❓ The Minister responds to a question about the privatisation of the freight network and its impact on grain lines, criticising the previous government's promises and highlighting potential closures due to lack of investment.
AnsweredQoN 907Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FREIGHT NETWORK PRIVATISATION - GRAIN LINE
Has the privatisation of the freight network failed to meet the promises made by the previous government to protect the state’s grain lines? Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN
Has the privatisation of the freight network failed to meet the promises made by the previous government to protect the state’s grain lines? Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for that question, and I know that he is very concerned about the sustainability of grain freight lines in the great southern. Mr Speaker, you will recall that when the coalition sold off the rail freight system at fire sale prices in 2000, it promised the world. It went around - and I followed it - with a road show. It went to country centre after country centre and promised - Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : One thing that distinguished Labor when it was in opposition was that it actually believed in doing hard work. It believed in pursuing the issues. The coalition promised that the sale contract would protect the grain lines from closure, it promised that the purchaser would spend $400 million in capital expenditure in five years, and it promised that the network would be expanded. We know that all of that was complete rubbish. Mr P.D. Omodei interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the Opposition! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : This is a very serious issue that I need to discuss today. We also know that it turned out that the capital expenditure of $400 million that was promised was never in the contract. Indeed, independent economic analysis that has now been done has shown that in fact - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN replied: I thank the member for that question, and I know that he is very concerned about the sustainability of grain freight lines in the great southern. Mr Speaker, you will recall that when the coalition sold off the rail freight system at fire sale prices in 2000, it promised the world. It went around - and I followed it - with a road show. It went to country centre after country centre and promised - Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : One thing that distinguished Labor when it was in opposition was that it actually believed in doing hard work. It believed in pursuing the issues. The coalition promised that the sale contract would protect the grain lines from closure, it promised that the purchaser would spend $400 million in capital expenditure in five years, and it promised that the network would be expanded. We know that all of that was complete rubbish. Mr P.D. Omodei interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the Opposition! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : This is a very serious issue that I need to discuss today. We also know that it turned out that the capital expenditure of $400 million that was promised was never in the contract. Indeed, independent economic analysis that has now been done has shown that in fact - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
I thank the member for that question, and I know that he is very concerned about the sustainability of grain freight lines in the great southern. Mr Speaker, you will recall that when the coalition sold off the rail freight system at fire sale prices in 2000, it promised the world. It went around - and I followed it - with a road show. It went to country centre after country centre and promised - Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : One thing that distinguished Labor when it was in opposition was that it actually believed in doing hard work. It believed in pursuing the issues. The coalition promised that the sale contract would protect the grain lines from closure, it promised that the purchaser would spend $400 million in capital expenditure in five years, and it promised that the network would be expanded. We know that all of that was complete rubbish. Mr P.D. Omodei interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the Opposition! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : This is a very serious issue that I need to discuss today. We also know that it turned out that the capital expenditure of $400 million that was promised was never in the contract. Indeed, independent economic analysis that has now been done has shown that in fact - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : One thing that distinguished Labor when it was in opposition was that it actually believed in doing hard work. It believed in pursuing the issues. The coalition promised that the sale contract would protect the grain lines from closure, it promised that the purchaser would spend $400 million in capital expenditure in five years, and it promised that the network would be expanded. We know that all of that was complete rubbish. Mr P.D. Omodei interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the Opposition! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : This is a very serious issue that I need to discuss today. We also know that it turned out that the capital expenditure of $400 million that was promised was never in the contract. Indeed, independent economic analysis that has now been done has shown that in fact - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : One thing that distinguished Labor when it was in opposition was that it actually believed in doing hard work. It believed in pursuing the issues. The coalition promised that the sale contract would protect the grain lines from closure, it promised that the purchaser would spend $400 million in capital expenditure in five years, and it promised that the network would be expanded. We know that all of that was complete rubbish. Mr P.D. Omodei interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the Opposition! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : This is a very serious issue that I need to discuss today. We also know that it turned out that the capital expenditure of $400 million that was promised was never in the contract. Indeed, independent economic analysis that has now been done has shown that in fact - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
