Improve Train Lighting & Passive Level Crossings

My letter in today's Countryman newspaper 7.5.26. A copy of the letter referenced within it attached. CWA of WA 💙 @Rita_Saffioti @RogerCookMLA @TonyButi_MLA

This is what intestinal fortitude looks like. Thank you @LachlanHunter sincerely for your leadership on this decades old safety issue with The Nationals WA Team. 🙏🏼🙏🏼🙏🏼Our families and supporting professionals and organisations right around Australia sincerely appreciate the tireless work you've done and continue to do to support us in our push to make train safety and visibility lighting law. @RogerCookMLA @Rita_Saffioti @CatherineKingMP

The next completely preventable rail tragedy is only a matter of time. Mark my words. And when it does happen, no politician can say they haven't been exhaustively warned. @RogerCookMLA @Rita_Saffioti @JStojkovskiMLA @TonyButi_MLA @PatrickGormanMP @BasilZempilas @LachlanHunter @ShaneLoveMW

Why did I slam what WA Transport Minister @Rita_Saffioti MLA said? Let me fill you in. Rita Saffioti’s office made a statement on rail safety on the ABC Country Hour (Wednesday 8th April) following my interview. It read, “The WA Government will continue to work with the federal government to ensure a nationally consistent approach is taken towards rail safety with any requirements imposed on rail operators requiring a nationally legislated standard with all state and territory transport ministers needing to provide unanimous agreement.” Unfortunately for Minister Saffioti, our families of rail crash victims know all too well that working towards a ‘nationally consistent approach on rail safety’ is actually code for brace yourself for years of government inaction ahead. It's akin to just kicking the proverbial can, right on down the road. Same old hollow statement our families have seen churned out by successive governments for decades. Look no further than a statement made in Parliament in 2001 (attached) by then Labor Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan following the untimely deaths of my youngest brother and his two friends who were struck and killed by an inadequately lit grain train on dark at the Yarramony Road level railway crossing near Jennacubbine on July 8, 2000. On 16th October 2001, Ms MacTiernan told State Parliament that the WA Government could no longer wait while lives were put at risk as a result of the delay in arriving at a national approach. She said a coroner's report (Coroner Alastair Hope) on the three tragic deaths at a level crossing emphasised the need for urgent action and I quote. ‘The coroner recommended that immediate action be taken to improve lighting on locomotives, including flashing lights when the train approached level crossings,” Ms Mac Tiernan said. But guess what? No state or federal government then or since has required rail operators to have safety visibility lighting on their trains. You might ask why government action on this issue is so glacially slow. Well, it's quite simple really. Train lighting upgrades don’t come with ribbon cuttings for politicians and multi-million dollar rail companies are far more important to our government than bereaved rural families from vote-scarce regions. Special thanks to the Countryman newspaper and Great Southern Herald for following the response from our families up. We are extremely upset. @RogerCookMLA @JStojkovskiMLA @BasilZempilas @LachlanHunter @ShaneLoveMW @TonyButi_MLA

There's a train in this photo @RogerCookMLA @Rita_Saffioti @JStojkovskiMLA

An extended version of my interview with ABC Rural reporter Kate Forrester also played on the Northern WA Rural Report at the 7 minute 27 mark. Please have a listen. abc.net.au/listen/program… Special thanks to the Australian Trucking Association and Australian country music legend Lee Kernaghan for caring about the safety of your fellow Australians as much as we do and our supporting organisations listed below do. @Australian72246 We aren't going anywhere until we get the job done and done properly. Of that our state government can absolutely rest assured. @Rita_Saffioti @RogerCookMLA @JStojkovskiMLA @TonyButi_MLA We are all doing our collective best to prevent another horrific multiple fatality on our road/rail network eventuating. We'd like to see our government pull out all stops and do the same. Protecting public safety is a fundamental government responsibility after all. @janeenorman @LiberalsWA @BasilZempilas @ShaneLoveMW The Nationals WA Lachlan Hunter MP Shane Love MLA National Farmers' Federation NT Road Transport Association Western Roads Federation CWA of WA Felicity Edwards - CWA of WA State President Country Women's Association (CWA) of NSW Livestock Bulk Rural Carriers Livestock and Rural Transporters Association of SA Inc WAFarmers The Pastoralists & Graziers Association of WA (Inc) @Queensland Trucking Association Livestock & Rural Transport Association of Western Australia - Inc Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association Livestock & Rural Transporters Association of Victoria Transport Workers Union WA Branch - TWU WA The Outback Club SARTA TRANSAFE WA Livestock and Rural Transporters Association of Queensland - LRTAQ

