❓ Mr. Watson questions the lack of federal funding for WA's rural grain rail network compared to the eastern states. Ms. MacTiernan criticizes federal spending priorities and the privatization of WA's rail system, seeking support to address the issue.
AnsweredQoN 192Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FEDERAL BUDGET - RURAL GRAIN RAIL NETWORK
Given the federal Treasurer’s massive spending spree on the eastern states, what help is being given to Western Australia to rescue its regional grain lines? Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN
Given the federal Treasurer’s massive spending spree on the eastern states, what help is being given to Western Australia to rescue its regional grain lines? Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question. That will be very interesting to watch over the coming months. We do know that very large dollops of money have been handed out over east for infrastructure but in Western Australia, which, as we always say, is bringing home the bacon, 33 per cent - Mr E.S. Ripper : More. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : More than 33 per cent of the value of exports that is underpinning the national economy is coming from Western Australia. Yet we are very, very lucky if we scrape in 10 per cent of the national transport infrastructure. I want to talk about a couple of little handouts that have been made to the eastern states in the past couple of weeks. First, $112 million will be spent on a scoping study to build a second railway line between Melbourne and Brisbane. They have already got one but the federal government has decided that it wants a second railway line that goes inland. It is prepared to spend $112 million on a scoping study for that facility. We also know that it has committed $70 million to Tasmania for the rescue of its rail system, which, like ours, was privatised, and that privatisation has failed. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and the member for Nedlands to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : We know that the federal government has committed $2.3 billion for the Goodna bypass around Brisbane and Ipswich, which even the Queensland government does not want. Quite extraordinary amounts of money have been poured into infrastructure in the eastern states. We will be looking for some assistance here - the National Party will be very interested in this - particularly for our rural rail network. The utterly disgraceful privatisation that occurred in 2000 has led to a situation now in which the people of rural Western Australia are confronted with the choice of either spending $400 million rescuing that network or $400 million rescuing the rail system. Alternatively, we would see 1 000 kilometres of rail line in rural Western Australia close down. I think this house needs to understand that this rail system was sold at a discount price. It was sold for $585 million. Less than five years ago, with virtually no capital upgrade, that was sold for in excess of $1 billion. We saw over $500 million stripped from the regional rail system in Western Australia, and the taxpayers are being asked to pick up the tab. We will be asking the National Party to come on board and try to fix up this shocking mistake that was made by it when it was in government.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN replied: I thank the member for the question. That will be very interesting to watch over the coming months. We do know that very large dollops of money have been handed out over east for infrastructure but in Western Australia, which, as we always say, is bringing home the bacon, 33 per cent - Mr E.S. Ripper : More. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : More than 33 per cent of the value of exports that is underpinning the national economy is coming from Western Australia. Yet we are very, very lucky if we scrape in 10 per cent of the national transport infrastructure. I want to talk about a couple of little handouts that have been made to the eastern states in the past couple of weeks. First, $112 million will be spent on a scoping study to build a second railway line between Melbourne and Brisbane. They have already got one but the federal government has decided that it wants a second railway line that goes inland. It is prepared to spend $112 million on a scoping study for that facility. We also know that it has committed $70 million to Tasmania for the rescue of its rail system, which, like ours, was privatised, and that privatisation has failed. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and the member for Nedlands to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : We know that the federal government has committed $2.3 billion for the Goodna bypass around Brisbane and Ipswich, which even the Queensland government does not want. Quite extraordinary amounts of money have been poured into infrastructure in the eastern states. We will be looking for some assistance here - the National Party will be very interested in this - particularly for our rural rail network. The utterly disgraceful privatisation that occurred in 2000 has led to a situation now in which the people of rural Western Australia are confronted with the choice of either spending $400 million rescuing that network or $400 million rescuing the rail system. Alternatively, we would see 1 000 kilometres of rail line in rural Western Australia close down. I think this house needs to understand that this rail system was sold at a discount price. It was sold for $585 million. Less than five years ago, with virtually no capital upgrade, that was sold for in excess of $1 billion. We saw over $500 million stripped from the regional rail system in Western Australia, and the taxpayers are being asked to pick up the tab. We will be asking the National Party to come on board and try to fix up this shocking mistake that was made by it when it was in government.
