Chinese 'keen' to invest in Oakajee, says WA Premier Colin Barnett
Andrew Burrell From: The Australian September 17, 2011 12:00AM
WEST Australian Premier Colin Barnett has revealed that Japanese corporate giant Mitsubishi has given him the green light to allow Chinese state-owned companies to invest in the troubled $5.9 billion Oakajee Port and Rail project.
Mr Barnett has spent the past two days in Beijing in a bid to restructure the Oakajee project, which has been hit by a series of major cost blowouts and delays.
But he has faced criticism from the Labor opposition, which says he is meddling in private projects and he should allow the private sector to negotiate the deal.
The Premier told The Weekend Australian the Chinese were keen to invest in the infrastructure but that he would not return from Beijing this weekend with a final agreement.
"They (the Chinese) need Oakajee -- they want the iron ore and they want to see their existing investments realised," he said.
The Oakajee project would underpin the development of several iron ore mines in WA's Mid-West region, allowing a rapid increase in exports through a new deepwater port.
Mr Barnett said China felt offended at being excluded from developing the infrastructure.
Under a tender run by the former Labor government, a China-backed consortium lost out to Oakajee Port & Rail, which is owned by Mitsubishi and Perth-based miner Murchison Metals.
Mr Barnett said Mitsubishi had formally agreed that China should be involved as equity investors and an ownership shake-up could be announced within weeks.
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