Overland Train Service

The Hon. J.E. HANSON (14:38): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.E. HANSON: On 7 June, the minister advised the chamber that he met with Chris Tallent, the chief executive of Great Southern Rail, and discussed Great Southern Rail's tourism and future plans. My questions to the minister are:

1. Can the minister advise if he has continued to meet with representatives from Great Southern Rail regarding the future of The Overland service?

2. If so, who did he meet with and when?

3. If meetings did occur, can the minister please outline in detail the government's plan to keep the service operational past Christmas 2018?

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) (14:39): I thank the honourable member for his question. As he rightly recounted, I did meet with Mr Chris Tallent in relation to GlobeLink and the impact it may have on their service but, of course, the subsidy scheme or the support that is provided by the government to Great Southern Rail is a matter for the Minister for Transport, not the Minister for Tourism. I personally at this stage have not met with Great Southern Rail in relation to The Overland service, so I am not able to update the member on that, but I will make some appointments in the coming weeks to familiarise myself with all of the issues. I know the Minister for Transport has made some comments, and I will refer the rest of the question to the Minister for Transport and bring back a detailed reply.