2012 ANNUAL REPORT

Once again it has been another year of significant milestones and fantastic achievements for Main Roads. The lead up to Western Australia hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) last year was both busy and exciting. We worked together with many different organisations as Perth hosted the largest gathering of world leaders in Australia. It was the single largest event management project undertaken by Main Roads and it was an invaluable experience for everyone involved.

During the year we delivered more than $1.5 billion of road programs and services to the people of Western Australia. Once again our performance in achieving 97% expenditure against budget is testament to the skills, dedication and commitment of our people as we continue to deliver social and economic benefits in a way that is truly sustainable for future generations. This is being done in an environment that continues to see Western Australia have the fastest growing population in Australia and one of the strongest economies.

Performance

There were many wonderful achievements throughout the year and our annual report showcases many of them. The following represent some of the more significant projects that are underway; and many projects where planning and development have commenced:

• The $350 million upgrade of the Great Eastern Highway between Kooyong Road and Tonkin Highway started in June 2011 and has made excellent progress as work is carried out a site that carries almost 52,000 vehicles per day. Innovative practices are being used to manage worksite and road user safety and the myriad of utilities and services that exist within the entire site. Work is progressing well and remains on schedule.
• In May the Minister for Transport released details of the Gateway WA project, resulting from a two-year planning study that produced a visionary Ultimate Concept Plan for the project. This Plan addresses the growing Perth Airport and the future needs of the Kewdale and Forrestfield industrial and freight areas, and the project will be one of the largest infrastructure projects ever undertaken in Western Australia. Construction is due to commence in 2013.
• The $112 million upgrade of Dampier Highway will be delivered during the last quarter of 2012. Due to the rich aboriginal heritage in this area extensive consultation has taken place with heritage groups and specialist expertise used in many of the construction techniques.
• Management of the roadworks in the Fitzgerald River National Park is progressing well. Main Roads is working closely with the Department of Environment and Conservation to enhance tourist access and facilities and assist economic and social development in surrounding communities. The first stage of works was completed in May this year, stage two will commence in October.
• The announcement of a 'One Stop Shop for Heavy Vehicles' in May by the Minister will bring huge benefits to the heavy haulage industry. This will bring to an end the need for industry operators to deal with up to four separate agencies in order to move an oversize load. More initiatives will be rolled out to further assist industry meet its needs.

As always we deliver many projects across the State aimed at achieving our program outcomes and more information is included throughout this report and is constantly being updated on our website and through our twitter feeds.

Improvement and Innovation

Last year we became the first Australian public sector agency to achieve certification against the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) which strengthens our commitment to a fully integrated reporting framework that meets international standards of accountability, transparency and openness. The following are just some of the highlights from our environmental, relationship and people areas.

• We have continued to work to protect environmental values, minimise our impacts, energy usage and waste whilst conserving natural resources. Our Greenhouse Gas Scope emissions continue to be reduced from our 2009-10 benchmark.
• Our Climate Change Adaptation Plan to aid us in achieving our best practice Target of a 15% reduction against 2010 levels by 2020 is in place and integrated within our business planning processes.
• Two new Community Working Groups for the Mitchell Freeway Extension and Tonkin Highway Extension have been established. These groups bring together Local and State Government, industry bodies, community opinion leaders, residents and local commercial entities to determine the optimum longer term infrastructure needs within the community.
• We continue to benchmark our customer service practices against the best and I am pleased to say that in October last year we were identified as being the winners in the WA State Government Category in the Australian Customer Service Excellence Awards. This was reinforced when we became amongst the first organisations to be certified against the new International Customer Service Standards.
• The Community continues to rate their overall satisfaction with Main Road highly, with 95% rating our performance as OK or better. A new question this year revealed that 39% of the community feel more stressed travelling than at the same time last year and this represents a growing challenge that we are moving to address
• We set new records during the year with our Perth Metropolitan Twitter account now having more than 10,000 followers and the new WA Roads Twitter account showing steady growth.
• Main Roads achieved a Silver International Standard at the Australian Business Excellence Awards, and was the higher performing organisation at these prestigious awards.
• Throughout the year we have continued to invest in the development of our people as we seek to identify new opportunities and enhance their capabilities whilst ensuring we create a fair, equitable and diverse workplace. Our Creating the Workforce of the Future strategy is continuing to drive improvements and innovation across the State for all sections of our workforce as we continue to operate in a very competitive environment to secure skilled people.

Looking ahead

I mentioned at the outset that we have a number of very large projects currently underway that will be scheduled to be completed next financial year including works on Great Eastern Highway, widening of the Kwinana Freeway, completion of the Dampier Highway duplication works, complete upgrade works on the Morley Drive intersection at Tonkin Highway and completion of Stage Two of the Bunbury Outer Ring road to name a few. In addition we should see substantial progress on the Esperance Port Corridor works, and the realignment works on Great Northern Highway around the Wedgefield industrial area in Port Hedland.

Work has already commenced on the development and creation of a new strategic plan to take us through to 2020. Building on the success we enjoyed from 2k12 we have once again adopted scenario planning as the basis for determining our future direction and priorities. We have already begun engaging extensively with our own people, our portfolio partners and key stakeholders as we work together to identify our new areas of strategic focus paving the way forward. It is an exciting time of growth across many sectors in the State and it is important that we identify the right direction to ensure that we continue to work successfully with our portfolio partners, our suppliers and the community in providing the right transport solutions now and into the future.

Reflections

This will be my last annual report as Managing Director of Main Roads. Over the last decade, firstly as Commissioner and more recently as Managing Director I have had the pleasure and privilege of working with a team of talented and professional people across the entire State. These are people who are absolutely dedicated, committed and passionate about delivering the best possible road services to the community of Western Australia. These are the people that make Main Roads the success that it is today, and I believe will continue to make it one of WA State's leading Government agencies.

I leave this organisation in the knowledge that together all of us have worked hard to not just meet the challenges and opportunities that we have faced, but in doing so we have created a better place for those that come after us.

Thanks to everyone in Main Roads who has contributed to our success over the last decade and I wish you all the very best for the future.

Menno Henneveld
Managing Director