I thank the member for the question. That will be very interesting to watch over the coming months. We do know that very large dollops of money have been handed out over east for infrastructure but in Western Australia, which, as we always say, is bringing home the bacon, 33 per cent - Mr E.S. Ripper : More. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : More than 33 per cent of the value of exports that is underpinning the national economy is coming from Western Australia. Yet we are very, very lucky if we scrape in 10 per cent of the national transport infrastructure. I want to talk about a couple of little handouts that have been made to the eastern states in the past couple of weeks. First, $112 million will be spent on a scoping study to build a second railway line between Melbourne and Brisbane. They have already got one but the federal government has decided that it wants a second railway line that goes inland. It is prepared to spend $112 million on a scoping study for that facility. We also know that it has committed $70 million to Tasmania for the rescue of its rail system, which, like ours, was privatised, and that privatisation has failed. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and the member for Nedlands to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : We know that the federal government has committed $2.3 billion for the Goodna bypass around Brisbane and Ipswich, which even the Queensland government does not want. Quite extraordinary amounts of money have been poured into infrastructure in the eastern states. We will be looking for some assistance here - the National Party will be very interested in this - particularly for our rural rail network. The utterly disgraceful privatisation that occurred in 2000 has led to a situation now in which the people of rural Western Australia are confronted with the choice of either spending $400 million rescuing that network or $400 million rescuing the rail system. Alternatively, we would see 1 000 kilometres of rail line in rural Western Australia close down. I think this house needs to understand that this rail system was sold at a discount price. It was sold for $585 million. Less than five years ago, with virtually no capital upgrade, that was sold for in excess of $1 billion. We saw over $500 million stripped from the regional rail system in Western Australia, and the taxpayers are being asked to pick up the tab. We will be asking the National Party to come on board and try to fix up this shocking mistake that was made by it when it was in government.
Mr E.S. Ripper : More. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : More than 33 per cent of the value of exports that is underpinning the national economy is coming from Western Australia. Yet we are very, very lucky if we scrape in 10 per cent of the national transport infrastructure. I want to talk about a couple of little handouts that have been made to the eastern states in the past couple of weeks. First, $112 million will be spent on a scoping study to build a second railway line between Melbourne and Brisbane. They have already got one but the federal government has decided that it wants a second railway line that goes inland. It is prepared to spend $112 million on a scoping study for that facility. We also know that it has committed $70 million to Tasmania for the rescue of its rail system, which, like ours, was privatised, and that privatisation has failed. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and the member for Nedlands to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : We know that the federal government has committed $2.3 billion for the Goodna bypass around Brisbane and Ipswich, which even the Queensland government does not want. Quite extraordinary amounts of money have been poured into infrastructure in the eastern states. We will be looking for some assistance here - the National Party will be very interested in this - particularly for our rural rail network. The utterly disgraceful privatisation that occurred in 2000 has led to a situation now in which the people of rural Western Australia are confronted with the choice of either spending $400 million rescuing that network or $400 million rescuing the rail system. Alternatively, we would see 1 000 kilometres of rail line in rural Western Australia close down. I think this house needs to understand that this rail system was sold at a discount price. It was sold for $585 million. Less than five years ago, with virtually no capital upgrade, that was sold for in excess of $1 billion. We saw over $500 million stripped from the regional rail system in Western Australia, and the taxpayers are being asked to pick up the tab. We will be asking the National Party to come on board and try to fix up this shocking mistake that was made by it when it was in government.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : More than 33 per cent of the value of exports that is underpinning the national economy is coming from Western Australia. Yet we are very, very lucky if we scrape in 10 per cent of the national transport infrastructure. I want to talk about a couple of little handouts that have been made to the eastern states in the past couple of weeks. First, $112 million will be spent on a scoping study to build a second railway line between Melbourne and Brisbane. They have already got one but the federal government has decided that it wants a second railway line that goes inland. It is prepared to spend $112 million on a scoping study for that facility. We also know that it has committed $70 million to Tasmania for the rescue of its rail system, which, like ours, was privatised, and that privatisation has failed. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and the member for Nedlands to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : We know that the federal government has committed $2.3 billion for the Goodna bypass around Brisbane and Ipswich, which even the Queensland government does not want. Quite extraordinary amounts of money have been poured into infrastructure in the eastern states. We will be looking for some assistance here - the National Party will be very interested in this - particularly for our rural rail network. The utterly disgraceful privatisation that occurred in 2000 has led to a situation now in which the people of rural Western Australia are confronted with the choice of either spending $400 million rescuing that network or $400 million rescuing the rail system. Alternatively, we would see 1 000 kilometres of rail line in rural Western Australia close down. I think this house needs to understand that this rail system was sold at a discount price. It was sold for $585 million. Less than five years ago, with virtually no capital upgrade, that was sold for in excess of $1 billion. We saw over $500 million stripped from the regional rail system in Western Australia, and the taxpayers are being asked to pick up the tab. We will be asking the National Party to come on board and try to fix up this shocking mistake that was made by it when it was in government.