Response to Candidate Survey 2007 Federal Election

The 2006 census showed 86% of people in the Lismore-Byron region lived within 5km of a rail line so rail provides an environmentally friendly, cost-effective transport option to connect locals to work, education, and recreation opportunities. Given the current 1.8 million tourists per year who visit Byron there would be significant commercial potential.

The rail stock is owned and the appropriate staff are employed by NSW Government, so at very least what is required is a collaborative venture. There appears little advantage in repairing the existing line unless services are agreed to run on it thereafter, either by the state government or in a private-public partnership. My preference would be for a tripartite agreement with QLD and NSW running the service and with the Coalition contributing to the track repairs. Coalition policy from NSW is attached, clearly supporting the reopening of the line, but cross border negotiations may take some time.

To keep our options open, therefore, of utmost immediate importance is the preservation of the existing rail corridor. This includes allowing track maintenance, as previously reported to Deputy Prime Minister Vaile.

There have already been a number of studies into the viability of re-establishing rail services including the SCU study into intended passenger use and private sector business modelling, so the 7 year time frame proposed by TOOT appears a reasonable plan to work toward.

From a Federal perspective, negotiating and funding the connection across the border to Qld seems the logical priority as it enables Qld Rail to establish services south if the NSW Labor Govt continues to ignore logic and re-establish the service – noting that the initial NSW offer of $75 million has been removed from the table.

Should I be elected as The Nationals Member for Richmond I will continue to pressure the New South Wales Government to re-open the line and pursue this issue with the assistance and support of my state NSW Nationals parliamentary colleagues. I will also continue to work with community groups in their efforts.

Despite the rail line being the responsibility of the NSW Government, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister for Transport and Regional Services and Leader of The Nationals, Mark Vaile, has indicated if the NSW Government were to come forward with a serious and detailed project proposal in relation to the track-work repairs, then a contribution to such a proposal would be seriously considered. This commitment from the Deputy Prime Minister to consider such a proposal remains. However, the first step lies in the court of the Labor state Government which must commit to re-introducing services on this rail line.

Despite the offers made by the Deputy-Prime Minister and previous Minister for Transport, Warren Truss, to consider a detailed project proposal from NSW in relation to track-work repairs to restore the Casino – Murwillumbah rail line, the NSW Government has continually shown it isn’t serious about this issue by failing to provide what is required.

The Nationals, as part of the Coalition, are committed to working to ensure the infrastructure underpinning our export industries is given the necessary priority to continue our nation’s strong economic growth.

Rail is an important part of the freight task and as part of the over $2.4 billion the Coalition is investing in the national rail freight network, over $350 million, through the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC), is being invested into works benefiting the NSW north coast interstate rail line.

Much of this work is being undertaken in 2007-08, and works include crossing loop upgrades, new concrete sleepers, additional passing lanes and the replacement of 19th century manual signalling equipment.

These works that are underway will cut four hours off the trip from Sydney to Brisbane making the interstate rail network more competitive and a more attractive option.

I trust these comments sufficiently answer the questions you pose. Attached please find a copy of the NSW state Coalition policy. Please don’t hesitate to contact my office for further clarification if required.