A reminder of the Member for Gippsland South, Peter Ryans lack of memory when it comes to the Jeff Kennett and Alan Brown Public Transport Cooperation Reform Strategy during 1993/1994. DEPUTY Premier Peter Ryan was unfortunately poorly briefed before writing his letter of August 16. Since Mr Ryan accused us of “failing to mention Labor’s broken Mildura rail promise”, we respond with some facts: Fact 1: Mr Ryan was himself a part of the Kennett government when it decommissioned our train. (Can he explain why Swan Hill’s less viable service was retained?). Fact 2: The Labor government’s broken rail promise was exacerbated by (a) the massive deterioration of the line during the Kennett government; (b) having to buy the lease back for $134m, and (c) having to spend $73m to repair Pacific National’s damage. Fact 3: Mildura MLA Russell Savage failed to have then Premier Bracks sign off on his promise. In our July 16 letter, in the interests of balance, we stated: “The Labor opposition is not only no better, it is becoming increasingly irrelevant – which negates any possibility of the seat becoming marginal.” We applaud the LNP’s Murray Basin Rail Project, and the budget commitment of up to $220m. We, as volunteer representatives of a growing Mildura-corridor public group, have a right to question the freight-only fixation of LNP rail proponents when the facts indicate people industries are a faster growing part of our economy. What we would simply ask is that people and passenger services be placed on a par with freight and they be developed in tandem, for the good of both our diverse economy and, by extension, that of the state. Christian Mitchell, Patricia Osborne and Geoffrey Brown, NorthWest Rail Alliance Source: sunraysiadaily.au/story/2537796/passenger-train-consideration/?cs=2015
Posted on: Fri, 05 Sep 2014 08:19:53 +0000
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