THE WESTERN Australian Government is allocating $40.5 million in its 2024-25 budget to improvements in Fremantle’s Inner Harbour, focusing on cruise and ferry infrastructure.
Five million dollars will be committed to preparatory works for B Shed to be utilised as a new Rottnest Island ferry terminal, visitor experience, hospitality and event space.
An additional $35.5 million has been allocated for improvement works further along Victoria Quay, including essential deck repairs and major fender upgrades at the Fremantle Passenger Terminal.
The upgrades to Berths F and G, which service the FPT, will allow the passenger terminal to continue to service the burgeoning cruise industry by catering for larger visiting ships, the government says.
“The B Shed upgrade builds on the highly successful development of A Shed by Gage Roads Brewery with Fremantle Ports, which has already transformed the western end of Victoria Quay into a beloved public space,” the government said.
B Shed is currently vacant, due to repair works to the building’s substructure and flooring. These works are scheduled for completion in 2025, after which new building services and the first stage of an internal fit-out can begin. These works will pave the way for the planned redevelopment within B Shed of booking and luggage facilities for Rottnest Island ferry operators, who have been operating from temporary premises nearby since late 2022.
Separately, the government is celebrating two decades of successful operation of the Australian Marine Complex at Henderson, 23 kilometres south of the Perth CBD, the nation’s largest integrated marine industry and one of only two naval shipbuilding locations in Australia.
The AMC, which is managed by DevelopmentWA’s Industrial Lands Authority on behalf of the state government, plays a pivotal role in supporting the manufacturing, fabrication, assembly and maintenance requirements of WA’s defence, marine, energy and resources industries.
More than 700 businesses have established short or long-term operations at the AMC – contributing more than $3 billion to the WA economy, and directly creating more than 50,000 jobs.
The AMC is also recognised as a global centre of excellence and the southern hemisphere’s premier integrated marine industrial facility, the government says.
The AMC has supported the delivery of 42 key projects including many critical to the state’s oil and gas and defence industries, as well as the docking and berthing of a range of commercial vessels, as well as the build and maintenance of superyachts, ferries, tugs, rescue, patrol and offshore supply vessels.
Comprising five specialist precincts – shipbuilding, fabrication, support, technology and recreational boating – the AMC is also home to the State Government-owned Common User Facility (CUF). The 400,000-square metre integrated heavy engineering and fabrication and assembly facility provides infrastructure and support for multiple users, including laydown areas, fabrication halls, workshops and offices, off-load and load-out wharves, and vessel berths, and is available on a project-by-project basis.
