KiwiRail gets the Hardworking Kiwi's seal of approval

The transcript of today's Agenda show shows the Government's determination for much needed reinvestment in a neglected rail service.

Despite National's assertion that Labour "haven't put any time at all into working out how they're going to get an effective return on this very large investment" (Bill English, Agenda 6/7/08), it is clear that the current government has well thought through the policy. It aims not only to obtain return on the policy but also addresses NZ's contribution to Kyoto - a convention which we will soon begin to pay for.

Mallard made clear today that both timber and dairy would be able to use rail as an alternative to truck-based freight, saying "Fonterra are looking to use rail more and more to ship things around the country", and "Our timber in the Bay of Plenty has been transported on the road when it doesn’t need to be." Clearly, although there will be a loss to begin with, there are greater benefits in owning rail that go beyond an initial financial profit or a loss.

By far, the most important thing that Mallard pointed out was that roading gets a massive subsidy by the taxpayer. We all pay for road maintenance in our taxes, so in a way every time a truck uses the road, we pay. Toll used to pay for use of the rail, but as Mallard points out, this cost was "uneven" in comparison with roading. How can we expect greater use of rail in comparison with roading when we allow trucking to get a free ride on our roads, and fail to subsidise rail heavily enough? Look at the trucking industry today which doesn't pay for its proportional use of roading, demands that the taxpayer prop the industry up and has a fit when it is forced to pay its share.

Clearly, KiwiRail will not make an immediate profit, but as Mallard again points out, it will make more of a profit in the long run than Toll did. Moreover, with petrol costs rising and the cost of Kyoto imminent, the KiwiRail scheme promises a better use of resources at lower costs to our environment and businesses if maintained efficiently.

KiwiRail will provide an alternative to trucking; an alternative to the high-polluting roading option. When we start to feel the full burden of Kyoto, and when an effective cap-and-trade system is put in place, rail will slowly become more and more competitive and popular. What on earth will the National Party say when KiwiRial becomes the freight option of choice for NZ business?