. 

87



Construction and Manufacturing 

Western Australia’s building and construction industry has been 

a significant beneficiary of the sustained economic growth 

throughout the state, and of the resultant increasing demand for 

productive capacity. 

Section Cover 


Construction of 

Fiona Stanley 

Hospital Project 

in Murdoch; 


of Brookfield 

Multiplex 

Above: 

The Jervoise 

bay waterfront 

in Henderson 

with Austal’s 

revolutionary 102m 

vehicle-passenger 

trimaran on the 

slipway; Photo 

courtesy of Austal 

The building and construction 

sectors play a vital role in 

continuing to develop Western 

Australia’s residential, commercial, 

industrial and civil infrastructure. 

Western Australia’s sustained economic 

growth is largely dependent upon the 

sector’s continuing ability to complete 

infrastructure projects throughout this 

vast state’s resource rich regions. 

Overview 

Beyond the development of vital 

productive capacity, building and 

construction are of greatest importance 

to Western Australia’s economy in terms 

of providing employment. 

Building and construction contributed 

AU$12 billion to Western Australia’s 

gross state product in 2009, accounting 

for 8 per cent of economic output. 

Building and construction has been a 

buoyant sector in the state economy 

over the past two decades, growing at 

an average annual rate of 9 per cent. This 

trend looks set to continue as Western 

Australia’s portfolio of mega resources 

projects continues to increase alongside 

the state’s population. The building 

and construction industry in Western 

Australia is divided into three very clear 

sub-sectors: engineering construction, 

residential construction and commercial 

construction. 

Engineering Construction 

infrastructure projects, such as those 

required for Woodside’s Pluto LNG 

project and BHP Billiton’s Rapid Growth 

Projects for iron ore. According to 

the Australian Bureau of Statistics, 

engineering construction commenced 

accounted for AU$18.9 billion worth of 

expenditure for 2008–09, representing 

approximately 70 per cent of overall 

building and construction expenditure 

commenced in Western Australia 

throughout 2008–09. 

It is important to note that major 

resources projects alone do not make up 

the wealth of engineering construction 

expenditure in Western Australia. Road 

construction and electricity infrastructure 

development accounted for AU$2.7 

billion and AU$3.1 billion of expenditure 

on commenced projects respectively. 

The impact of the global financial crisis 

(GFC) hit engineering construction 

significantly between 2007 and 09, with 

a percentage decline in heavy industrial 

expenditure of 67 per cent from 

AU$21.9 billion in 2007–08 to AU$7.1 

billion in 2008–09. Retrenchment in 

mining project investment was largely 

responsible for this decline. ‘Many 

minerals projects were abruptly stopped 

when the GFC hit,’ says Bradley 

Andrews, Operations Manager Western 

Australia for major engineering player 

WorleyParsons. ‘However, most oil and 

gas projects remained steadfast.’ 

A further impact of the GFC on 

engineering construction with such 

a retrenchment in investment is the 

decline in apprentice participation in 

heavy industry, potentially exacerbating 

labour shortages over the medium term, 

as heavy industry and resources projects 

start to ramp up again. 

It is generally agreed among Western 

Australia’s key industry players that 

the GFC brought industrial activity in 

the state back down to sustainable 

productive capacity, and that industrial 

activity commencing towards the back 

end of 2010 is expected to extend 

productive capacity once again. This 

trend encompasses wide-ranging 

domestic and international engineering 

firms to either diversify or invest in the 

market. Highlighting this trend, Michael 

McLean, Director of the Master Builders 

Association of Western Australia, says, 

‘Civil engineering is a sector of significant 

growth, with the announcement of an 

increasing number of new resources 

projects. This sector will be stretched to 

find the labour to meet these projects 

over the next three to five years … 

There are increasingly more Eastern 

States builders and specialist contractors 

coming to Western Australia to find 

work.’ 

Echoing Mr McLean’s sentiments, Scott 

Criddle, CEO of market-leading civil 

engineering firm Decmil, comments, ‘At 

the moment, Decmil’s focus is just upon 

delivering in Western Australia. We 

want to keep delivering the best possible 

results for our clients. Over the longer 

term we would consider expansion, but 

right now our focus is very much on 

Western Australia’s economy, and the 

growth potential here.’ 

Beyond Western Australia being a region 

for inward investment, the state is home 

to a plethora of specialised engineering 

firms, such as WorleyParsons, 

Georgiou and Decmil, which would be 

of significant interest in terms of the 

specialist skills they can offer to the 

broader Commonwealth community. 

On the opportunities presented by 

CHOGM 2011 for such skills exchange, 

Georgiou CEO John Georgiou affirms 

that ‘CHOGM 2011 is an excellent 

opportunity for Western Australia and 

Perth to demonstrate their economic 

strength and the range of skills and 

opportunities available. CHOGM is good 

for Australia and good for Western 

Australia.’ 

Residential Construction 

With expenditure on projects 

commenced at AU$5.8 billion through 

2008–09, residential construction as 

a sub-sector accounts for the secondlargest 

proportion of Western Australia’s 

building and construction sector, with a 

‘‘ 

We were 

employing 

throughout the 

GFC, we almost 

doubled our 

workforce. 

