[Greens-Media] Tas Greens_Pacific National Walks Away From Rail Deed_T Morris MP

[greens at parliament.tas.gov.au]

PACIFIC NATIONAL PULLS OUT OF INVESTMENT DEAL

Rolling Stock Investment Stops Tomorrow

Tim Morris MP
Greens Shadow Infrastructure Spokesperson

Wednesday, 27 August 2008
Contact: State Parliamentary Offices of the Tasmanian Greens, (03) 6233
8300

www.tas.greens.org.au


The Tasmanian Greens today revealed that information extracted from the
government under Freedom Of Information provisions showed that Asciano,
the owner of Pacific National Tasmania, told the Government on the 5th
June that it will cease to invest any further in upgrading its
locomotives and wagons as of Thursday 28th August despite its commitment
under the Rail Rescue Package to spend $10 million; putting the whole
package at risk. 

Greens Shadow Infrastructure spokesperson Tim Morris MP said that the
Government had failed to properly inform the community of this serious
move by Pacific National Tasmania, that puts at risk the operation of
trains in Tasmania as well as demonstrating that there is a substantial
and ongoing dispute between the Government and PNT.

 "Just because Asciano is trying to sell PNT does not excuse the company
from fulfilling both the legal commitments it has made as well the
spirit of the rescue package and it cannot just allow its trains to
deteriorate further whilst it sells the business and then expect the new
owner to pick up the increasingly large mess that PNT is making," Mr
Morris said.

"If Minister Sturges thinks that avoiding providing proper answers to
the questions being asked of him in Parliament, then he is being very
poorly advised, and is playing into the hands of Asciano and PNT who are
steadily destroying the rail rolling stock by not making the investment
that they had committed too." 

"The Freedom of Information documents that I have recently received,
details the extent of the dispute between Pacific National and the
Government and shows that not only is there over half a million dollars
of maintenance claims unresolved but also that Pacific National has now
stopped fulfilling its part of the rail deed in relation to the
investment that it had signed up too."

"Pacific National has used the fact that they lost a coal contract last
November as an excuse to inform the Government that they would
discontinue their investment in the upgrading of the rolling stock which
was to be $10 million dollars this year." 

"The Bartlett government is failing to protect Tasmania's railway and
will not come clean with the public in order to cover up its own
incompetence of having agreed to a provision in section 13 of the deed
that permitted PNT to reduce or terminate their investment because they
failed to renew a contract to cart coal to Boyer, which they did last
November," Mr Morris said.



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