Annual Report 2008-2009 - Department of Transport

Goal 2.
State Building – Major Projects
Building strategic infrastructure that will create jobs
and underpin Western Australia’s long-term economic
development.
Providing land for industry
The Department is heavily involved in land-related matters associated
with strategic infrastructure projects throughout Western Australia. A land
exchange agreement was negotiated for the return of land to the State from
the Ivanhoe and Carlton Hill pastoral stations that will be included into the
expansion of the Ord Irrigation area in the East Kimberley. The project will
double the size of the Ord irrigation area to about 28,000 hectares and will
provide major opportunities for growth and sustainability for the region’s
economic and social development. It represents an important breakthrough
in terms of preparing for future climate change impacts on particular areas
of the nation.
*This activity also relates to Goal 4 and 5.
http://lands.rdl.wa.gov.au/stateland
Providing land to support the needs of Western Australians
and deliver primary tenure for strategic infrastructure
projects
Over the year, the Department has completed more than 6718 separate land
transactions and generated $33.418 million in total revenue from land sales
that it administered as well as $11.448 million in rental from land and sea/
river bed that it leases. The Department’s State Land Services Business Unit
also transferred land totalling $3,398,705 at either nominal consideration or
at subsidised sale prices in line with Government agreements.
*This activity also relates to Goal 5.
http://lands.rdl.wa.gov.au/stateland
COAG national reform agenda
The Department has continued active involvement in the national reforms
being progressed by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG), to
ensure that Western Australia’s needs are taken into account and benefits
to the State are maximised. The COAG reform agenda’s objectives were set
to increase the productive capacity of the economy, address the inflationary
pressures that were emerging and deliver a higher quality of service to the
Australian community. Over the past year, key activities with significant
impact on Western Australia involved:
• Infrastructure Working Group: Infrastructure Australia’s national
infrastructure audit and priorities list, which were used as the basis to
subsequently allocate funding for a range of WA projects, including the
Northbridge Link;
• Housing Working Group: provision of $30 million from the Housing
Affordability Fund for electronic development assessment; and
• Business Regulation and Competition Working Group: where a third
of the reform agenda impacts across the functions of the Department,
including development assessment, environmental assessment and
approvals, infrastructure access regulation, maritime safety regulation,
national electronic conveyancing, national trade licensing (for transport
occupations), ports reviews and rail safety regulation.
www.transport.wa.gov.au
Goal 2
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