Minister Must Release Lease Arrangements
The Tasmanian Greens today called on the Infrastructure Minister David O’Byrne to immediately commit to establishing a taskforce that brings on board all three tiers of government, to develop an action plan for the future of the West Coast Wilderness Railway.
Greens Tourism spokesperson Tim Morris MP said that any decision over the future of the railway would first require the Minister to publicly release details of the lease arrangements between Federal Group and the State.
“The closure of the West Coast Railway is a serious blow to tourism on the west coast and demands an immediate and determined response,” Mr Morris said.
“The Greens are proposing the establishment of a transition taskforce bringing on board all three levels of government to examine and propose options for the future of the railway. We believe the taskforce should also have community representatives and heritage rail experts.”
“If we wait until Federal Hotels closes the line before making a decision then we will lose all those valuable skills and expertise, making it much harder to get the operation back on track.”
“One of the key jobs for the taskforce would be to scrutinise the financial arrangements and to develop a plan to put the venture on a sustainable long term footing.”
“To gain a clear understanding of how the operation got into financial trouble the Minister must release the details of the existing lease arrangements, which have been kept secret since it was signed by the Bacon Government in 2002.”
“The Greens have been calling for the lease to be made public for days, and the Minister cannot keep avoiding the need to release it.”
Tim Morris MP Greens Tourism Spokesperson
