❓ A WA parliamentary question on notice regarding freight rail network tonnage and federal government involvement. The answer provides tonnage data for specific years and a breakdown by product type for 2024, while also criticising past privatisation.
AnsweredQoN 118Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the Western Australian Labor Government's plan to buy back the State's freight rail network, and I ask: (a) what was the total tonnage of freight carried on the State's freight rail network in 2010; (b) what was the total tonnage of freight carried on the State's rail freight network in 2015; (c) what was the total tonnage of freight carried on the State's rail network in 2020; (d) what was the total tonnage of freight carried on the State's rail network in 2024; (e) is the Minister aware of the Federal Labor Government's plans to take control of some of the rail lines; (f) is the Minister aware of which lines the Federal Labor Government is interested in taking control; and (g) can the Minister provide a breakdown of total tonnage, by product type, from the most recent year from which the data is available?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
18 June 2025
Responded by
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport
Response time
8 days
(a) 54.6 million.
(b) 73.9 million.
(c) 64.4 million.
(d) 51.3 million – noting that the rail link with the Eastern States was severed for three weeks due to widespread flooding on the Nullabor.
(e)-(f) The Federal Labor Government has partnered with the Cook Labor Government to help clean up the mess left by the Liberals and Nationals when they recklessly privatised the freight rail network.
(g) The most recent data is from 2024:
Iron Ore: 14.6 million; Alumina & Related: 16.7 million; Freight: 11 million; Grain: 7.6 million; and other track access: 1.4 million .
(b) 73.9 million.
(c) 64.4 million.
(d) 51.3 million – noting that the rail link with the Eastern States was severed for three weeks due to widespread flooding on the Nullabor.
(e)-(f) The Federal Labor Government has partnered with the Cook Labor Government to help clean up the mess left by the Liberals and Nationals when they recklessly privatised the freight rail network.
(g) The most recent data is from 2024:
Iron Ore: 14.6 million; Alumina & Related: 16.7 million; Freight: 11 million; Grain: 7.6 million; and other track access: 1.4 million .
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.