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and the member for Nedlands to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : We know that the federal government has committed $2.3 billion for the Goodna bypass around Brisbane and Ipswich, which even the Queensland government does not want. Quite extraordinary amounts of money have been poured into infrastructure in the eastern states. We will be looking for some assistance here - the National Party will be very interested in this - particularly for our rural rail network. The utterly disgraceful privatisation that occurred in 2000 has led to a situation now in which the people of rural Western Australia are confronted with the choice of either spending $400 million rescuing that network or $400 million rescuing the rail system. Alternatively, we would see 1 000 kilometres of rail line in rural Western Australia close down. I think this house needs to understand that this rail system was sold at a discount price. It was sold for $585 million. Less than five years ago, with virtually no capital upgrade, that was sold for in excess of $1 billion. We saw over $500 million stripped from the regional rail system in Western Australia, and the taxpayers are being asked to pick up the tab. We will be asking the National Party to come on board and try to fix up this shocking mistake that was made by it when it was in government.
The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and the member for Nedlands to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : We know that the federal government has committed $2.3 billion for the Goodna bypass around Brisbane and Ipswich, which even the Queensland government does not want. Quite extraordinary amounts of money have been poured into infrastructure in the eastern states. We will be looking for some assistance here - the National Party will be very interested in this - particularly for our rural rail network. The utterly disgraceful privatisation that occurred in 2000 has led to a situation now in which the people of rural Western Australia are confronted with the choice of either spending $400 million rescuing that network or $400 million rescuing the rail system. Alternatively, we would see 1 000 kilometres of rail line in rural Western Australia close down. I think this house needs to understand that this rail system was sold at a discount price. It was sold for $585 million. Less than five years ago, with virtually no capital upgrade, that was sold for in excess of $1 billion. We saw over $500 million stripped from the regional rail system in Western Australia, and the taxpayers are being asked to pick up the tab. We will be asking the National Party to come on board and try to fix up this shocking mistake that was made by it when it was in government.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : We know that the federal government has committed $2.3 billion for the Goodna bypass around Brisbane and Ipswich, which even the Queensland government does not want. Quite extraordinary amounts of money have been poured into infrastructure in the eastern states. We will be looking for some assistance here - the National Party will be very interested in this - particularly for our rural rail network. The utterly disgraceful privatisation that occurred in 2000 has led to a situation now in which the people of rural Western Australia are confronted with the choice of either spending $400 million rescuing that network or $400 million rescuing the rail system. Alternatively, we would see 1 000 kilometres of rail line in rural Western Australia close down. I think this house needs to understand that this rail system was sold at a discount price. It was sold for $585 million. Less than five years ago, with virtually no capital upgrade, that was sold for in excess of $1 billion. We saw over $500 million stripped from the regional rail system in Western Australia, and the taxpayers are being asked to pick up the tab. We will be asking the National Party to come on board and try to fix up this shocking mistake that was made by it when it was in government.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN replied: I thank the member for the question. That will be very interesting to watch over the coming months. We do know that very large dollops of money have been handed out over east for infrastructure but in Western Australia, which, as we always say, is bringing home the bacon, 33 per cent - Mr E.S. Ripper : More. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : More than 33 per cent of the value of exports that is underpinning the national economy is coming from Western Australia. Yet we are very, very lucky if we scrape in 10 per cent of the national transport infrastructure. I want to talk about a couple of little handouts that have been made to the eastern states in the past couple of weeks. First, $112 million will be spent on a scoping study to build a second railway line between Melbourne and Brisbane. They have already got one but the federal government has decided that it wants a second railway line that goes inland. It is prepared to spend $112 million on a scoping study for that facility. We also know that it has committed $70 million to Tasmania for the rescue of its rail system, which, like ours, was privatised, and that privatisation has failed. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and the member for Nedlands to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : We know that the federal government has committed $2.3 billion for the Goodna bypass around Brisbane and Ipswich, which even the Queensland government does not want. Quite extraordinary amounts of money have been poured into infrastructure in the eastern states. We will be looking for some assistance here - the National Party will be very interested in this - particularly for our rural rail network. The utterly disgraceful privatisation that occurred in 2000 has led to a situation now in which the people of rural Western Australia are confronted with the choice of either spending $400 million rescuing that network or $400 million rescuing the rail system. Alternatively, we would see 1 000 kilometres of rail line in rural Western Australia close down. I think this house needs to understand that this rail system was sold at a discount price. It was sold for $585 million. Less than five years ago, with virtually no capital upgrade, that was sold for in excess of $1 billion. We saw over $500 million stripped from the regional rail system in Western Australia, and the taxpayers are being asked to pick up the tab. We will be asking the National Party to come on board and try to fix up this shocking mistake that was made by it when it was in government.
