Barnett believes the Chinese will fund Oakajee, not Padbury Mining

After being surprised at Padbury Mining's claim of being able to fund and build Oakajee port, Colin Barnett is reportedly claiming the Chinese would be more than likely able to fund the project.

The West Australian is reporting that following talks with Chinese officials, our state premier is of the opinion that not only would the Chinese like to fund the construction of Oakajee, but they would actually prefer to get their hands on the type of iron ore available from the Midwest over that of the Pilbara, as our ore is used in more "sophisticated and higher-value steelmaking, which consumes less energy and causes less pollution".

Read the full West article here.

If Padbury Mining actually actually come out and say who is funding their bid to build the port, it will be interesting to see who ends up with the rights to build it.

Last time Chinese money was behind the building of the Port via Yilgarn Construction, the labor government handed the rights over to a Japanese backed group to build it, causing the Chinese to shut their local mine down and skuttle the entire project.

If they get burned again, they won't be pleased.

It's quite likely that Padbury Mining's announcement was deliberately timed to coincide with Mr Barnett's Chinese visit, and put the state government on the back foot. Mr Barnett's office has made it clear that despite any announcement of funding secured by Padbury, they hadn't secured the rights to build the project.