There's a train in this photo @RogerCookMLA @Rita_Saffioti @JStojkovskiMLA

My letter published in today's West Australian newspaper 7.4.2026. Attached are two photographs providing visual examples of a truck and a train operating in complete darkness and reinforce exactly the hazard I am referring to in my letter (inadequately illuminated trains and rolling stock). I'll leave all the politicians in office with the power to correct this glaring safety anomaly and tagged here with my quotable quote. Perhaps you might like to do something about this decades old public safety issue instead of serving up a minimum, voluntary Code of Practice on Train Visibility that is underpinned by, you guessed it, minimum and voluntary train lighting standards for rail operators 🫩🫩 😫😫. Our families aren't going anywhere until you do. "The sad fact is that while we have stronger laws governing bicycle lighting than we do for trains we are about as close to achieving the federal government's utopian pie-in-the sky vision of "zero harm" at level crossings by 2050 as we are to arriving at the metaphorically unachievable destination of Timbuktu." Lara Jensen @BasilZempilas @ShaneLoveMW @LachlanHunter @RogerCookMLA @Rita_Saffioti @CatherineKingMP

Thank you Kalgoorlie Miner for following up on the release of our social media video. What is Roger Cook and Rita Saffioti MLA's position on this decades old public safety issue? @RogerCookMLA @Rita_Saffioti @BasilZempilas

There's a train in this photo @RogerCookMLA @Rita_Saffioti @JStojkovskiMLA look safe to you? Currently regional motorists approaching or stopped at country passive level crossings are expected to yield to approaching trains they cannot always see in a range of conditions (dawn, dusk, complete darkness, heavy dust, heavy fog, heavy rain, glare) scenarios flagged by coroners and parliamentary enquiries that have tragically resulted in deaths and serious injuries at country railway level crossings for decades now. (See pics attached) The sad fact is that while we have stronger laws governing bicycle lighting than we do for trains we are about as close to achieving the federal government's utopian pie-in-the sky vision of  "zero harm" at level crossings as we are to arriving at the metaphorically unachievable destination of Timbuktu. @BasilZempilas @ShaneLoveMW @LachlanHunter

@BasilZempilas @RogerCookMLA @Rita_Saffioti @ShaneLoveMW @CatherineKingMP @LachlanHunter It is not acceptable that there is still no legal requirement for trains to be lit to a particular standard in 2026. The sad fact is that while we have stronger laws governing bicycle lighting than we do for trains we are about as close to achieving the federal government's utopian pie-in-the sky vision of  "zero harm" at level crossings as we are to arriving at the metaphorically unachievable destination of Timbuktu. facebook.com/share/v/1FfTPy…

It is with immense pride that our families are today releasing our social media video in conjunction with the Australian Trucking Association that features Australian country music legend Lee Kernaghan OAM who is not only an amazing singer, songwriter and guitarist, he is also an extraordinary advocate for rural Australia. Our families would like to extend our sincere thanks to ATA CEO Mathew Munro for his incredible leadership and that of the ATA on this decade's old public safety issue and for putting the safety of all ATA members and travelling Australians front and centre. Today we are collectively calling on our state and federal governments to make train safety and visibility lighting law. With many Australian families about to set off on their Easter travels, the video is a timely reminder of a rail safety gap that has the potential to turn a family celebration into a preventable tragedy. This issue, as our families well know can devastate families any time of the year, but peak holiday times underscore why mandatory safety lighting on trains can’t wait. The video is proudly supported by 20 prominent organisations nationally including peak farming, road transport and grassroots community groups as well as political parties The Nationals WA and the Liberals WA. Our families ask that you support this campaign by contacting state and federal transport ministers and asking them to legislate train safety and visibility lighting. We urge you to contact state and federal MPs to advocate for this decade's overdue legislative change on your behalf and tag them when you share this social media video. On behalf of all our families we would also like to say a massive and heartfelt thank you to Annemaree Jensen for the countless hours involved in making this incredible production happen. You have done a mighty job Annemaree. Our families would also like to sincerely thank the following wonderful organisations from all around Australia listed below and The Nationals WA and Liberals WA. @BasilZempilas @ShaneLoveMW @LachlanHunter We are extremely proud to share this day with you all. Thank you. Lara Jensen (on behalf of the Improve Train Lighting and Level Crossing Safety Group) #improvetrainlightingandlevelcrossingsafety #stopthefatalities #lightuprail National Farmers' Federation NT Road Transport Association Western Roads Federation CWA of WA Country Women's Association (CWA) of NSW Livestock Bulk Rural Carriers Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association Livestock & Rural Transport Association of Western Australia - Inc Livestock & Rural Transporters Association of Victoria Livestock and Rural Transporters Association of SA Inc WAFarmers The Pastoralists & Graziers Association of WA (Inc) TRANSAFE WA Livestock and Rural Transporters Association of Queensland - LRTAQ Transport Workers Union WA Branch SARTA Queensland Trucking Association @Rita_Saffioti @RogerCookMLA @JStojkovskiMLA

My column for the April 2026 WA Transport Magazine out today. All we need is one state government to step up and lead on this decades old public safety issue so the rest follow. Over to you WA Premier Roger Cook. @RogerCookMLA @JStojkovskiMLA @Rita_Saffioti @BasilZempilas