❓ Mr Hill questions the difficulties in understanding the Westrail sale arrangements that led to a $400 million rail rescue bill. Ms MacTiernan explains the government's inability to access crucial documentation due to cabinet privilege and appeals to the Opposition for transparency.
AnsweredQoN 361Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WESTRAIL SALE
What difficulties confront the state in understanding the full nature of the arrangements surrounding the sale of Westrail, which is an arrangement that has resulted in taxpayers being confronted with a $400 million rail rescue bill? Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN
What difficulties confront the state in understanding the full nature of the arrangements surrounding the sale of Westrail, which is an arrangement that has resulted in taxpayers being confronted with a $400 million rail rescue bill? Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for that question and I recognise his particular interest because Geraldton - perhaps not this year, but generally speaking - is one of the busiest grain ports in Australia. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : Mr Speaker, when the grain freight agreement - which basically ties marketers and handlers to predominantly using rail - expires towards the end of 2007, the government will need to understand exactly what entitlements the former coalition government has left us with following the sale of Westrail. I have asked the Public Transport Authority and the Department for Planning and Infrastructure to provide advice on the tender process and the various bids that were received, how the various tender submissions were assessed, and what undertakings might have been made by the purchaser during the negotiations. I have been advised by the PTA - which, I understand, has in turn received legal advice from the State Solicitor’s Office - that the task force that oversaw the entire sale operation was set up as a subcommittee of cabinet, so all the task force documentation is protected from scrutiny. Therefore, the government is unable to access any of the documents or, indeed, to receive any of the reports on their content. In view of the liability that confronts taxpayers - as the member has indicated, taxpayers are being asked to deliver $400 million in order to prevent 1 000 kilometres of the grain network being shut down - I believe that the government and the taxpayers of Western Australia deserve an opportunity to see how this debacle has occurred. Following my request to the PTA, the PTA wrote to the Director General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, who wrote to the Leader of the Opposition to request that the government be granted access to this documentation. I do not expect to obtain permission to see the actual cabinet submission or decision, but the people of Western Australia and I deserve an opportunity to understand all of the processes undertaken by the former coalition government, and to find out how the government was left with this debacle. I ask the Leader of the Opposition whether he will grant the government access to the task force documentation. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan interjected. The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN replied: I thank the member for that question and I recognise his particular interest because Geraldton - perhaps not this year, but generally speaking - is one of the busiest grain ports in Australia. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : Mr Speaker, when the grain freight agreement - which basically ties marketers and handlers to predominantly using rail - expires towards the end of 2007, the government will need to understand exactly what entitlements the former coalition government has left us with following the sale of Westrail. I have asked the Public Transport Authority and the Department for Planning and Infrastructure to provide advice on the tender process and the various bids that were received, how the various tender submissions were assessed, and what undertakings might have been made by the purchaser during the negotiations. I have been advised by the PTA - which, I understand, has in turn received legal advice from the State Solicitor’s Office - that the task force that oversaw the entire sale operation was set up as a subcommittee of cabinet, so all the task force documentation is protected from scrutiny. Therefore, the government is unable to access any of the documents or, indeed, to receive any of the reports on their content. In view of the liability that confronts taxpayers - as the member has indicated, taxpayers are being asked to deliver $400 million in order to prevent 1 000 kilometres of the grain network being shut down - I believe that the government and the taxpayers of Western Australia deserve an opportunity to see how this debacle has occurred. Following my request to the PTA, the PTA wrote to the Director General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, who wrote to the Leader of the Opposition to request that the government be granted access to this documentation. I do not expect to obtain permission to see the actual cabinet submission or decision, but the people of Western Australia and I deserve an opportunity to understand all of the processes undertaken by the former coalition government, and to find out how the government was left with this debacle. I ask the Leader of the Opposition whether he will grant the government access to the task force documentation. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan interjected. The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
I thank the member for that question and I recognise his particular interest because Geraldton - perhaps not this year, but generally speaking - is one of the busiest grain ports in Australia. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : Mr Speaker, when the grain freight agreement - which basically ties marketers and handlers to predominantly using rail - expires towards the end of 2007, the government will need to understand exactly what entitlements the former coalition government has left us with following the sale of Westrail. I have asked the Public Transport Authority and the Department for Planning and Infrastructure to provide advice on the tender process and the various bids that were received, how the various tender submissions were assessed, and what undertakings might have been made by the purchaser during the negotiations. I have been advised by the PTA - which, I understand, has in turn received legal advice from the State Solicitor’s Office - that the task force that oversaw the entire sale operation was set up as a subcommittee of cabinet, so all the task force documentation is protected from scrutiny. Therefore, the government is unable to access any of the documents or, indeed, to receive any of the reports on their content. In view of the liability that confronts taxpayers - as the member has indicated, taxpayers are being asked to deliver $400 million in order to prevent 1 000 kilometres of the grain network being shut down - I believe that the government and the taxpayers of Western Australia deserve an opportunity to see how this debacle has occurred. Following my request to the PTA, the PTA wrote to the Director General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, who wrote to the Leader of the Opposition to request that the government be granted access to this documentation. I do not expect to obtain permission to see the actual cabinet submission or decision, but the people of Western Australia and I deserve an opportunity to understand all of the processes undertaken by the former coalition government, and to find out how the government was left with this debacle. I ask the Leader of the Opposition whether he will grant the government access to the task force documentation. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan interjected. The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : Mr Speaker, when the grain freight agreement - which basically ties marketers and handlers to predominantly using rail - expires towards the end of 2007, the government will need to understand exactly what entitlements the former coalition government has left us with following the sale of Westrail. I have asked the Public Transport Authority and the Department for Planning and Infrastructure to provide advice on the tender process and the various bids that were received, how the various tender submissions were assessed, and what undertakings might have been made by the purchaser during the negotiations. I have been advised by the PTA - which, I understand, has in turn received legal advice from the State Solicitor’s Office - that the task force that oversaw the entire sale operation was set up as a subcommittee of cabinet, so all the task force documentation is protected from scrutiny. Therefore, the government is unable to access any of the documents or, indeed, to receive any of the reports on their content. In view of the liability that confronts taxpayers - as the member has indicated, taxpayers are being asked to deliver $400 million in order to prevent 1 000 kilometres of the grain network being shut down - I believe that the government and the taxpayers of Western Australia deserve an opportunity to see how this debacle has occurred. Following my request to the PTA, the PTA wrote to the Director General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, who wrote to the Leader of the Opposition to request that the government be granted access to this documentation. I do not expect to obtain permission to see the actual cabinet submission or decision, but the people of Western Australia and I deserve an opportunity to understand all of the processes undertaken by the former coalition government, and to find out how the government was left with this debacle. I ask the Leader of the Opposition whether he will grant the government access to the task force documentation. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan interjected. The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : Mr Speaker, when the grain freight agreement - which basically ties marketers and handlers to predominantly using rail - expires towards the end of 2007, the government will need to understand exactly what entitlements the former coalition government has left us with following the sale of Westrail. I have asked the Public Transport Authority and the Department for Planning and Infrastructure to provide advice on the tender process and the various bids that were received, how the various tender submissions were assessed, and what undertakings might have been made by the purchaser during the negotiations. I have been advised by the PTA - which, I understand, has in turn received legal advice from the State Solicitor’s Office - that the task force that oversaw the entire sale operation was set up as a subcommittee of cabinet, so all the task force documentation is protected from scrutiny. Therefore, the government is unable to access any of the documents or, indeed, to receive any of the reports on their content. In view of the liability that confronts taxpayers - as the member has indicated, taxpayers are being asked to deliver $400 million in order to prevent 1 000 kilometres of the grain network being shut down - I believe that the government and the taxpayers of Western Australia deserve an opportunity to see how this debacle has occurred. Following my request to the PTA, the PTA wrote to the Director General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, who wrote to the Leader of the Opposition to request that the government be granted access to this documentation. I do not expect to obtain permission to see the actual cabinet submission or decision, but the people of Western Australia and I deserve an opportunity to understand all of the processes undertaken by the former coalition government, and to find out how the government was left with this debacle. I ask the Leader of the Opposition whether he will grant the government access to the task force documentation. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan interjected. The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : Mr Speaker, when the grain freight agreement - which basically ties marketers and handlers to predominantly using rail - expires towards the end of 2007, the government will need to understand exactly what entitlements the former coalition government has left us with following the sale of Westrail. I have asked the Public Transport Authority and the Department for Planning and Infrastructure to provide advice on the tender process and the various bids that were received, how the various tender submissions were assessed, and what undertakings might have been made by the purchaser during the negotiations. I have been advised by the PTA - which, I understand, has in turn received legal advice from the State Solicitor’s Office - that the task force that oversaw the entire sale operation was set up as a subcommittee of cabinet, so all the task force documentation is protected from scrutiny. Therefore, the government is unable to access any of the documents or, indeed, to receive any of the reports on their content. In view of the liability that confronts taxpayers - as the member has indicated, taxpayers are being asked to deliver $400 million in order to prevent 1 000 kilometres of the grain network being shut down - I believe that the government and the taxpayers of Western Australia deserve an opportunity to see how this debacle has occurred. Following my request to the PTA, the PTA wrote to the Director General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, who wrote to the Leader of the Opposition to request that the government be granted access to this documentation. I do not expect to obtain permission to see the actual cabinet submission or decision, but the people of Western Australia and I deserve an opportunity to understand all of the processes undertaken by the former coalition government, and to find out how the government was left with this debacle. I ask the Leader of the Opposition whether he will grant the government access to the task force documentation. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan interjected. The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
