State Council to review grain transport

The state government's recently established Freight and Logistics Council has been given the task of assessing the contentious issue of upgrading grain transportation in Western Australia.

The Council is set to assess various options for improving the capacity of the transport system to move more grain following a positive endorsement from industry at a meeting with the Transport Minister, Simon O'Brien.

Mr O'Brien previously said governments had to work with industry as it changed to integrate all parts of transport supply chains.

"A fully integrated logistics approach to moving freight drives efficiency and productivity," he said.

"In bringing together senior freight and logistics decision makers from the private and public sectors, we have an opportunity to align State Government objectives with industry practice."

Mr O'Brien thanked the industry participants who responded to his invitation to meet with him and express their views on his proposal for deciding the best way forward for grain transport.

The meeting was attended by representatives of rail companies, CBH, WA Farmers' Federation, Pastoralists and Graziers Association, grain exporters and government agencies.

The Minister highlighted the fact that under the deregulated market, farmers have an incentive to move their grain out as quickly as possible. This has generated new challenges for the transport sector to lift their capacity from moving around 1.5 million tons per month to a more ambitious 2.5 million tons or more.

"In addition to the immediate challenge of moving more grain faster, the group, to be established under the auspices of the council, will also look at the longer term industry needs to target public investment in the most effective manner," Mr O'Brien said.

The first meeting of the Council took place at the end of March, where a range of important strategic issues were discussed.

These included the protection of freight corridors, private sector involvement in WA ports, national shipping policy and port planning, international trading terms, rail network planning, WA's input to national transport planning and single national rail safety regulation.

Full announcement below:

Minister welcomes industry support for grain logistics direction

Transport Minister Simon O'Brien has welcomed industry endorsement of his proposal to utilise the expertise of the Freight and Logistics Council to assess the grain industry's transportation needs.

Mr O'Brien thanked the industry participants who responded to his invitation to meet with him and express their views on his proposal for deciding the best way forward for grain transport

"The purpose of the meeting was to invite industry to participate in a process that will guide the Government's decisions on future investment in the State's grain rail network," he said.

"It was agreed that industry would participate in the process set up by the Government through which the Freight and Logistics Council would assess various options for improving the capacity of the transport system to move more grain."

The Minister highlighted the fact that under the deregulated market, farmers have an incentive to move their grain out as quickly as possible. This has generated new challenges for the transport sector to lift their capacity from moving around 1.5 million tons per month to a more ambitious 2.5 million tons or more.

"In addition to the immediate challenge of moving more grain faster, the group, to be established under the auspices of the council, will also look at the longer term industry needs to target public investment in the most effective manner," Mr O'Brien said.

The meeting was attended by representatives of rail companies, CBH, WA Farmers' Federation, Pastoralists and Graziers Association, grain exporters and government agencies.