Government News

Information session: Farm Business Transition Program Round 2 

Applications are now open for Round 2 of the Farm Business Transition Program. Information and Q&A sessions are being held across WA’s Wheatbelt, Great Southern, South-West, Mid-West and Peel regions throughout March. Sheep producers are encouraged to attend to discuss and ask questions in-person on: Producer eligibility and eligible activities How to apply and what’s required Differences from WA’s Supply Chain Capacity Program Application support and resources. About the program The Farm Business Transition Program supports sheep producers to increase on-farm adoption and uptake of alternative farming systems and practices. Funding supports the development

Darren Brown February 27, 2026

Opinion Articles

We can’t have a debate on rail without understanding the cost–benefit

Western Australia’s grain freight debate has become oddly unhinged. We talk endlessly about road damage, truck numbers, safety, emissions and who should pay. Rail tragics insist that reopening Tier 3 lines will solve all our problems. Road realists respond that we should simply widen and upgrade roads to allow triples. Yet the one thing farmers and road users actually need to have a rational debate about is largely absent: a clear, public, apples-to-apples understanding of what it

Trevor Whittington February 12, 2026

Opinion Articles

The Countryman: State must act to get freight rail on track

The WA Labor Government has a curious habit when it comes to big decisions. When it wants something badly enough, it moves at speed. When it doesn’t, it buries the issue under consultants, reviews and “process”. Right now, freight rail sits firmly in the second category. In the lead-up to the last State election, Labor committed to “investigate and progress the potential buyback of the below-rail freight lease”. Translated into plain English, that means regaining

Trevor Whittington January 15, 2026

Opinion Articles

How the Housing Boom Broke the Lucky Country

Like every parent watching their adult kids edge toward the real estate market, I look at the numbers with growing alarm. In 25 years, Perth house prices have jumped from roughly $200,000 to close to $900,000 — a three-to-fivefold increase — while wages have barely doubled from $50,000 to $100,000. That’s not a generational squeeze; it’s a structural impossibility. Unless the next generation marries a doctor, a diesel mechanic, a FIFO worker, wins Lotto, or

Trevor Whittington December 11, 2025