Following my request to the PTA, the PTA wrote to the Director General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, who wrote to the Leader of the Opposition to request that the government be granted access to this documentation. I do not expect to obtain permission to see the actual cabinet submission or decision, but the people of Western Australia and I deserve an opportunity to understand all of the processes undertaken by the former coalition government, and to find out how the government was left with this debacle. I ask the Leader of the Opposition whether he will grant the government access to the task force documentation. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan interjected. The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan interjected. The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan interjected. The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan interjected. The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN replied: I thank the member for that question and I recognise his particular interest because Geraldton - perhaps not this year, but generally speaking - is one of the busiest grain ports in Australia. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : Mr Speaker, when the grain freight agreement - which basically ties marketers and handlers to predominantly using rail - expires towards the end of 2007, the government will need to understand exactly what entitlements the former coalition government has left us with following the sale of Westrail. I have asked the Public Transport Authority and the Department for Planning and Infrastructure to provide advice on the tender process and the various bids that were received, how the various tender submissions were assessed, and what undertakings might have been made by the purchaser during the negotiations. I have been advised by the PTA - which, I understand, has in turn received legal advice from the State Solicitor’s Office - that the task force that oversaw the entire sale operation was set up as a subcommittee of cabinet, so all the task force documentation is protected from scrutiny. Therefore, the government is unable to access any of the documents or, indeed, to receive any of the reports on their content. In view of the liability that confronts taxpayers - as the member has indicated, taxpayers are being asked to deliver $400 million in order to prevent 1 000 kilometres of the grain network being shut down - I believe that the government and the taxpayers of Western Australia deserve an opportunity to see how this debacle has occurred. Following my request to the PTA, the PTA wrote to the Director General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, who wrote to the Leader of the Opposition to request that the government be granted access to this documentation. I do not expect to obtain permission to see the actual cabinet submission or decision, but the people of Western Australia and I deserve an opportunity to understand all of the processes undertaken by the former coalition government, and to find out how the government was left with this debacle. I ask the Leader of the Opposition whether he will grant the government access to the task force documentation. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan interjected. The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
I thank the member for that question and I recognise his particular interest because Geraldton - perhaps not this year, but generally speaking - is one of the busiest grain ports in Australia. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : Mr Speaker, when the grain freight agreement - which basically ties marketers and handlers to predominantly using rail - expires towards the end of 2007, the government will need to understand exactly what entitlements the former coalition government has left us with following the sale of Westrail. I have asked the Public Transport Authority and the Department for Planning and Infrastructure to provide advice on the tender process and the various bids that were received, how the various tender submissions were assessed, and what undertakings might have been made by the purchaser during the negotiations. I have been advised by the PTA - which, I understand, has in turn received legal advice from the State Solicitor’s Office - that the task force that oversaw the entire sale operation was set up as a subcommittee of cabinet, so all the task force documentation is protected from scrutiny. Therefore, the government is unable to access any of the documents or, indeed, to receive any of the reports on their content. In view of the liability that confronts taxpayers - as the member has indicated, taxpayers are being asked to deliver $400 million in order to prevent 1 000 kilometres of the grain network being shut down - I believe that the government and the taxpayers of Western Australia deserve an opportunity to see how this debacle has occurred. Following my request to the PTA, the PTA wrote to the Director General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, who wrote to the Leader of the Opposition to request that the government be granted access to this documentation. I do not expect to obtain permission to see the actual cabinet submission or decision, but the people of Western Australia and I deserve an opportunity to understand all of the processes undertaken by the former coalition government, and to find out how the government was left with this debacle. I ask the Leader of the Opposition whether he will grant the government access to the task force documentation. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan interjected. The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : Mr Speaker, when the grain freight agreement - which basically ties marketers and handlers to predominantly using rail - expires towards the end of 2007, the government will need to understand exactly what entitlements the former coalition government has left us with following the sale of Westrail. I have asked the Public Transport Authority and the Department for Planning and Infrastructure to provide advice on the tender process and the various bids that were received, how the various tender submissions were assessed, and what undertakings might have been made by the purchaser during the negotiations. I have been advised by the PTA - which, I understand, has in turn received legal advice from the State Solicitor’s Office - that the task force that oversaw the entire sale operation was set up as a subcommittee of cabinet, so all the task force documentation is protected from scrutiny. Therefore, the government is unable to access any of the documents or, indeed, to receive any of the reports on their content. In view of the liability that confronts taxpayers - as the member has indicated, taxpayers are being asked to deliver $400 million in order to prevent 1 000 kilometres of the grain network being shut down - I believe that the government and the taxpayers of Western Australia deserve an opportunity to see how this debacle has occurred. Following my request to the PTA, the PTA wrote to the Director General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, who wrote to the Leader of the Opposition to request that the government be granted access to this documentation. I do not expect to obtain permission to see the actual cabinet submission or decision, but the people of Western Australia and I deserve an opportunity to understand all of the processes undertaken by the former coalition government, and to find out how the government was left with this debacle. I ask the Leader of the Opposition whether he will grant the government access to the task force documentation. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan interjected. The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : Mr Speaker, when the grain freight agreement - which basically ties marketers and handlers to predominantly using rail - expires towards the end of 2007, the government will need to understand exactly what entitlements the former coalition government has left us with following the sale of Westrail. I have asked the Public Transport Authority and the Department for Planning and Infrastructure to provide advice on the tender process and the various bids that were received, how the various tender submissions were assessed, and what undertakings might have been made by the purchaser during the negotiations. I have been advised by the PTA - which, I understand, has in turn received legal advice from the State Solicitor’s Office - that the task force that oversaw the entire sale operation was set up as a subcommittee of cabinet, so all the task force documentation is protected from scrutiny. Therefore, the government is unable to access any of the documents or, indeed, to receive any of the reports on their content. In view of the liability that confronts taxpayers - as the member has indicated, taxpayers are being asked to deliver $400 million in order to prevent 1 000 kilometres of the grain network being shut down - I believe that the government and the taxpayers of Western Australia deserve an opportunity to see how this debacle has occurred. Following my request to the PTA, the PTA wrote to the Director General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, who wrote to the Leader of the Opposition to request that the government be granted access to this documentation. I do not expect to obtain permission to see the actual cabinet submission or decision, but the people of Western Australia and I deserve an opportunity to understand all of the processes undertaken by the former coalition government, and to find out how the government was left with this debacle. I ask the Leader of the Opposition whether he will grant the government access to the task force documentation. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan interjected. The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : Mr Speaker, when the grain freight agreement - which basically ties marketers and handlers to predominantly using rail - expires towards the end of 2007, the government will need to understand exactly what entitlements the former coalition government has left us with following the sale of Westrail. I have asked the Public Transport Authority and the Department for Planning and Infrastructure to provide advice on the tender process and the various bids that were received, how the various tender submissions were assessed, and what undertakings might have been made by the purchaser during the negotiations. I have been advised by the PTA - which, I understand, has in turn received legal advice from the State Solicitor’s Office - that the task force that oversaw the entire sale operation was set up as a subcommittee of cabinet, so all the task force documentation is protected from scrutiny. Therefore, the government is unable to access any of the documents or, indeed, to receive any of the reports on their content. In view of the liability that confronts taxpayers - as the member has indicated, taxpayers are being asked to deliver $400 million in order to prevent 1 000 kilometres of the grain network being shut down - I believe that the government and the taxpayers of Western Australia deserve an opportunity to see how this debacle has occurred. Following my request to the PTA, the PTA wrote to the Director General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, who wrote to the Leader of the Opposition to request that the government be granted access to this documentation. I do not expect to obtain permission to see the actual cabinet submission or decision, but the people of Western Australia and I deserve an opportunity to understand all of the processes undertaken by the former coalition government, and to find out how the government was left with this debacle. I ask the Leader of the Opposition whether he will grant the government access to the task force documentation. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan interjected. The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
Following my request to the PTA, the PTA wrote to the Director General of the Department of the Premier and Cabinet, who wrote to the Leader of the Opposition to request that the government be granted access to this documentation. I do not expect to obtain permission to see the actual cabinet submission or decision, but the people of Western Australia and I deserve an opportunity to understand all of the processes undertaken by the former coalition government, and to find out how the government was left with this debacle. I ask the Leader of the Opposition whether he will grant the government access to the task force documentation. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan interjected. The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan interjected. The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
The SPEAKER : Members! Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan interjected. The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
Ms A.J.G. MacTiernan interjected. The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
The SPEAKER : Minister, it is over.
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