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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-07-20 Daily Xml
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RAILWAYS (OPERATIONS AND ACCESS) (MISCELLANEOUS) AMENDMENT BILL

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 30 June 2010.)

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (15:39): I rise on behalf of the opposition to speak to this bill. On 26 May, the Hon. John Rau, on behalf of the transport and infrastructure minister, introduced this bill in the other place. The intention of the bill is twofold: to provide a consistent national system of economic regulation for nationally significant infrastructure, including railways; and to implement efficiencies into the act. These efficiencies will be based on recommendations following an inquiry conducted by the Essential Services Commission of South Australia.

The bill relates to major intrastate rail only, excluding the Australian Rail Track Corporation line which is covered by the national act, and indentures such as OneSteel, the Glenelg tramline and tourist and heritage rail lines. Most of the railway lines affected by this bill are primarily used for the transport of grain.

In February 2006, COAG signed the Competition and Infrastructure Reform Agreement (CIRA) to provide a simpler and consistent national system of economic regulation for nationally significant infrastructure including railways. The reform aims to reduce regulatory uncertainty and compliance costs for owners, users and investors.

The Essential Services Commission of South Australia was directed by the acting treasurer (Hon. Paul Holloway)—and obviously he handled that job with a bit more aplomb than the one he did just recently—to undertake an inquiry into whether or not South Australia's access regime is consistent with certain principles set out in clause 2 of the Competition and Infrastructure Reform Agreement.

Clause 2 commits all signatories to establish a simpler and consistent national approach to economic regulation of significant national infrastructure, in this case, railway. As such, the South Australian government made a commitment to review the intrastate rail access regime for the purposes of clause 2 of the Competition and Infrastructure Reform Agreement and implement the necessary changes to promote greater consistency.

The ESCOSA inquiry into the access regime commenced in February 2009 with the release of an issues paper for consultation. ESCOSA received submissions to that paper from the following stakeholders: ABB Grain, Asciano, Genesee & Wyoming, Gypsum Resources Australia, Penrice Soda Products and Western Plains Resources.

Following the consideration of these submissions, ESCOSA released its draft inquiry report in July 2009 and received four submissions to the draft from, again, ABB, Asciano, Genesee & Wyoming and Penrice Soda. Genesee & Wyoming expressed concerns within its submission highlighting that the issue of return on investment needed to be addressed in relation to economic efficiency. Penrice Soda Products highlighted the need for increased transparency in the form in which price information is provided by the access provider to access seekers.

ESCOSA's draft finding was that there was scope for the right of access act to better reflect the concept of economic efficiency set out in the Competition Infrastructure Reform Agreement. As such the bill amends the act, as follows:

Section 3(c)—after railway services insert 'through the promotion of the economically efficient use and operation of, and investment in, those services'.

The aim is to provide economic efficiency and effective competition, and the bill will amend the act by inserting principles to be taken into account in relation to the price of access to a service, including a principle to protect smaller access seekers from being discriminated against by monopoly holders. A definition also to clarify the meaning of private sidings has been included as part of the improvements to the act.

In regard to the mining industry, ESCOSA expressed in the draft inquiry report that the access regime should be reviewed to ensure that it is flexible and robust enough to respond to increased mining activities. Comments were sought from stakeholders on whether or not the coverage of the access regime should be extended to certain existing railway infrastructure, particularly to accommodate future mining developments, but no specific comments were received. It has been determined that the access regime's coverage is appropriate.

Certainly, in the future of mining activities and certainly servicing of ports on Eyre Peninsula, there may well be some scope for expansion of railway lines that would service those particular ports, and I think access to that infrastructure is important.

We do know that even the port itself, or proposed ports, will need to be common user facilities where the whole community can benefit from that investment, and certainly access by rail will be an important part of that. Similarly, in the South-East, I am not sure of the status of the Mount Gambier line—whether it is part of the ARTC network or whether it has been excised from that and is now an intrastate line that may well connect back into the main ARTC line.

As you would know, Mr President, being a Mount Gambier resident, that rail corridor still exists and has been preserved for close to 20 years now, since the Bluebirds and freight trains stopped running. It still potentially provides an important infrastructure and rail corridor servicing the South-East. With those few words, I indicate that the opposition is happy to support the bill.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister Assisting the Premier in Public Sector Management) (15:45): I thank the Hon. Mr Ridgway for his contribution and other members of the council for their indication of support. In the Hon. Mr Ridgway's comments, he referred to the mining industry. We all know what has happened in relation to access to rail lines in the Pilbara region of Western Australia and how, undoubtedly, that has led to some of these issues coming through COAG. So, the honourable member is quite correct that there is a very important need for multiple access ports and associated rail infrastructure within this state.

Although I am not currently aware of any issues that would be directly impacted by this bill, in a sense, as Minister for Mineral Resources Development, I hope that we have a number of new mining projects in the future that will need some common rail infrastructure. However, regardless of whether or not that is needed now, this is an important measure, and it does go along with the COAG agenda. I commend it to the chamber.

Bill read a second time and taken through its remaining stages.

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