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.
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