I thank the member for the question. That will be very interesting to watch over the coming months. We do know that very large dollops of money have been handed out over east for infrastructure but in Western Australia, which, as we always say, is bringing home the bacon, 33 per cent - Mr E.S. Ripper : More. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : More than 33 per cent of the value of exports that is underpinning the national economy is coming from Western Australia. Yet we are very, very lucky if we scrape in 10 per cent of the national transport infrastructure. I want to talk about a couple of little handouts that have been made to the eastern states in the past couple of weeks. First, $112 million will be spent on a scoping study to build a second railway line between Melbourne and Brisbane. They have already got one but the federal government has decided that it wants a second railway line that goes inland. It is prepared to spend $112 million on a scoping study for that facility. We also know that it has committed $70 million to Tasmania for the rescue of its rail system, which, like ours, was privatised, and that privatisation has failed. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and the member for Nedlands to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : We know that the federal government has committed $2.3 billion for the Goodna bypass around Brisbane and Ipswich, which even the Queensland government does not want. Quite extraordinary amounts of money have been poured into infrastructure in the eastern states. We will be looking for some assistance here - the National Party will be very interested in this - particularly for our rural rail network. The utterly disgraceful privatisation that occurred in 2000 has led to a situation now in which the people of rural Western Australia are confronted with the choice of either spending $400 million rescuing that network or $400 million rescuing the rail system. Alternatively, we would see 1 000 kilometres of rail line in rural Western Australia close down. I think this house needs to understand that this rail system was sold at a discount price. It was sold for $585 million. Less than five years ago, with virtually no capital upgrade, that was sold for in excess of $1 billion. We saw over $500 million stripped from the regional rail system in Western Australia, and the taxpayers are being asked to pick up the tab. We will be asking the National Party to come on board and try to fix up this shocking mistake that was made by it when it was in government.
Mr E.S. Ripper : More. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : More than 33 per cent of the value of exports that is underpinning the national economy is coming from Western Australia. Yet we are very, very lucky if we scrape in 10 per cent of the national transport infrastructure. I want to talk about a couple of little handouts that have been made to the eastern states in the past couple of weeks. First, $112 million will be spent on a scoping study to build a second railway line between Melbourne and Brisbane. They have already got one but the federal government has decided that it wants a second railway line that goes inland. It is prepared to spend $112 million on a scoping study for that facility. We also know that it has committed $70 million to Tasmania for the rescue of its rail system, which, like ours, was privatised, and that privatisation has failed. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and the member for Nedlands to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : We know that the federal government has committed $2.3 billion for the Goodna bypass around Brisbane and Ipswich, which even the Queensland government does not want. Quite extraordinary amounts of money have been poured into infrastructure in the eastern states. We will be looking for some assistance here - the National Party will be very interested in this - particularly for our rural rail network. The utterly disgraceful privatisation that occurred in 2000 has led to a situation now in which the people of rural Western Australia are confronted with the choice of either spending $400 million rescuing that network or $400 million rescuing the rail system. Alternatively, we would see 1 000 kilometres of rail line in rural Western Australia close down. I think this house needs to understand that this rail system was sold at a discount price. It was sold for $585 million. Less than five years ago, with virtually no capital upgrade, that was sold for in excess of $1 billion. We saw over $500 million stripped from the regional rail system in Western Australia, and the taxpayers are being asked to pick up the tab. We will be asking the National Party to come on board and try to fix up this shocking mistake that was made by it when it was in government.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : More than 33 per cent of the value of exports that is underpinning the national economy is coming from Western Australia. Yet we are very, very lucky if we scrape in 10 per cent of the national transport infrastructure. I want to talk about a couple of little handouts that have been made to the eastern states in the past couple of weeks. First, $112 million will be spent on a scoping study to build a second railway line between Melbourne and Brisbane. They have already got one but the federal government has decided that it wants a second railway line that goes inland. It is prepared to spend $112 million on a scoping study for that facility. We also know that it has committed $70 million to Tasmania for the rescue of its rail system, which, like ours, was privatised, and that privatisation has failed. