{"id":"transcontinental-railway-act-1911","name":"Trans-Continental Railway Act 1911","slug":"trans-continental-railway-act-1911","collection":"act","jurisdiction":"wa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":110728,"registerId":"wa-transcontinental-railway-act-1911-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-03","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Trans-Continental Railway Act 1911","content":"![Crest]()Western Australia\n\nTrans-continental Railway Act 1911\n\nWestern Australia\n\nTrans-continental Railway Act 1911\n\nContents\n\n1. Short title 1\n\n2. Consent to construction 1\n\n3. Power to grant land 1\n\nNotes\n\nCompilation table 3\n\n  \n\nWestern Australia\n\nTrans‑continental Railway Act 1911\n\nAn Act to consent to the construction by the Commonwealth of Australia of the Western Australian portion of a railway from Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta; and to enable the Governor to grant to the Commonwealth such waste lands of the Crown in Western Australia as are required for the construction, maintenance, and working of such railway.\n\n##### 1. Short title\n\nThis Act may be cited as the *Trans‑continental Railway Act 1911* 1.\n\n##### 2. Consent to construction\n\nThe State of Western Australia hereby consents to the Parliament of the Commonwealth making laws with respect to the construction of a railway from Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta; and the consent of the State of Western Australia is hereby given to the construction by the Commonwealth in Western Australian Territory of any portion of such railway which shall be required or authorised to be constructed therein by or pursuant to any Act of the Parliament of the Commonwealth.\n\n##### 3. Power to grant land\n\nThe Governor may grant to the Commonwealth, for an estate in fee simple, the surface and the land below the surface to a depth of 150 feet of all such waste lands of the Crown in Western Australia as, in the opinion of the Minister of State for the Commonwealth for the time being administering any Act of the Parliament of the Commonwealth authorising any such railway as aforesaid, are necessary for the construction, maintenance, and working of the railway intended to be constructed under the powers conferred by such Act.\n\nProvided that no mining operations shall be carried on under the land so granted without the approval of the Executive Government of the Commonwealth.\n\nNotes\n\n1 This is a reprint as at 3 August 2007 of the *Trans-continental Railway Act 1911*. The following table contains information about that Act and any reprint.\n\nCompilation table\n\n| **Short title** | **Number and year** | **Assent** | **Commencement** |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| *Trans‑continental Railway Act 1911* | 6 of 1912   (2 Geo. V No. 14) | 9 Jan 1912 | 9 Jan 1912 |\n| **Reprint 1: The *Trans‑continental Railway Act 1911* as at 3 Aug 2007** | | | |\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed — the legislative text was not available in the provided content. The page has been removed or relocated on the Western Australian legislation website."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative text was retrievable — the source URL returned a 'page not available' error","Complexity cannot be meaningfully assessed without access to the actual provisions","Score of 1 reflects absence of content, not simplicity of the underlying law"],"plain_english_summary":"## Trans-Continental Railway Act 1911 — Content Unavailable\n\nThe actual text of this Western Australian law is **not accessible** — the source page has been taken down or moved as part of a website upgrade. No meaningful legal analysis can be provided based on the content retrieved.\n\n**What we can reasonably infer from the title:**\n- This is a **1911 Western Australian Act** (a law passed by the WA Parliament)\n- It likely dealt with the planning, funding, construction, or administration of a **trans-continental railway** — most likely the line connecting Port Augusta (South Australia) to Kalgoorlie (Western Australia), which was a major nation-building project of the early Federation era\n- Laws of this era are often **largely obsolete** or have been repealed, amended, or superseded by later legislation\n\n**To find the actual text**, visit the Western Australian Parliamentary Counsel's Office website (legislation.wa.gov.au) and search for the Act by name."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The Act does not expand beyond its original, narrow purposes: it consents to Commonwealth railway construction in WA and enables the Governor to grant specified Crown land in fee simple (to 150 feet) to the Commonwealth. It vests selection in the Commonwealth Minister and reserves mining approval to the Commonwealth Executive (s2–s3). No broader regulatory powers or additional subject-matter are created in the text provided."},"complexity_factors":["Inter-governmental consent mechanism: State consents to Commonwealth lawmaking and construction in WA (s2) — cross-jurisdictional legal effect.","Permanent land transfer in fee simple including subsurface to 150 feet (s3) — transfers ownership and control of resources.","Ministerial discretion: lands described as “necessary” are determined by the Commonwealth Minister’s opinion (s3) — creates a point of executive discretion and potential factual disputes.","Undefined phrase: “waste lands of the Crown” is not defined in the Act — scope uncertainty about which parcels qualify.","Separate approval gate for mining: no mining under granted land without Commonwealth Executive approval (s3) — adds a procedural restriction on resource use.","Compact structure: only three operative provisions — limits statutory complexity and ancillary regimes."],"plain_english_summary":"This Act lets Western Australia consent to the Commonwealth making laws for, and building, the Kalgoorlie–Port Augusta railway within WA (s2). It also authorises the WA Governor to grant the Commonwealth fee-simple title to required Crown “waste lands” (surface and to 150 feet) for construction, maintenance and operation of that railway (s3).\nThe Commonwealth minister determines which lands are “necessary” (s3). Mining under granted land is prohibited without the Commonwealth Executive’s approval (s3)."},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation remains tightly focused on its original purpose: enabling the Trans-Australian Railway construction. The 2007 reprint appears to be a pure consolidation with no substantive amendments expanding scope."},"complexity_factors":["Only 3 operative sections totaling approximately 200 words","No defined terms section","No cross-references to other legislation (except generic reference to 'any Act of the Parliament of the Commonwealth')","Single simple conditional: the proviso in section 3 regarding mining approval","Straightforward declaratory language ('The State... hereby consents', 'The Governor may grant')","No delegated legislation or regulation-making powers","No amendment machinery or transitional provisions"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a short Western Australian law from 1911 that does two main things:\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Gives permission** for the Australian Government (the Commonwealth) to build a railway line across Western Australia from Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta (in South Australia). Without this state consent, the Commonwealth couldn't legally build infrastructure inside Western Australia's borders.\n- **Allows land grants** so the Western Australian Governor can give the Commonwealth freehold ownership (called \"estate in fee simple\" — meaning full legal ownership) of any Crown land (government-owned land) needed for the railway. This includes the surface plus everything 150 feet (about 46 metres) underground.\n\n**Key restriction:**\n- Mining is banned underneath the railway land unless the Commonwealth Government specifically approves it.\n\n**Why it matters:**\nThis law was essential for building the Trans-Australian Railway, which finally connected Western Australia to the rest of the country by rail. It solved a constitutional problem: the Commonwealth couldn't just build railways in states without state permission. Western Australia gave that permission and threw in the land needed to make it happen."},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"Unauthenticated. Configure AI_GATEWAY_API_KEY or use a provider module. Learn more: https://ai-sdk.dev/unauthenticated-ai-gateway","source":"analysis-cron"}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/trans-continental-railway-act-1911","history":"/api/acts/trans-continental-railway-act-1911/history","analysis":"/api/acts/trans-continental-railway-act-1911/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/trans-continental-railway-act-1911/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/trans-continental-railway-act-1911/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/trans-continental-railway-act-1911/documents"}}