Luke Simpkins (Cowan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Given that this motion is about rail infrastructure, I take this opportunity to speak of the value that railways have added in Western Australia and the fact that our future economic development will continue to depend on railway infrastructure serving the commodity sector. As I will outline, the great Western Australian success story, the way in which the hard work and commitment of the private sector has paved the way for Australia, is very much a story that could not have been written without railways.

Two of the major users of railways for the transport of iron ore are BHP Billiton and the Fortescue Metals Group, or FMG. They demonstrate the importance of private investment and of governments allowing these developments to take place.

BHP Billiton’s iron ore has two railway lines and more than 120 locomotives. The Port Hedland to Newman line is 426 kilometres long, running out to the Mount Whaleback Mine but also with spurs to Mining Area C, known as the MAC iron ore mine; to Yandi 1 and 2; and to the Jimblebar Mine. Twelve trains a day operate on that line, normally with 208 wagons per train. Each wagon can carry 125 tonnes of ore, or 26,000 tonnes per train. Duplication of the line to Newman is well advanced. The smaller line is just 208 kilometres long and runs from Finucane Island near Port Hedland to the Yarrie and Nimingarra mines. It has one train a day, with a mere 90 wagons attached.

FMG is another example of private sector investment that has worked out very well. FMG operate a heavy-haul rail network between Anderson Point at Port Hedland and Cloud Break Mine. That is more than 250 kilometres of single standard-gauge railway line upon which they operate as many as five trains a day, with up to 240 carriages per train. Each wagon can take around 40 tonnes of iron ore.

Although I have spoken about the successes and the future of private rail in support of commodities in Western Australia, this motion also made mention of the assistance provided by the Australian government toward rail. In 1997 the federal and state governments agreed to centralise control of the national interstate rail network. In 1998 the Australian government established the Australian Rail Track Corporation Ltd to manage and develop Australia’s interstate track infrastructure. The ARTC owners have long-term leases of the interstate track. The ARTC currently controls interstate track from Kalgoorlie to the New South Wales-Queensland border, although its main focus is on the Melbourne-Sydney-Brisbane rail corridor.

The ARTC is a public company which is wholly owned by the Australian government. It is required under its charter to operate the interstate rail network on a commercial and sustainable basis. It does so through access fees to the track from commercial operators, proceeds from maintenance contracts, Australian government equity, commercial borrowings and direct funding from the federal government.

It was through the ARTC and AusLink that the previous government provided $2.4 billion in rail infrastructure; $820 million was also provided to ARTC for the Melbourne-Sydney-Brisbane rail corridor through untied grants. It should also be noted that the previous federal government helped with the second transnational railway line completed in 2004, with $191.4 billion contributed by the Howard government. That being said, the vast majority of the funding for the project was actually provided by private enterprise. Between 2004-05 and 2008-09, over $2 billion was allocated by the Howard government under AusLink. Between 1996 and 2007 an additional $1.3 billion was invested in rail from outside AusLink, which included the Commonwealth part of the funding for the Adelaide to Darwin railway.

Infrastructure investment in 2007 amounted to $56 billion for rail, which is more than 2½ times what it was in 1996 when it was $15 billion. Against a backdrop of paying off $96 billion of debt, these figures suggest responsible and effective investment. The reality in rail investment is that it is important for government to be involved, but it is vital for governments to facilitate private investment to meet the needs of industry. Rail is part of the great success story of Western Australia, and that will continue to be the case, but a measure of a government is how well it can successfully leverage private sector investment whilst also not running up huge debt. The coalition under John Howard succeeded. Peter Costello was able to do this very successfully.

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