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and the member for Nedlands to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : We know that the federal government has committed $2.3 billion for the Goodna bypass around Brisbane and Ipswich, which even the Queensland government does not want. Quite extraordinary amounts of money have been poured into infrastructure in the eastern states. We will be looking for some assistance here - the National Party will be very interested in this - particularly for our rural rail network. The utterly disgraceful privatisation that occurred in 2000 has led to a situation now in which the people of rural Western Australia are confronted with the choice of either spending $400 million rescuing that network or $400 million rescuing the rail system. Alternatively, we would see 1 000 kilometres of rail line in rural Western Australia close down. I think this house needs to understand that this rail system was sold at a discount price. It was sold for $585 million. Less than five years ago, with virtually no capital upgrade, that was sold for in excess of $1 billion. We saw over $500 million stripped from the regional rail system in Western Australia, and the taxpayers are being asked to pick up the tab. We will be asking the National Party to come on board and try to fix up this shocking mistake that was made by it when it was in government.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and the member for Nedlands to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : We know that the federal government has committed $2.3 billion for the Goodna bypass around Brisbane and Ipswich, which even the Queensland government does not want. Quite extraordinary amounts of money have been poured into infrastructure in the eastern states. We will be looking for some assistance here - the National Party will be very interested in this - particularly for our rural rail network. The utterly disgraceful privatisation that occurred in 2000 has led to a situation now in which the people of rural Western Australia are confronted with the choice of either spending $400 million rescuing that network or $400 million rescuing the rail system. Alternatively, we would see 1 000 kilometres of rail line in rural Western Australia close down. I think this house needs to understand that this rail system was sold at a discount price. It was sold for $585 million. Less than five years ago, with virtually no capital upgrade, that was sold for in excess of $1 billion. We saw over $500 million stripped from the regional rail system in Western Australia, and the taxpayers are being asked to pick up the tab. We will be asking the National Party to come on board and try to fix up this shocking mistake that was made by it when it was in government.
The SPEAKER : I call the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and the member for Nedlands to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : We know that the federal government has committed $2.3 billion for the Goodna bypass around Brisbane and Ipswich, which even the Queensland government does not want. Quite extraordinary amounts of money have been poured into infrastructure in the eastern states. We will be looking for some assistance here - the National Party will be very interested in this - particularly for our rural rail network. The utterly disgraceful privatisation that occurred in 2000 has led to a situation now in which the people of rural Western Australia are confronted with the choice of either spending $400 million rescuing that network or $400 million rescuing the rail system. Alternatively, we would see 1 000 kilometres of rail line in rural Western Australia close down. I think this house needs to understand that this rail system was sold at a discount price. It was sold for $585 million. Less than five years ago, with virtually no capital upgrade, that was sold for in excess of $1 billion. We saw over $500 million stripped from the regional rail system in Western Australia, and the taxpayers are being asked to pick up the tab. We will be asking the National Party to come on board and try to fix up this shocking mistake that was made by it when it was in government.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : We know that the federal government has committed $2.3 billion for the Goodna bypass around Brisbane and Ipswich, which even the Queensland government does not want. Quite extraordinary amounts of money have been poured into infrastructure in the eastern states. We will be looking for some assistance here - the National Party will be very interested in this - particularly for our rural rail network. The utterly disgraceful privatisation that occurred in 2000 has led to a situation now in which the people of rural Western Australia are confronted with the choice of either spending $400 million rescuing that network or $400 million rescuing the rail system. Alternatively, we would see 1 000 kilometres of rail line in rural Western Australia close down. I think this house needs to understand that this rail system was sold at a discount price. It was sold for $585 million. Less than five years ago, with virtually no capital upgrade, that was sold for in excess of $1 billion. We saw over $500 million stripped from the regional rail system in Western Australia, and the taxpayers are being asked to pick up the tab. We will be asking the National Party to come on board and try to fix up this shocking mistake that was made by it when it was in government.
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