The sector is Western Australia’s largest 

employer, accounting for 126,800 Western Australia’s building and 

employees, increasing by 4 per cent construction industry is dominated 

through 2008–09. 

by engineering construction on major 

investment opportunities for both 16 per cent share. 

88 89 

‘‘ 

John Georgiou, 

CEO of Georgiou



View of Bunbury 

commercial area 

from Marlston 

Hill Lookout; 



Australia 

Residential construction encountered 

a 19 per cent dip in expenditure from 

AU$7.2 billion in 2007–08 to AU$5.2 

billion in 2008–09 as a result of the 

GFC. 

Pointing out that demand was not 

the constraining factor on residential 

development, Brendan Gore, CEO of 

residential property developer Peet Ltd, 

says, ‘Given the property development 

industry’s reliance upon debt as a key 

driver for growth, the broader financial 

climate had a significant impact upon 

our access to funds. The capital markets 

have become a lot more competitive 

in the wake of the GFC … We are in 

undersupply in Western Australia.’ 

Michael McLean concurs, saying, 

‘We expect 21,000 dwelling units, 

predominantly detached houses, for 

2010. That is very much an undersupply 

given the economy’s quick recovery 

from the GFC. We estimate that we are 

underbuilding to the tune of around 3000 

units per annum. We have capacity to 

build 25,000 residential units.’ 

Perth’s 15 per cent increases in 

residential property prices between 

March 2009 and March 2010 present 

a significant opportunity for long-term 

financial investors to come into the 

regional property market. 

Key challenges for residential 

construction firms in Western Australia 

are focused on three key areas: labour 

shortages and associated inflation on 

input costs, challenges surrounding the 

approvals process for bringing vacant 

land to market; and the sustainable 

development of social infrastructure to 

compliment new neighbourhoods. 

‘Moving forward,’ says Brendan Gore, 

‘when you look at supply and demand, 

there are significant opportunities. 

However, there are significant supplyside 

constraints mitigating our capability 

to bring land to market. We have to 

remember to keep property affordable 

in order to remain sustainable, both 

economically and socially. The 

government needs to re-examine the 

approvals process, funding issues, taxes 

and federal environmental regulations. 

Right now you can be delayed for years 

with endangered species and antidevelopment 

minority groups. We need 

to have our operational parameters more 

clearly defined.’ 

In response to such challenges, the state 

government is undertaking a broadbased 

review of the regulatory regime 

surrounding land approvals, in order 

to expedite the speed with which land 

and residential property are brought to 

market in Western Australia. 

Commercial Construction 

Despite being the most visible sector 

upon entry into Perth, Western 

Australia’s commercial construction 

sector accounts for the smallest 

proportion of expenditure within the 

region. Commercial construction in the 

year 2008–09 accounted for AU$3.1 

billion in terms of constructions 

commenced, a 12 per cent share of 

Western Australia’s overall building and 

construction expenditure. 

Having come off an investment bull run 

in recent years, commercial property 

investment has dropped from AU$5 

billion in 2007–08 to AU$3.1 billion in 

2008–09, representing a 36 per cent 

decline. 

relatively recent high and we expect it 

to drop this year to the tune of 15 to 

20 per cent. That is the result of tighter 

financial conditions and the availability 

of credit for developers.’ 

Commercial construction in Western 

Australia involves a range of 

developments such as: office space, 

sports arenas, schools, shopping 

complexes and car parks. Chris Palandri 

of major commercial developer Brookfield 

Multiplex is more upbeat with regards to 

the sector’s overall prospects. 

‘I wouldn’t be surprised if this decline 

was the case with commercial office 

construction,’ he says. ‘However, there 

are numerous other projects outside 

of the commercial office sphere that 

are coming online, which I would have 

thought will backfill any reduction in this 

development.’ 

Brookfield Multiplex is perhaps 

Western Australia’s leading commercial 

developer, having developed much of 

Perth’s central business district as well 

as ongoing involvements in major social 

infrastructure works such as the $AU1.7 

billion Fiona Stanley Hospital. 

Of particular interest to commercial 

developers interested in entering the 

Western Australian market are the 

federal government’s school-building 

stimulus package and Perth’s continued 

demand for hotel developments. Perth 

has the highest hotel occupancy rates 

of any city throughout the world and, as 

Bradley Woods of the Western Australia 

Hotels Association points out, ‘There 

are certainly opportunities for high- end, 

five-star developments.’ 


Western Australia is home to some of 

the world’s leading construction and 

engineering firms, such as Brookfield 

Multiplex, WorleyParsons and Leighton 

Contractors, all of whom have built 

reputations on the international stage. 

WorleyParsons in particular is an 

extraordinarily advanced engineering 

company with diversified operations 

throughout the world, ranging from 

operations in many of 

the Commonwealth 

community’s member 

states, such as India and 

South Africa. 

Speaking about the 

importance of CHOGM and 

the Commonwealth for 

his firm, WorleyParsons’ 

Bradley Andrews says, ‘It 

is very important for us. 

