Re: Alice-Darwin rail link investor pulls out

["Grahame Ferguson" <grahamef@users.mcmedia.com.au>]

It is amazing the ALP when they were in Government offered the NT & SA
governments $300m towards the cost of the line, but the offer was rejected
as being insufficient.

When John Howard offered $200m the offer was accepted and hailed as a
breakthrough!

If the Commonwealth has set a date for the railway to be constructed then
they can be taken to the High Court as part of the 1949 agreement with the
Commonwealth and the goverments to standardise railways within that state.

The Commonwealth had been taken to the High Court many years ago for a
railway to be constructed from, but as there was no set date the state lost
the case.

So much for Rail Infrastruction funding by the Commonwealth.

All they have really done is sell of any rail assets they owned.

Probably only some marginal seats in SA and the NT(a new seat will be
created in the NT for the next federal election) for the next federal
election, or the expected SA election this year may change the "Line to
Nowhere's" fortune.

regards,

Grahame.