Opinion Articles

What does the rail lease actually require?

This is yet another instalment in my running theme: the State rail debacle. A saga of privatisation, monopoly infrastructure, and governments that appear to have misplaced both the keys and the contract. Twenty-five years after Western Australia leased out its freight rail network, one basic question still has no straight answer: what does the Brookfield/Arc lease actually require? Who is responsible for maintaining and upgrading WA’s freight rail network, and how on earth do we force the

Trevor Whittington February 19, 2026

Opinion Articles

State’s long rail tale of woe

WA has a long and bipartisan talent for pretending it is in charge when it plainly is not. Nowhere is that more obvious than on the 5500km of the old Westrail network — an asset sold at the turn of the century and then quietly abandoned by every government since. This is not a story about ideology. It is not even a story about privatisation. It is a story about a State that sold a

Trevor Whittington February 13, 2026

WAFarmers AGM

WAFarmers 2026 AGM

Notice of The Western Australian Farmers Federation Annual General Meetings 2026 As required under its Constitution (rule 25.2.2), The Western Australian Farmers Federation (Inc.) (WAFarmers) hereby notifies all members; Section Councils and Zones that the 79th WAFarmers Annual General Meetings (AGMs) will be held on Friday 20 March 2026, at The Ingot Hotel, Perth. The meeting will commence with a light lunch from 12pm with a member dinner following the conclusion of the official proceedings.

Darren Brown January 15, 2026