The services we deliver 

out of Western Australia 

will be, if not already, 

extremely useful in a 

number of Commonwealth 

countries. In particular, 

WorleyParsons is 

expanding throughout 

Africa and Asia and, 

given Perth’s proximity 

to the Indian Ocean, we are well placed 

to transfer our knowledge into such 

regions. We have worked hard to build 

local presence and resource capabilities 

throughout the world and want to 

continue to do that. Developing local 

capability in every country in which we 

work is really key for us and is a big part 

of WorleyParsons’ sustainable business 

model.’ 

The opportunities for Western Australia’s 

leading construction companies and 

Commonwealth community members 

to work together on the international 

stage are extremely exciting, given 

the synergies presented in such 

relationships. 


Western Australia’s varied assortment 

of building and construction sub-sectors 

have had varied experiences of the 

recent fluctuations in broader global 

markets, from capital constraints in the 

residential and commercial sectors to 

a decline in commodities confidence in 

heavy industrial engineering. 

Demand fundamentals remain strong for 

all three key sectors, particularly when 

Western Australia’s continued economic 

growth rate of 5.5 per cent is taken 

into account. Its population continues 

‘‘ 

At the moment, 

of all Australian 

States that we 

operate we have 

the greatest 

workload in 


Chris Palandri, 

Regional Managing 

Director of 

Brookfield 

Multiplex 

Elaborating upon market sentiments in 

the commercial property market, Michael 

McLean comments, ‘The commercial 

90 

sector has come off the back of a 

hydro-electric power in Brazil to mining to increase at Australia’s fastest rate, 

91 

‘‘



Austal’s production 

facilities in 

Henderson 



Austal 

ensuring that demand in the residential 

sector is set to remain strong. 

Significant optimism can also be 

taken from the state government’s 

renewed activity concerning supply-side 

constraints associated with regulation 

and approvals. From a commercial and 

engineering construction perspective, 

Western Australia is welcoming colossal 

levels of foreign direct investment 

presently, such as the AU$50 billion 

expected to be generated by Chevron’s 

Gorgon project alone. The multiplier 

effects of such significant broad-based 

investments are certain to be capitalised 

upon by Western Australia’s world-class 

commercial and engineering construction 

firms. 

Evaluating the construction industry’s 

prospects, Michael McLean predicts ‘that 

within two years the entire industry will 

be booming. Once the industry begins to 

regain momentum, it is very hard to slow 

down that momentum. This occurred 

two years ago and many people saw the 

global financial crisis as a short moment 

of relief. Wherever you look across the 

industry, there are great opportunities 

over the short to medium term.’ 

Manufacturing 

Western Australia has successfully built 

upon the state’s skills base in sectors 

such as resources, engineering and 

construction to develop a now-thriving 

manufacturing sector. Manufacturing in 

Western Australia accounts for 98,000 

jobs, AU$12 billion and 8 per cent of 

gross state product. 

Diversifying Western Australia’s 

industrial base away from the resources 

sectors has been vital to ensuring 

economic stability, diversifying the 

regional skills base and reducing the 

state’s dependence on international 

commodities markets. 

‘Western Australia was an economy 

very much subject to boom and bust 

cycles,’ comments Western Australia’s 

Chamber of Commerce and Industry 

Chief Economist Jon Nicolaou, ‘because 

we were very much at risk to price 

changes in a particular commodity such 

as nickel or iron ore. However, over the 

past decade we have seen more and 

more diversification in our industrial 

base, and that has provided us with a 

hedge against movements in a particular 

economy.’ 

Naturally, much of Western Australia’s 

manufacturing sector is linked into the 

state’s key sectors, such as agriculture 

and resources. 

Metal products, fossil fuel refining and 

food and beverage processing are some 

of Western Australia’s key manufacturing 

bases, representing 33 per cent, 17 per 

cent and 11 per cent of manufacturing 

output respectively. Key sites for such 

activity are BP’s Kwinana oil refinery, 

Worsley Alumina Refinery and the 

Margaret River wine-producing region. 

Of particularly iconic status within 

Western Australia’s manufacturing 

landscape is Austal Ships, an aluminium 

ship builder. 


Water Challenge 

Western Australia’s Water Corporation, which oversees provision 

of safe, drinkable water to communities and industries throughout 

the state, is taking a lead in responding to the challenge of climate 

change, which is already presenting significant challenges, as it is 

in many countries and regions in the Commonwealth. 

Rainfall in the state’s most populous 

and agriculturally productive areas 

is expected to decline significantly 

and the Water Corporation is planning for 

a scenario that projects: 

20% decline in rainfall by 2030; 

40% decline in rainfall by 2060. 

by more efficient use of the state’s 

water resources and the development 

of innovative, new supply sources for 

communities, business and industry. 

Desalination 

Author: 


of Western 

Australia 

Above: 

Great Sandy 

Desert. Canning 

Stock Route 

Project (FORM) 

Photo by Tim 

Acker. 

