Alice Springs - Darwin Rail Link

["Lachlan Smith" <lsmith@senet.com.au>]

For all John Olsen's ranting and raving about how wonderful an Alice to
Darwin Rail  Link would be for Adelaide and South Australia, I just don't
see why the benefits to SA  
in the long term are going to be so great. Granted, in the short term jobs
will be created during the construction phase - the rails will be made at
the Whyalla steel works etc. - but in the long term, how will more freight
simply passing through Adelaide provide any significant economic benefits
to the state? Freight from NSW won't even go through Adelaide - it will
still go via Broken Hill. In fact, won't it result in job losses at Port
Adelaide, due to freight being shipped via the Port of Darwin instead?
Make no mistake, I would like to see the line built, I just think its a tad
overated.

Lachlan