Re: Westrail : comparison to F.A.

[mdaly@pcug.org.au (Maurie Daly)]

In article <8ailpb$krt$1@nnrp1.deja.com> james_ccj@my-deja.com writes:
>From: james_ccj@my-deja.com
>Subject: Re: Westrail : comparison to F.A.
>Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 12:09:17 GMT

>In article <Cg2z4.11$Kb7.1835@nsw.nnrp.telstra.net>,
>  "Reuben Farrelly" <reuben-news@reub.net> wrote:
>>
>> "Brown Family" <pcc@ocean.com.au> wrote in message:
>> > privatising the railways in Victoria was his idea that Labour fought
>> > hard against. There now seems to be some recognition in both parties
>> > that railways under private ownership is a good thing, and that
>> > government bureauocrats don't know how to buy a tram ticket let
>alone
>> > run them. Bracks and Batchelor seem to be exploring further
>> > possiblities that Kennett started and most likely would never have
>> > thought of.
>>
>> ...and now sits back and waits for our friend Rod Young to comment on
>how he
>> thought Kennett & the liberals was a good thing for railways
>afterall ;) ;)
>> <g,d,r!>
>>
>> I don't think that Kennett had visions of railways being as succesful
>as it
>> looks like it might be.  I don't think he could have cared less
>whether it
>> did well or not since railways doesn't fit in with the popular and
>wealthy
>> image that he wanted Victoria to have.  After all, trains won't
>attract
>> nearly as many tourists as a Grand Prix ;)
>>
>>  I also believe that for any sort of rail operation in private hands,
>they
>> have to run things efficiently and be somewhat customer responsive,
>unlike
>> the system under the old "Government days" where rail was a service
>to the
>> employees rather than the passengers {see the postings about extra
>services
>> for the sports which has been held recently as an example of where
>some
>> thought has gone into providing a better service).  Perhaps Kennett
>was
>> smarter than we thought though.  With the Government out of railways,
>it's
>> now not his job to make tough decisions such as to "increase
>efficiency"
>> through cutting jobs!
>>
>> reuben

>And that's just hope privatise regulation of NR and Westrail will
>include "All the new rollingstocks/locomotives must be construct within
>Australia"!!

>--
>Cheers

>James


>Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
>Before you buy.


Realistically, once you privatise an assett, then you arnt in a position to 
make demands on how the new owners run their business.
Whilst it would be nice if all rollingstock was made in Australia,its totally 
unreasonable for the Govt to then demand that the new company must have their 
rollingstock made here, after all we dont require that the trucking industry 
must only use Australian made trucks or that motorists must buy cars which are 
made in Australia.
If one looks at the current record of Govt privatizations up until now , once 
an assett is privatised then its run simply to make a profit for the new 
owner, perfectly understandable .
If the Govt wants rollingstock made here and after competive tendering the 
local company loses,then the Govt must subsidise the local production.

cheers
MD