Re: [Vic] ALP urged to boost rail freight lines

[lbrown2@bigpond.com (Brown Family)]

On Wed, 28 Feb 2001 20:53:53 GMT, mauried@tpg.com.au (Maurie Daly)
wrote:

>A lease is a lease.

That's right, the tracks were never sold as you said in your last
post.

>Its a legally binding contract.
>Bracks may not like it , but hes stuck with it.
>I think the moral of the story is that Govts must learn that when they
>sell public assetts ,then they are sold.
>I hope that the WA Govt , in the case of the sale of Westrail ,and the
>NSW Govts and the Feds , in the case of the NRC sale , really
>understand what they are doing.

Bracks isn't stuck with it, FA is. 

Why do you think it is then that FA got mightily upset when Bracks
declared an open access policy on Victorian rails if it was
exclusively FA's?

FA's media release of 02/02/2001 was in part:

"Who pays now, Freight Australia asks

"In the wake of the Victorian Government's decision to declare open
access to the state's rail network, private rail operator Freight
Australia is wondering who will now take responsibility for renewal of
all-important rail infrastructure."

I think we can assume that, ulitmately, it is up to the state
government, as the land-lord for rail infrastructure, to pay and make
improvements to its own property as long as it does not hinder the
operations of its tenant and their leasing arrangements.

It would have to be proven that FA would suffer substantial losses as
a result of guage conversion and the likely commensurate compensation
for the state govt. to b(r)acks down.

Les Brown