THE POLITICS
Despite the fact that this project is what they call today ‘shovel ready’ (that is, it can happen quickly and provide financial benefit to the Barossa and beyond), the South Australian Government DOES NOT SUPPORT THE PROJECT GOING AHEAD, for reasons that can only be guessed at.
This lack of action and tacit government support for this project - which does not involve unbudgeted expenditure of taxpayers’ money - is worthy of a Shakespearean conspiracy.
THE PLAYERS:
Stephan Knoll, the 38 year old Transport Minister in the Stephen Marshall Liberal Government, LOCAL MP for the Barossa, and formerly a meat processor.
Stephen Marshall, Premier of South Australia, one-time furniture shop owner.
SA Dept of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure (DPTI) mandarins, headed by Department Head and Commissioner of Railways, Tony Braxton-Smith, formerly CEO of Great Southern Rail and 'Dreamworld' on the Gold Coast.
The Barossa Council.
THE PLOTS:
- Why will not the Transport Minister and Premier even contemplate the project? Despite many requests in writing to Knoll and Marshall by many of those with an interest in a resurgent Barossa Tourist Train (including John Geber) have NOT been granted ANY meeting to discuss the project. ALL efforts for a rational discussion over the matter have been dismissed by the Marshall Government. Why?
- A complication (but one easily solved) is that ‘ownership’ of the track (along with the ownership of other regional and rural rail corridors in SA) is shared between 2 entities - The State, which ‘owns’ the corridor (ie: the right-of-way and the corridor land), and a private enterprise company, One Rail Australia (ORA), which leases (for just ONE DOLLAR) the ‘above-ground’ infrastructure - the sleepers, the rails, signalling, and other above-ground rail-related physical infrastructure. In 2020, ORA took ownership of the SA non-metro rail infrastructure from Genesee Wyoming Australia (GWA) which was sold by its (American) parent company.
UNDER THE LEASE AGREEMENT (still formally in place) WITH THE STATE, ORA MUST MAINTAIN THE BAROSSA LINE IN SUCH CONDITION THAT TRAINS COULD RUN ON THE TRACK WITHIN A FORTNIGHT’S NOTICE. This cannot happen on the Barossa line as it has been left to degenerate and decay by GWA/ORA (as is the case with other non-metro rail lines), AND NOT ONE OF THE PLAYERS WILL SAY WHY this has been allowed to happen, OR AGREE TO ENFORCE THE LEASE on behalf of the line's owners, the people of SA. - A further complication is that 120 metres of line was (in May/June 2020), removed at Kroemer’s Crossing (half way between Tanunda and Nuriootpa) for a traffic roundabout, effectively ‘splitting’ the Barossa’s tourist offerings in half, to rail tourism. Despite John Geber trying to stop the removal of the line by taking legal action (so that ALL Barossa tourist operators would not be disadvantaged by the Government’s short-sighted action), the Supreme Court had no option but to allow the line’s removal when in a last-minute flurry of legal activity signed off by Knoll at 5.35pm on Easter Monday (the day before the final Court hearing), ORA ‘gave back’ the 120 metres of line, in a ‘Deed of Surrender’, allowing the State to remove the ‘above ground’ rail infrastructure.
Declared ‘legal’ by the Supreme Court (it had no other option), the work to remove the 120 metres of track began within hours - and by late June 2020 was complete. John Geber's legal costs, in trying to keep all of the line open, cost him in the order of $200,000. Had the local Member, Stephan Knoll, discussed the matter rationally , the retention of the rail line could have been made part of the $6m roundabout project - but NO! DPTI in its Tender for the project stipulated that the line had to go! DPTI Mandarins insisted the line be removed and Transport Minister Knoll took their advice unconditionally. - In late 2020, the State's Electoral Commission proposed new electoral boundaries for the State.
The Seat of Schubert became notionally marginal, and the Labor Member for Light, Tony Piccolo, announced he would contest the Seat as, under the proposed changes, Labor had a chance of winning Schubert. When the FINAL boundaries were announced, Piccolo's 'heartland' of Gawler was removed from Schubert, leaving Piccolo no option but to withdraw his proposed candidacy, as Schubert again became a 'blue-ribbon' Liberal seat. In the meantime,Piccolo began campaigning in Schubert, which led to him establishing a 'task force' to examine the return of a Barossa Tourist Train, should Labor win the 2022 election. To his credit that 'task force' is continuing its investigations and will release its findings in the lead-up to the election. - Then in an unexpected move, Stephan Knoll announced he will not re-contest the Seat of Schubert at the 2022 State Election. Dogged as he was but the so-called 'travel rorts' affair and his concern for his young family, Knoll will return to private life at the 2022 Election. It will be interesting to see whether the new Liberal candidate for Schubert (to be announced in February 2021) will be as vociferously opposed to a Barossa Tourist Train as the outgoing Knoll.
- The Barossa Council has largely 'sat on the fence' regarding a return of a Barossa Tourist Train, despite the benefits it would bring to Barossa businesses and its ratepayers in general. It has been a supporter of alternative uses for the rail corridor, including its conversion to a corridor for 'driverless busses' - a pet project of Knoll's. It has to be noted here that driverless bus trials in other parts of SA - including Munno Para, to the Flinders University, in Glenelg and in Renmark have failed, as they have in other council regions interstate. With Knoll now out of the equation, the Barossa Council has largely gone silent on driverless busses in the Barossa - but murmurings continue that the Council would prefer to see the corridor made into a bike track (despite the fact that bike tracks - underused - run through the Valley already. The latest thought-bubble is to turn the track into a horse-riding trail. Giddy-up Dobbin! That against the corridor's use as it is intended - a rail corridor likely to bring thousands of tourists to the Valley....
BUT ALL IS NOT LOST
Other Members of Parliament, notably the Hon Frank Pangallo MLC, is equally perplexed as to why the Marshall Government does not want to see the Barossa Wine Train run again - and has promised he'll do all he can to see the project succeed. Mr Pangallo has met with John Geber and is planning his own action as a Parliamentarian, to bring the Liberal Marshall Government 'to book' over this. After he spoke with John Geber in June, Mr Pangallo granted us an interview on the matter.... (runs 8mins 30secs approx)
Other Members of Parliament, notably the Hon Frank Pangallo MLC, is equally perplexed as to why the Marshall Government does not want to see the Barossa Wine Train run again - and has promised he'll do all he can to see the project succeed. Mr Pangallo has met with John Geber and is planning his own action as a Parliamentarian, to bring the Liberal Marshall Government 'to book' over this. After he spoke with John Geber in June, Mr Pangallo granted us an interview on the matter.... (runs 8mins 30secs approx)
MORE WILL BE POSTED TO THIS PAGE AS THE POLITICS SURROUNDING THIS MATTER CONTINUE, IN OUR EFFORTS TO SEE THE BAROSSA TOURIST TRAIN RUN AGAIN.