Bert Kelly, Australian Rural Times, March 29-April 4, 1990, p. 9.

Ever since the “Yes Minister” TV program appeared, many of us have been wary lest there be a cunning and competent Sir Humphrey lurking in the background, busily pulling the wool over our eyes.

When I read the recent Industries Assistance Commission (IAC) report on government rail freight charges, it has become even clearer there are important advantages in having a clear and unbiased picture of any government business venture, even to the organisations being examined though they may not appreciate this till later.

The picture it drew was not pretty.

When the losses incurred in carrying passengers in metropolitan Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth are added to the losses of Australian National (AN), Westrail (WA country), V/Line (Victorian country), SRA (all NSW) and QR (all Queensland), the IAC estimates that they lost about $2,000,000,000 in 1987-88, or $117 per person that year.

That seems a lot of money to me.

The IAC says:

The commission estimates that productivity improvements, mainly associated with the use of labour, coupled with some additional investment, could result in annual cost savings to public rail authorities of around $600 million.

If these savings were passed on to the community through a reduction in taxation, and if efficient pricing policies to permit full cost recovery were implemented, increases in the competitiveness of a wide range of Australian industries could lead to annual increases of real national output of around $2.6 billion.

That also seems a lot of money to me.

I am not surprised that the railways lose money.

Years ago, before AN were operating our SA railways, I went to thank our station master at our little station for all he did to help run our football and cricket clubs, etc. I was about half way through my spiel when he stopped me and said that he didn’t want any thanks, it gave him something to do to pass the time!

AN have stopped that kind of nonsense now but the tradition of regarding the railways as a large mechanical milk cow is still there, particularly in the state systems. The trick was to get the bucket under her before she gave a toot and went away down the line.

I would hate being a top railway administrator; you would never really know if you were supposed to do this to benefit the users, to make profits for the government, to supply concessional fares for pensioners and railway staff on leave or present and past MPs (like me) who expected to be carried for nothing, or to please your Minister who perhaps wanted parcels carried at half price to his constituents, or perhaps it was to provide employment to railway union members.

It wouldn’t be so bad in AN or Westrail, I am told.

And I guess it would not take you long to discover that you must never try to close unprofitable branch lines.

My farmers used to make nasty sneering comments about our SA railways and the amount of money they lost but just you suggest closing an inefficient branch line!

I tried it once when I suggested closing the branch line between Gladstone and Wilmington, which was losing money hand over fist.

My farmers complained bitterly; they admitted they seldom used the line but they wanted it left there, to help with the cricket and football, I suppose.

This line is now about to be closed; it should have been done 20 years ago.

By far the biggest cross any railway administrator has to carry would be overmanning.

For instance, following a consultants report, SRA know that they should make a 45 per cent reduction in staff in the next four years. The poor NSW government is now wrestling with the railway unions and it will not be easy.

V/line know that they should lose about 4000 employees if they are to operate profitably. How can a railway administrator be expected to run an efficient system with that kind of burden?

At the recent farming Outlook conference, woolgrowers were told that they must hope for a big old-fashioned drought so as to cut back the supply of wool so there would be less to put into the stockpile.

I have also been told that the only way the Victorian railways can stop losing their great heaps of money is to have their people permanently on strike.

This should not be hard to arrange; in 1986 they lost 3339 working days per 1000 employees compared to the all Australian figure of 242.

Some featherbeds float and some fly but surely one of the most comfortable ones must run on rails.

Some are better than others, particularly AN and Westrail but there is plenty of room for improvement yet.