Austal began as a relatively small 

The first of two big seawater desalination 

company in 1988, constructing vessels 

This will have a significant impact on plants, completed in Western Australia 

for Western Australia’s crayfish industry, 

water availability, with Perth’s water at the end of 2006, was the forerunner 

but has now grown into a multinational 

supply and the water supplies of most of plans for large new desalination plants 

company building vessels for the US 

regional communities, sourced from in the rest of Australia. The first plant, 

Navy and Saudi royal family throughout 

dams or groundwater aquifers that just south of Perth, produces up to 45 

Western Australia and the USA. Austal 

require replenishment by rainfall. The gigalitres of drinking water per year. The 

Ships is very much synonymous with 

state government’s response is to seek second plant, about 170 kilometres south 

the inventive spirit and endurance found 

climate resilience, with a strong focus of Perth, is due to begin production in late 

throughout Western Australia’s business 

on sustainability and reduced reliance 2011 to produce up to 50 gigalitres per 

92 

culture. 

on annual rainfall. This will be achieved year, with the potential to increase to 100 

93



gigalitres. The two plants will together 

provide almost one third of the water 

supplied through the southern integrated 

scheme that provides about 80 per cent 

of Western Australia’s water supplies. 

Both plants are subject to stringent land 

and marine environmental management 

programmes, and energy for both is 

being purchased from renewable energy 

generators. 

Groundwater 

Groundwater provides about two-thirds 

of all water used in Western Australia and 

is the only available, readily exploitable 

source of water for about 60 per cent of 

the state. About 50 per cent of Perth’s 

public water supply is provided from the 

Gnangara mound aquifer, a groundwater 

resource sitting under the metropolitan 

area. In total, about 420 gigalitres 

of water are drawn from across the 

Gnangara mound each year, including 

large volumes for agriculture, forestry 

and market gardens, as well as for public 

open spaces, parks and sporting grounds. 

The aquifer is also an important source 

for maintaining wetlands and native 

Gnangara Groundwater System 

vegetation, and supplying the 176,000 

private bores that help sustain Perth’s 

gardens and outdoor lifestyle. 

The Western Australian government 

manages groundwater by ensuring that 

what is being taken out is balanced with 

what is being recharged, and that water 

is not contaminated by poorly planned 

development or industry activity. 

While many of the state’s aquifers have 

large volumes of water, there is a risk 

that overuse will cause loss of wetlands 

and damage other water-dependent 

ecosystems. A 15-year state-wide 

groundwater investigation is underway 

to help Western Australia to better 

understand the size and extent of its 

groundwater resources and to improve 

the management and monitoring of water 

levels and groundwater quality. 

Recycling and Water Efficiency 

The state aims to recycle much more of its 

precious water, and initiatives so far include 

a trial of groundwater replenishment and a 

higher-level treatment of wastewater for 

re-use by industry. Efforts 

are also being made to 

greatly increase the use of 

recycled water to irrigate 

public parks and playing 

fields, and for horticulture. 

In addition, a vigorous 

public awareness campaign 

aims to achieve wateruse 

reductions in homes, 

businesses and industry, 

through practical initiatives 

including: water efficiencymanagement 

plans for 

businesses, promotion 

of water-sensitive urban 

design, and greater water 

efficiencies in garden 

supplies, landscaping, 

irrigation and plumbing. 


Energy 

Western Australia is 

ensuring that future water 

supplies meet the needs 

of a strongly growing 

Source: State Government of Western Australia 

population and expanding 

industries. 

94 95



Energy 

Alongside the immense scale and vibrancy in the resources 

sectors, Western Australia’s innovation in energy generation 

and supply is uniquely placed to lead globally in terms of both 

environmental sustainability and service delivery to remote 

regions and communities. 

Cover (backpage): 

Power Station in 

Broome owned 

by Energy 

Developments Ltd.; 


Horizon Power 

Above: 

Horizon Power 

employees working 

in remote regions; 


Horizon Power 

Overview 

Following the disaggregation of the 

sector in 2006, the energy sector is now 

subdivided into specific areas of speciality 

that are geared towards providing 

efficient, long-term value to meet the 

growing needs of one of Asia Pacific’s 

most vibrant market economies. 

of sustainable inputs into energy 

generation across the board. Some of the 

most interesting innovations within the 

marketplace are focused upon demandside 

initiatives aimed at increasing 

awareness among consumers, concerning 

more efficient usage of electricity in order 

to reduce costly fluctuations between 

base-load capacity, mid-merit and peak 

production. Ultimately this translates 

into a marketplace whose trajectory of 

growth can offer a range of solutions 

to the international communities’ most 

challenging energy supply questions. 

Minister of Energy, as ‘the energy 

sector’s greatest challenge’. Termed the 

‘Middle East of renewable energy’ by Ray 

Wills of Western Australia’s Sustainable 

Energy Association, Western Australia is 

well placed to rise to this challenge, and 

embraces a diverse range of innovative 

energy producers at the forefront of some 

the renewables sector’s most exciting 

technologies. 

Western Australia’s energy market is 

presently undertaking a wholesale review 

led by Minister Collier’s department 

under the auspices of the State Energy 

Initiative. 

