正The aim of this paper is to undertake an analysis of the performance of Western Australia’s port authorities.The context for this research is the report released in February 2006 by Access Economics (A scorecard of the design of economic regulation of infrastructure) for the Australian Council for Infrastructure Development.This report was critical of the regime for economic regulation of Western Australia’s ports,and by implication of the potential quality and efficiency of service delivery to their principal stakeholders.However,a reading of the Access Economics report and supporting data suggests that its analysis takes no account of the regulatory frameworks for port authorities in Western Austral ia(WA) contained in the Port Authorities Act 1999(WA) and elsewhere,or of the actual economic and physical performance of WA port authorities.In the light of this apparently flawed analysis of the effectiveness of port regulation in WA,it is timely to review the performance of ports under the current governance structures,and to place the Access Economics report in a broader empirical performance-based context. While there is no regime for direct regulation of access to WA’s port infrastructure,it is argued that provisions in WA’s legislation governing the management of ports provide much of the focus,transparency and accountability required of an adequate regulatory framework.The current dominant Australian model of public ownership,with ports acting as strategic managers subject to statutory and governmental oversight,offers a viable alternative to complete privatisation and specialised regulatory controls.Efficient ports arguably can emerge from a variety of institutional frameworks-there is no single ownership or administrative structure that fits all circumstances.
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