WA Labor has promised to cut regional bus and train fares in half if elected in March. The pledge was made while also announcing the state government is negotiating to bring WA's regional rail network back into public hands prompting accusations it's blurring the line between governing and campaigning.
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TVTranscript
00:00OK, looking over here. Ben, please.
00:05Labor was on the campaign trail but started with a government announcement.
00:09The privatisation of our freight rail network is a handbrake on the economy of Western Australia.
00:15A Liberal National Government privatised the network in 2000.
00:19Certainly they can deliver the benefits that we require here well into the future.
00:26But the current government says that's not happening because the network can't keep up
00:30with demand from the farming and mining sectors.
00:33Transporting more grain via rail not only creates safer outcomes for regional communities
00:39but also makes Western Australian farmers more internationally competitive as we move forward.
00:45Doing nothing will cost the economy, it will cost jobs and it will hamper our ability to
00:51get these new minerals to port.
00:54Labor says having control of regional rail tracks like here in Pinjarra will make it
00:58easier to run and maintain the network to put it to best use for both freight and passenger trains.
01:05Ticket prices for those passenger trains as well as regional bus services would be cut
01:10in half if Labor was re-elected.
01:12The Liberals won't commit to the same yet but have criticised Labor's plans to buy back the network.
01:17It is completely inappropriate for any government to negotiate something this significant on
01:23the eve of an election.
01:25This is why we wanted to set up the negotiating team.
01:28It also takes it away from elected officials into a government process.
01:32It's not a plan, it's a thought bubble which has been announced at the very end of eight
01:35years of inaction by Rita Safiotti.
01:38The Transport Minister says she would be open to a partial buyback initially, potentially
01:43starting with Tier 3 rail lines which take grain from receivable sites to port and are
01:48currently sitting unused.
01:50I think that's a really big issue.
01:52If you're not going to use it, you should be giving it back.
01:54Meanwhile, the Nationals promised $14 million to upgrade Albany Airport to handle larger aircraft.