The coalition promised that the sale contract would protect the grain lines from closure, it promised that the purchaser would spend $400 million in capital expenditure in five years, and it promised that the network would be expanded. We know that all of that was complete rubbish. Mr P.D. Omodei interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the Opposition! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : This is a very serious issue that I need to discuss today. We also know that it turned out that the capital expenditure of $400 million that was promised was never in the contract. Indeed, independent economic analysis that has now been done has shown that in fact - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Mr P.D. Omodei interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the Opposition! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : This is a very serious issue that I need to discuss today. We also know that it turned out that the capital expenditure of $400 million that was promised was never in the contract. Indeed, independent economic analysis that has now been done has shown that in fact - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the Opposition! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : This is a very serious issue that I need to discuss today. We also know that it turned out that the capital expenditure of $400 million that was promised was never in the contract. Indeed, independent economic analysis that has now been done has shown that in fact - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : This is a very serious issue that I need to discuss today. We also know that it turned out that the capital expenditure of $400 million that was promised was never in the contract. Indeed, independent economic analysis that has now been done has shown that in fact - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN replied: I thank the member for that question, and I know that he is very concerned about the sustainability of grain freight lines in the great southern. Mr Speaker, you will recall that when the coalition sold off the rail freight system at fire sale prices in 2000, it promised the world. It went around - and I followed it - with a road show. It went to country centre after country centre and promised - Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : One thing that distinguished Labor when it was in opposition was that it actually believed in doing hard work. It believed in pursuing the issues. The coalition promised that the sale contract would protect the grain lines from closure, it promised that the purchaser would spend $400 million in capital expenditure in five years, and it promised that the network would be expanded. We know that all of that was complete rubbish. Mr P.D. Omodei interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the Opposition! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : This is a very serious issue that I need to discuss today. We also know that it turned out that the capital expenditure of $400 million that was promised was never in the contract. Indeed, independent economic analysis that has now been done has shown that in fact - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
I thank the member for that question, and I know that he is very concerned about the sustainability of grain freight lines in the great southern. Mr Speaker, you will recall that when the coalition sold off the rail freight system at fire sale prices in 2000, it promised the world. It went around - and I followed it - with a road show. It went to country centre after country centre and promised - Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : One thing that distinguished Labor when it was in opposition was that it actually believed in doing hard work. It believed in pursuing the issues. The coalition promised that the sale contract would protect the grain lines from closure, it promised that the purchaser would spend $400 million in capital expenditure in five years, and it promised that the network would be expanded. We know that all of that was complete rubbish. Mr P.D. Omodei interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the Opposition! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : This is a very serious issue that I need to discuss today. We also know that it turned out that the capital expenditure of $400 million that was promised was never in the contract. Indeed, independent economic analysis that has now been done has shown that in fact - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Mr J.H.D. Day interjected. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : One thing that distinguished Labor when it was in opposition was that it actually believed in doing hard work. It believed in pursuing the issues. The coalition promised that the sale contract would protect the grain lines from closure, it promised that the purchaser would spend $400 million in capital expenditure in five years, and it promised that the network would be expanded. We know that all of that was complete rubbish. Mr P.D. Omodei interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the Opposition! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : This is a very serious issue that I need to discuss today. We also know that it turned out that the capital expenditure of $400 million that was promised was never in the contract. Indeed, independent economic analysis that has now been done has shown that in fact - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : One thing that distinguished Labor when it was in opposition was that it actually believed in doing hard work. It believed in pursuing the issues. The coalition promised that the sale contract would protect the grain lines from closure, it promised that the purchaser would spend $400 million in capital expenditure in five years, and it promised that the network would be expanded. We know that all of that was complete rubbish. Mr P.D. Omodei interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the Opposition! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : This is a very serious issue that I need to discuss today. We also know that it turned out that the capital expenditure of $400 million that was promised was never in the contract. Indeed, independent economic analysis that has now been done has shown that in fact - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
