A federal government review of the former Labor Party's Grain Infrastructure Group report has found the information did not provide a reliable base to make major investment decisions on the state's grain rail network, Transport Minister Simon O'Brien says.
The announcement is below:
Transport Minister Simon O'Brien has welcomed the release by the Parliamentary Secretary for Western and Northern Australia Gary Gray, of the Federal Government's review of the former State Labor government's Grain Infrastructure Group's (GIG) Report.
"I wholeheartedly agree with the Federal Government's independent assessment that the GIG Report does not provide a reliable basis on which to make major investment decisions in Western Australia's grain rail network," Mr O'Brien said.
"The State and Federal governments both agree that further work is needed to assess the grain transport chain to see what investment is required and how we optimise that investment.
"It is for that reason that I have set up the Strategic Grain Network Committee (SGNC) to assess the State's grain rail network and the wider logistics chain.
"The SGNC is made up of industry and both Federal and State government representatives and has the full backing of all stakeholders.
"We need to ensure that any public investment in WA's grain rail network is undertaken in a manner which gives both the public and the private sectors the best value for money.
"The lack of investment during the boom years means that we now have to be smarter about how we target our investment to meet current and future needs in the grain rail sector.
"I believe that the SGNC will be able to provide the best advice on how to do this.
"Before the end of the year, the SGNC will give government additional advice about the rail system that will be required to meet industry's needs over the coming 10-15 years."
However, the Minister said, that whilst meeting industry's immediate and medium term needs is of fundamental importance, so too was establishing a vision for a sustainable grain freight system for the next 40-50 years.
