Re: NT railway deal to be signed today

[mauried@tpg.com.au (Maurie Daly)]

On Wed, 18 Oct 2000 00:58:12 GMT, dbromage@fang.omni.com.au (David
Bromage) wrote:

>Michael (usenet.spam@gunzel.net) wrote:
>> David Bromage <dbromage@fang.omni.com.au> wrote in article 
>> <39ECF284.3A08306C@fang.omni.com.au>:
>
>> >An agreement for the long-awaited Alice Springs to Darwin railway will
>> >be signed in Adelaide today. The Prime Minister and the leaders of South
>> >Australia and the Northern Territory will sign the agreement with the
>> >Asia Pacific Transport Consortium, which plans to build, operate and own
>> >the railway for 50 years before it passes into public ownership.
>
>> Still, I'll believe it when I see it.
>
>According to Denis Burke, if the contract is signed today then site
>clearing starts tomorrow.
>
>Cheers
>David

Correct, as the signing simply commits the funds which have been put
in by the Feds,SA and the NT govt.
What isnt clear is what happens if the line starts being built but the
private financing isnt forthcoming, ie is the consortium now legally
committed to building the line no matter what ,even if they dont get
finance??

MD