‘We want to have a bold vision of where 

we are going in terms of energy within 

the state,’ explains Minister Collier, 

‘which is why I initiated the State Energy 

Initiative (SEI). We are going through the 

consultation phase right now, but the SEI 

will be completed by the end of this year, 

and that will be a broad-based plan that 

will include input-based consultation. We 

are going to rely heavily on the inputs 

from industry, the community and other 

government sectors. I will feel very 

comfortable leaving the office with a bold 

plan in place to guide the sector moving 

forward. We have received great feedback 

from industry at the prospect of this.’ 

Energy Market Disaggregation 

Prior to 2006, energy generation across 

Western Australia was dominated by 

Western Power, the incumbent stateowned 

enterprise. Following the division 

of Western Power into its respective 

specialist functions, Western Australia’s 

portfolio of leading companies has now 

taken on a more specialised, niche 

complexion. 

infrastructure, and Synergy for retailing 

electricity to consumers. As the structure 

of disaggregation evolves towards a more 

sustainable and equitable model, the key 

advantages of deregulation (specialisation 

and competition) are starting to come to 

fruition. Western Power’s vital role as 

the owner of transmissions infrastructure 

is epitomised by the ever-increasing 

development and implementation of 

sustainable and reliable technology at the 

most effective possible price. 

Managing Director Doug Aberle promotes 

a culture of ‘passion and commitment 

towards increasing the awareness of 

customers as to the complexities and 

opportunities presented by energy 

consumption, whilst maintaining a 

clear focus on improving transmissions 

technologies in use’. 

Synergy is also committed to an ongoing 

dialogue with consumers, encouraging a 

smarter and more collaborative energy 

sector, which delivers the best possible 

outcomes for all stakeholders as well as 

for the environment. A key innovation 

that Synergy is currently rolling out 

involves smart reader installations in 

customers’ homes, facilitating consumers’ 

understanding as to when the best times 

are to consume energy from both a 

financial and environmental perspective. 

Verve Energy 

Verve Energy is the major energy producer 

for the SWIS. Having inherited plant 

infrastructure some of which is 40 years 

old, Verve Energy has spent the past 

three years investing significant sums on 

upgrade and refurbishment. 

Managing Director Shirley In’t Veld has 

ensured that ‘Our plant infrastructure is 

now operating much more reliably, with a 

forced-outage average well within industry 

standards. Reliability and availability is 

definitely where we want it now. On the 

operational side, we have made extremely 

good progress in recent years.’ 

‘‘ 

Linear wind and 

solar technology 

is of particular 

interest to Verve 

Energy. 

Shirley In’t Veld, 


of Verve Energy 

Western Australia’s unique portfolio of 

Connecting Western Australia’s 

demand encompasses energy supply to 

population hubs, encompassing Geraldton 

urban economic centres such as Perth, 

to the north, Kalgoorlie to the east, Perth 

as well as to remote farming communities 

to the west and Albany to the south, is 

such as those in the Mid West region’s 

the South West Interconnected System 

wheat belt, and to extremely complex The energy market has to adapt to 

(SWIS), a stand-alone network mandated 

mining hubs such as those in the Pilbara. Australia’s 2020 federal target, whereby 

to ensure sustainable supply across the Large investments and the relatively low 

On top of this, Western Australia is at the 20 per cent of all energy generation input is 

region. Within the SWIS, Verve Energy cost of electricity in Western Australia 

forefront of adapting to global climate required to come from renewable resources 

is responsible for energy generation, have significantly diminished Verve 

change in terms of reducing carbon by the year 2020. This is described by 

Western Power for maintenance and Energy’s capacity for profitability since 

96 

emissions and is increasing the proportion Hon. Peter Collier, Western Australia’s 

development of the transmission 2006. However, proposed tariff increases 

97 

‘‘



‘‘ 

Our intent is 

that we pursue 

partnerships with 

a view towards 

developing an 

international 

collaborative 

cluster. 

Rod Hayes, 


of Horizon Power 

‘‘ 

in line with the government 

policy to move towards 

cost-reflective pricing 

within the SWIS are set 

to significantly improve 

Verve Energy’s financial 

performance in the future. 

Verve Energy’s greatest 

challenge is to contribute 

significantly to Western 

Australia’s share of the 

20% renewable energy by 

2020 target. Of greatest 

significance presently 

is conventional wind 

technology, and Verve 

Energy is enthusiastic about 

working in partnership with 

universities to develop 

various innovative solutions 

to the state energy sector’s 

renewable shift. Linear wind and solar 

technology is of particular interest to 

Managing Director Shirley In’t Veld. 

Horizon Power 

The fourth energy service provider to 

emerge from the 2006 disaggregation 

is Horizon Power, charged with the 

formidable task of providing sustainable 

and cost-effective energy services to 

Western Australia’s remote and regional 

communities outside of the SWIS, as 

well as to commercial enterprises such 

as miners operating in remote regions 

outside of conventional networks. 

