Privatised NSW trains prefer coal profits: wheat must go by road at $50 - $60 a tonne; as Pacific National exits export wheat freight

First 10 of 10 paragraphs shown When Pacific National purchased the formerly Government-run Pacific National for $1.2 billion in 2001 the agreement provided for what was effectively a discount of $118 million on the sale. The discount was given on the condition that the money was reinvested by Pacific National to improve the grain freight system, NSW Minister for Primary Industries Ian Macdonald told the NSW Legislative Council on 28 February 2008.New South Wales produced between six million to nine million tonnes of wheat a year, depending on the season.
$70 million corruption allegation: He said an amount of $70 million was still outstanding and was not reinvested by Pacific National.
Show me the money: The Government should clarify what will be done with that remaining $70 million. The people of New South Wales deserve answers on where that $70 million will go, and the status and future of contractual obligations said Macdonald
Rail fright costs for wheat double: The cost of transporting wheat by from Moree to the port of Newcastle would cost around $30 a tonne. Early indications reveal that if wheat were to be transported by road, those costs would be in the vicinity of $50 to $60 a tonne—a doubling of freight charges—as a result of Pacific National pulling out of the export wheat freight market. Members opposite may not understand that agriculture is extremely dependent on climate: climatic conditions determine the size of the wheat crop.
New business for road trains: This year the expectation is that the crop will be in the vicinity of seven million to eight million tonnes, and if transported by road on B-double trucks, which carry around 30 tonnes of wheat each, some 230,000 to 240,000 trucks would transport that crop on our roads.
Cheaper by rail? On the other hand, a fully laden wheat train can carry up to 10,000 tonnes of wheat. This means that somewhere in the order of 700 to 800 trains could carry that crop compared with some 240,000 trucks travelling on our roads.
Rain boosts crops: Winter wheat will be sown from now on and spring wheat crops will be sown in late April through May and into June. Up in the north-western parts of New South Wales the wheat harvest, depending on the climatic conditions, can start as early as mid to late September and further south it will continue through October, November and into December.
Seven months to find a solution: This means that harvesting could start by late September, which is only seven months away. Therefore, the Government had only seven months to fix this problem.

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