The coalition promised that the sale contract would protect the grain lines from closure, it promised that the purchaser would spend $400 million in capital expenditure in five years, and it promised that the network would be expanded. We know that all of that was complete rubbish. Mr P.D. Omodei interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the Opposition! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : This is a very serious issue that I need to discuss today. We also know that it turned out that the capital expenditure of $400 million that was promised was never in the contract. Indeed, independent economic analysis that has now been done has shown that in fact - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Mr P.D. Omodei interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the Opposition! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : This is a very serious issue that I need to discuss today. We also know that it turned out that the capital expenditure of $400 million that was promised was never in the contract. Indeed, independent economic analysis that has now been done has shown that in fact - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the Opposition! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : This is a very serious issue that I need to discuss today. We also know that it turned out that the capital expenditure of $400 million that was promised was never in the contract. Indeed, independent economic analysis that has now been done has shown that in fact - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : This is a very serious issue that I need to discuss today. We also know that it turned out that the capital expenditure of $400 million that was promised was never in the contract. Indeed, independent economic analysis that has now been done has shown that in fact - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
The SPEAKER : I call the member for Avon to order for the second time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I have some sympathy for the National Party and the absolute embarrassment that it is feeling about this matter. It would rival the embarrassment it feels about the conduct of AWB Ltd. In this case, the National Party has sold grain farmers down the road. Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Mr B.J. Grylls interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
The SPEAKER : Order, Leader of the National Party! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I need to raise an important issue. I understand the agitation of the National Party, because it is highly exposed on this issue. We have recently received a report containing very alarming news. This is a report that has been prepared by the Grains Infrastructure Group, which is a group of government and industry that has been put together to try to work through the future of the grain network. In a nutshell, the advice that we have received is that unless there is a massive injection of money by the government - we are talking about an injection of some hundreds of millions of dollars - into this privatised network, up to 1 000 kilometres, or one-third, of the network will close in 2008. The contract that was entered into protected those grain lines only until the end of 2007. We now understand that it is the intention of the parties to close up to 1 000 kilometres of that rail line unless the government comes to the rescue of that privatised rail network. I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
I want to take some time to set out what was said at the time by the government of the day. We are on record as saying year after year to the then government that it should not go down this path, because we knew that this was precisely what would happen. The then Minister for Transport, Hon Murray Criddle, is on record as saying - Without inviting the private sector into the equation the Western Australian taxpayer will continue to foot the bill to upkeep and renew the track network and rolling stock. He said also - The Government wants to pass that task to the private sector which would have an obvious vested interest - I will talk a bit about vested interest - in expanding the business on a top-quality rail network. The now Leader of the Opposition provided these words of wisdom - Some of the benefits for the new entity will include operating efficiency and flexibility. It will have lower freight rates, higher capital expenditure, a network extension, on-rail competition and market growth. However, that did not happen. Before the privatisation, the business was able to sustain its debt. It was able to cover its operating costs. It was able to support the entire grain network. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : It was able to cover all its capital expenditure costs - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
The SPEAKER : Order, member for Avon. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I will persist in setting this out, because Western Australia now finds itself in the disgraceful circumstance - Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Mr M.W. Trenorden interjected. The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
The SPEAKER : Order! I call the member to Avon to order for the third time. Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : I understand the member for Avon’s embarrassment. He should be embarrassed. I was at the meetings when he told farmers that it would never happen. When we were saying this is what would happen, he was saying this would never happen. Before the privatisation, the business was self-sustaining. It was able to support the entire grain network, and it was able to cover all its own costs - its operating costs, its debt costs and its capital expenditure costs. The coalition government sold it at fire-sale prices. The Auditor General’s report said that the state made a loss of $116 million on that sale. We were left with a debt of $330 million, but no income to service that debt. The coalition sold it for around $500 million. Five years later, it was sold on for $1.3 billion! Guess who is the bunny that is picking up the difference! It is the taxpayers of Western Australia! This is a disgraceful act that has been perpetrated on the people of Western Australia. The now Leader of the Opposition was one of the key players in pushing through this privatisation agenda. He should get up and account to the community for that.
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