Horizon Power is a vertically integrated 

energy service provider, delivering 

energy solutions for regional Western 

Australians. Horizon Power operates on an 

immense scale, providing energy services 

to 46,000 customers across 2.3 million 

square kilometres; equal to one customer 

per 56.3 square kilometres. The scale of 

such an operation presents Horizon Power 

with significant challenges that Managing 

Director Rod Hayes is converting into 

opportunities of remarkable significance 

for communities throughout the world. 

Horizon Power is positioning itself as 

Australia’s market leader in small scale 

hybrid renewable energy systems. 

By innovating in such technologies, 

Horizon Power is able to provide energy 

infrastructure and services to Australia’s 

most remote communities and mining 

projects, proving concepts that can be 

applied to a vast array of communities 

and industrial operations throughout the 

Commonwealth. 

Rod Hayes is very much aware of Horizon 

Power’s commercial viability in remote 

and developing regions of the world, 

stating: “Horizon sees a huge international 

market and a need for some of the 

remote services that we can deliver. We 

have been considering how we might be 

involved with markets around the world. 

What we have identified is that working 

as a fully integrated provider delivering a 

broad range of services such as power, 

water and sewage is very efficient in 

remote regions compared with several 

providers trying to provide each a different 

service. We will see in the future whether 

this is something we would be able to 

pursue.” 

resources and the technologies associated 

with them can be as beneficial for the giant 

state going into the future as have been 

its hydrocarbon and mineral resources in 

the past. 

‘We have such depth and strength in 

renewable resources, I find it mindboggling,’ 

comments Ray Wills, CEO of 

Western Australia’s Renewable Energy 

Association. ‘Western Australia has 

world-class solar energy resources. We 

use 20 per cent of our gas resources 

to compress gas for export. We could 

substitute this gas usage with solar power 

from the Pilbara in order to maximise the 

proportion of gas that goes for export. 

On top of this, South Western Australia 

has the strongest wind resource in 

Australia outside of Tasmania. Western 

Australia is very flat which means that 

there is very little turbulent interference 

for wind coming in. It is a critical cost 

advantage that we can put efficient 

turbines on land. ‘The waves that crash 

onto the shore of Western Australia 

are very high-quality waves because 

there is so much uninterrupted ocean 

between here and the coast of Africa. 

The swell in the ocean doesn’t fall below 

one metre. Carnegie Wave and Ocean 

Power Technologies are both looking 

at harvesting wave resources that can 

deliver base-load power 100 per cent of 

the time. Wave energy is the closest we 

will get to renewable perpetual energy. 

‘The fourth renewable input that we have 

are geothermal resources. We have highquality 

heat resources in our aquifers. 

These are being investigated by UWA and 

their Geothermal Centre of Excellence. We 

also have a lot of higher-grade geothermal 

resources in hot rocks throughout the 

state. 

‘Finally, we have a great deal of biomass 

opportunities with the forestry and 

agriculture sectors in Western Australia. 

We have technologies that turn bio-mass 

into electricity as well as those that can 

be used to distil bio-mass into ethanol. 

So if you look across the entire range of 

renewable energy, there really is nothing 

that you cannot do in Western Australia. 

Pilbara Region; 


Horizon Power 

‘The thinness of the population spread 

is the major challenge,’ says Managing 

Director Rod Hayes. ‘This translates into 

a lack of transmission infrastructure. All 

of our systems are stand-alone systems, 

so we provide local generation and 

distribution networks according to the 

2020 Renewables Target 

scales of these communities. ‘Given Australia’s 2020 target has opened 

Western Australia’s geography, logistics up exciting levels of competition 

is a major issue. Some of the fuel loads within Western Australia’s renewables 

we have to deliver are being trucked sector. New entrants to the market are 

2000 kilometres. There are huge logistics increasingly focusing upon developing 

supply lines. There is also huge diversity innovative solutions. Western Australia’s 

in environmental conditions across the potential as a source of renewable energy 

state, for example between the tropical is enormous, with options ranging from 

north and temperate south. This causes wind, wave, solar and geothermal to less 

a huge diversity in the nature of demands conventional technologies such as biomass 

98 

that we encounter.’ 

and bio-fuels. These sustainable 

99



CETO 2 Units 

in operation, 

Fremantle Western 

Australia; Photo 

courtesy of 

Carnegie 

We have world-class resources in the 

region across the board in wave, wind, 

solar and geo-thermal.’ 

As it stands today, less than 5 per cent 

of Western Australia’s energy generation 

comes from renewable resources. 

is around 60 per cent gas, 35 per cent 

coal and 5 per cent renewables. Of that 

5 per cent that comes from renewables, 

the vast majority of it, over two-thirds, 

comes from wind.’ 

Within this deficit of renewable inputs 

into the energy market reside significant 

opportunities for a rapidly expanding 

portfolio of renewable energy start-up 

firms based in Western Australia. 

‘The most exciting investment opportunities 

are, without a doubt, in renewables,’ says 

Collier. ‘Coal is rapidly becoming a thing 

of the past, not just at a national level, 

but at an international level. We have to 

look after the planet and coal is not seen 

as conducive to that. I am absolutely 

convinced that the population at large are 

now embracing renewable technologies. 

