Senator ridicules half-complete Link plan

Plans for the $1.6 billion Perth Freight Link connecting industrial eastern suburbs to Fremantle Port have been ridiculed by a Labor senator ahead of hearings on the decision to give it federal funding.

A Senate hearing on Wednesday will hear from Kwinana council that a new port in its area is a better option than the link, which has been blocked by the Supreme Court over environmental approval issues, while the plan for second stage is yet to be decided.

"The $1.6 billion tag ... only takes us to the river at East Fremantle ... are we going to transfer freight from trucks to balloons to get it over?" Senate committee chair Senator Glenn Sterle told 6PR.