Railway (Roy Hill Infrastructure Pty Ltd) Agreement Amendment Bill 2025
Receipt and first reading
Bill received from the Assembly and, on motion by Hon Stephen Dawson (Minister for Regional Development), read a first time.
Second reading speech
Hon Stephen Dawson (Minister for Regional Development) (5:39 pm): I move:
That the bill be now read a second time.
The primary purpose of this bill is to amend the Railway (Roy Hill Infrastructure Pty Ltd) Agreement Act 2010, which I will refer to as the state agreement act. This bill seeks to ratify a variation agreement made on 13 November 2024, which seeks to amend the Railway (Roy Hill Infrastructure Pty Ltd) Agreement 2010. The variation agreement is between the state and Roy Hill Infrastructure, a wholly owned subsidiary of Roy Hill Holdings, which is 70% owned by Hancock Prospecting, with the remaining portion held by a consortium consisting of POSCO in South Korea, Marubeni Corporation in Japan and China Steel Corporation in Taiwan.
Roy Hill Holdings and Roy Hill Iron Ore are also parties to the variation agreement and the state agreement, as guarantors. The state agreement act was first entered into by the state and the Roy Hill entities on 22 June 2010 and ratified by Parliament on 20 October 2010 to facilitate the development of a railway from the Roy Hill Iron Ore mine in the eastern Pilbara to the port of Port Hedland, together with infrastructure within the port required for the unloading, handling and export of iron ore to overseas markets. Today, the Roy Hill operations employ over 2,800 people and consist of an iron ore mine and processing infrastructure located 115 kilometres north of Newman in the Pilbara, a 344-kilometre heavy haulage railway and significant port facilities at the port of Port Hedland.
The Roy Hill mine is administered under the Mining Act 1978 and the port-related infrastructure is managed under the Port Authorities Act 1999. In the 2024 financial year, Roy Hill produced and shipped a record 64 million tonnes of iron ore from its operations. The proposed variations to the Roy Hill state agreement will facilitate the expansion of the Roy Hill railway and improve opportunities for third-party access to rail and port infrastructure in the Pilbara region.
The provisions of the bill seek to ratify the variation agreement, a copy of which is inserted as the second schedule to the state agreement act.
I will now outline the key provisions of the variation agreement.
Upon ratification, clause 2(9) of the variation agreement will replace clause 12 of the Roy Hill state agreement to allow for the development of additional infrastructure outside the port, such as new train loading, unloading and material handling locations along the existing railway line, which will be available for use by Roy Hill, its affiliates or third-party operators.
Clause 2(10) of the variation agreement will amend clause 13 of the Roy Hill state agreement to allow for the area of the special railway licence to be expanded to accommodate this additional infrastructure and other non-spur-line-related developments, pursuant to approved proposals. The amendments to clauses 12 and 13 of the state agreement will facilitate the proposed development of the hillside project, which will involve the construction and operation of a new truck haulage receival facility, train loading facility and rail siding to support the proposed development of the Mulga Downs iron ore project, a proposed greenfield mine that will be developed by Hancock Prospecting.
Clause 2(10) of the variation agreement also amends clause 13 of the Roy Hill state agreement to require Roy Hill, within six months of the variation date, to submit for approval by the minister for mines a rail closure plan. Subject to clause 13, this plan must be reviewed, amended and implemented in accordance with the Mining Act 1978. The rail closure plan must be reviewed every five years or otherwise at the times determined by the minister for mines.
Consistent with state policy, the variation agreement will also:
by clause 2(7), insert a new clause 9A into the Roy Hill state agreement requiring Roy Hill to develop and implement a local participation plan that details the strategies it will use to maximise local industry participation benefits;
by clause 2(9), replace clause 12 of the Roy Hill state agreement to provide that the minister responsible for the state agreement may not consider a proposal that he or she determines is not compliant with applicable provisions of the state agreement;
by clause 2(11), amend clause 14 of the Roy Hill state agreement to require Roy Hill, in relation to future infrastructure proposed to cross its special railway licence, to give its consent to or otherwise facilitate the grant of titles over that land when the minister responsible for the state agreement forms the opinion the grant will not unduly prejudice the activities of Roy Hill; and
by clause 2(21), insert new clause 33A in relation to the provision of spatial information and as-constructed drawings relating to works under the state agreement and new clause 33B for the provision of access to the minister relating to the administration of the state agreement.
Ratification of this bill by Parliament will improve opportunities for third-party carriage of iron ore upon the Roy Hill railway, opening otherwise stranded iron ore resources to the market. The increase in tonnage across the railway will increase the generation of royalty income for the state and creation of construction jobs in the Pilbara region.
I urge all members to support the variation, recognising the opportunities it presents for the resources sector within Western Australia.
Pursuant to standing order 126(1), I advise that this bill is not a uniform legislation bill. It does not ratify or give effect to an intergovernmental or multilateral agreement to which the government of the state is a party; nor does this bill, by reason of its subject matter, introduce a uniform scheme or uniform laws throughout the Commonwealth.
I commend the bill to the house and table the explanatory memorandum.
(See paper 255.)
Debate adjourned, pursuant to standing orders.
House adjourned at 5:44:50 pm
Questions on notice answered today are available on the Parliament of Western Australia's website