In terms of generation, people are ready 

for renewables and they are sympathetic 

towards the movement. More and more 

households and businesses are on board 

with energy conservation. Energy prices 

are increasing, but people are not only 

concerned with this. Younger people 

especially have embraced the notion of a 

greener future.’ 

Carnegie Wave is currently working with 

Western Australia’s state government 

on an AU$12.5 million wave generation 

project just off the coast of Fremantle. 

Currently in the development phase, this 

five-megawatt venture will be the world’s 

largest wave energy project when it is 

fully up and running. 

Michael Ottaviano. ‘We have focused 

upon developing the cheapest, easiest-toinstall 

and most reliable technology. This 

gives us a clear competitive advantage 

within the market. 

Pacific Energy is an established energy 

company working in partnership with 

Australia’s resources firms throughout 

the country. The federal 2020 target has 

opened a significant opportunity for firms 

such as Pacific Energy to diversify into 

the renewables sector. 

‘The federal government here have 

installed a piece of legislation called the 

renewable energy act,’ explains CEO Adam 

Boyd, ‘whereby the main government 

retailer here, Synergy, is obligated to 

have 20 per cent of their power that is on 

sale coming from renewable sources by 

the year 2020. This has presented a huge 

opportunity for the renewables sector. 

New and innovative renewable energy 

solutions are required here as a result.’ 

Pacific Energy are sourcing Western 

Australia’s forestry sector for waste wood 

material to go into the company’s power 

stations. Waste wood is widely accepted 

by law as a renewable fuel throughout the 

USA, EU and Australia. Pacific Energy’s 

bio-mass generator, due for construction 

five kilometres north of Perth CBD, is one 

of Western Australia’s most advanced 

renewables projects in terms of reliability, 

efficiency and proof of concept. 

The Collgar wind farm, located 25 

kilometres south east of Merredin, is 

another of Western Australia’s most 

advanced renewable projects. 

Scheduled to consist of 111 wind 

turbines, Collgar will produce enough 

renewable energy to power approximately 

125,000 Western Australian homes. 

Initially conceived by Windlab Systems 

Ltd as a location to construct a wind 

farm, Collgar has now been purchased 

as a joint-venture deal between Swiss 

investment Bank UBS and Australia’s 

Retail Employees Superannuation Trust 

(REST). Construction on Collgar will begin 

in June 2010, with first power production 

due in April 2012. 

Swan Energy is one of Western Australia’s 

leading renewable energies firms in 

terms of sourcing the world’s leading 

technologies from South Korea and 

Germany, as well as further innovating 

with such technologies. Swan Energy 

specialises in Wind and Solar, as well 

as diesel hybrid systems. One of the 

most exciting new technologies Swan 

is currently looking at is concentrated 

photovoltaic (CPV) solar power. CPV solar 

uses three different layers of solar cells to 

capture a greater amount of sunlight, thus 

increasing the technology’s efficiency by 

12 to 25 per cent. Swan Energy works 

extremely hard to educate society on the 

business viability of renewable energies 

and to break down traditional scepticism. 

Explaining the status quo, Peter Collier, Carnegie’s CETO technology is unique, 

Minister for Energy, says, ‘Western whereby the energy of the wave is 

Australia is part of a national mandated captured at a sub-surface level and 

target to reach 20 per cent renewable harnessed using pumps and hydroelectric 

energies by 2020. We are currently sitting technology. CETO places Carnegie as a 

at less than 5 per cent, and around 3.1 world leader in wave technology. One 

per cent in the SWIS. We face massive of only two wave companies listed on 

challenges to meet this target. Our lower an international exchange, Carnegie 

relative reliance on coal in Western currently has projects underway in 

Australia serves as an advantage. Coal Australia, Canada and Reunion Island. 

makes up 80 per cent of the fuel mix in Carnegie’s patented technology is what 

the Eastern States, while it contributes sets the company aside from competitors 

less than 35 per cent of our fuel mix in in the race to power Western Australia 

Western Australia. Gas makes up the vast sustainably. 

majority of our energy mix in Western 

Australia, given our plentiful supplies. ‘It is definitely our technology [that sets 

100 

Our power generation in terms of fuel mix Carnegie apart],’ comments CEO Dr 

101



Commonwealth Opportunities 

Western Australia’s geographic profile, 

combined with the state’s remote and 

dispersed population, presents energy 

suppliers with a range of challenges very 

similar to those found throughout the 

Commonwealth. 

Acknowledgements 

GBR would like to thank the following institutions for the time and 

efforts dedicated to helping us to produce this report 

Esperance nine 

mile beach; Photo 

courtesy of Verve 

Energy 

‘There is the traditional view that 

renewable energy is expensive, unreliable 

and cannot be used as a base-load power,’ 

says Swan CEO James Rhee. 

‘The fact is that there is always somewhere 

on the SWIS where wind is blowing. We 

also use real-time dual tracking systems 

that follow the sun all day, whereas solar 

before was only a fixed array with limited 

hours of generation. That means that over 

70 per cent of peak power generation can 

come from the wind and sun. Renewable 

energy can be a base-load power solution. 

In terms of cost, the price of energy in 

Western Australia is currently on average 

22 cents per kilowatt. Once we move 

to cost-reflective pricing of 32 cents per 

kilowatt, solar systems will become very 

attractive from a financial perspective; 

they will have paid for themselves after 

six years. Swan Energy’s solar systems 

have a 25-year power output warranty. 

You can think about over 20 years of 

free energy. The perception remains that 

renewable energy is expensive. Even with 

wind energy, the price of energy over a sixyear 

period is just 12 cents per kilowatt; 

this is even cheaper than solar.’ 

Companies such as Horizon Power 

and Pacific Energy are at the forefront 

of developing business models and 

technological solutions that ensure 

the sustainable delivery of power to 

communities and industrial projects in 

challenging regions, many thousands of 

kilometres away from centralised grid 

infrastructure. 

Within this context, there are huge 

opportunities for knowledge-sharing 

initiatives and cross-border investment 

that could arise from CHOGM 2011. 

Horizon Power’s Rod Hayes asserts that, 

‘By the time CHOGM arrives in 2011, we 

will be clear on what we think we will 

be able to offer. Our intent is that we 

pursue partnerships with a view towards 

developing an international collaborative 

cluster, based upon this core concept 

of how you bring essential services to 

developing village communities.’ 


As Western Australia’s power sector 

adapts to deregulation, broader federal 

challenges are driving the sector towards 

a more sustainable future. Western 

Australia’s extraordinary potential as 

a source of renewable energy sets the 

foundation for a thriving energy sector, 

leading global innovation in vital new 

technologies such as wave power. 

On top of this, Western Australia’s model 

for delivering power to remote communities 

and industries sets an exciting precedent 

that an array of societies throughout the 

Commonwealth and beyond are able to 

adapt to their specific needs. 

The Government of Western 

Australia: 

As the year 2020 approaches, Western 

Australia’s energy market continues to 

adapt with leading renewables companies 

Australia India Business Council 

such as Carnegie Wave, Pacific Energy, 

City of Perth 

Wave Energy and Swan Energy all CHOGM 2011 presents an excellent 

working towards a more sustainable opportunity for the Commonwealth to 

Committee for Perth 

energy future based upon the immense further its contribution to the international 

State migration Centre 

potential presented by Western Australia’s community’s 21st-century energy 

geography and climate. 

challenges. 

Water Corporation 

Perth Convention Bureau 

Form 

102 103 

The Premier 

Department of State 

Development: Western Australian 

Global Network, Small Business 

Development Corporation 

Minister for Mines and Petroleum 

Minister for Commerce 

Minister for Energy 

Minister for Agriculture, Food and 

Forestry 

Minister for Health 

Minister for Transport 

Skill Force Task 

Chamber of Commerce and 

Industry Western Australia 

APPEA (Australian Petroleum 

Production & Exploration 

Association) 

AMEX (Association of Mining and 

Exploration Companies) 

Master Builders Association 


Western Australian Sustainable 

Energy Association 

Tourism Western Australia 

Tourism Council 

Australian Hotels Association 


Private Companies: 

Westpac 

Commonwealth Bank 

Bankwest 

ANZ 

NAB 

St George Bank 

Azure Capital 

Argonaut 

Hartleys Limited 

Plan B Group Holdings 

Ledge Finance 

Woodside 

Chevron 

BP 

Inpex 

Total E&P Australia 

ConocoPhillips 

ENI Australia 

BHP Billiton 

Rio Tinto 

Fortescue Metals Group 

Murchison Metals 

Atlas Iron 

Moly Mines Ltd 

Catalpa Resources 

Cliffs Natural Resources 

Wesfarmers Ltd 

Westernpower 

Synergy 

Verve Energy 

Horizon Power 

Carnegie Wave Energy 

Swan Energy 

PriceWaterhouseCoopers 

KPMG 

Mallesons Stephen Jaques 

Minter Ellison 

Freehills 

Clayton UTZ 


The University of Western 

Australia 

Edith Cowan University 

Curtin University 

The University of Notre Dame 

Australia 

Navitas 

Perth Education City 

Qantas 

Singapore Airlines 

Skywest 

Mount Hospital 

St John of God Hospital 

Bethesda Hospital 

CBH Group 

Craig Mostyn Group 

Wammco International 

Rottnest Island Authority 

Fremantle Ports 

Duxton Hotel 

Hyatt Regency 

Burswood 

The Perth Mint Australia 

Leeuwin Estate 

Howard Park Wines 

Lamont’s Wine Store 

Austal 

AMC (Australian Marine 

Complex) 

Worley Parsons 

Matrix 

Peet Ltd 

Peak Well Services 

Mermaid Marine 

TS Marine 

Wartsila 

Brookfield Multiplex 

Georgiou 

Decmil Group Ltd

104 

W e s t e r n A u s t r a l i a B u s i n e s s E n v i r o n m e n t R e p o r t

CHOGM - Full Report - Bethesda Hospital

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