PRIME MINISTER'S INTERVIEW WITH CHANNEL 10, AT TARCOOLA
12.4.1975
A. This is the biggest railway project which has been undertaken
in Australia since the Fisher Labor government commenced the East/
West Railway in 1912, but I think the significance of this occasion
doesn't just depend on commencing this very large project
$ 100 million, 830 kilometers long from the East/ West Railway here
at Tarcoola up to Alice Springs. Sure, it'll be important for the
pastoral and mineral and tourist industries in the whole of Central
Australia. But in this week there have been several very important
things happen. On Wednesday, my colleague Mr. Jones, the Minister
for Transport, was able to table in the House of Representatives
the terms of the Agreement under which the Commonwealth Railways
acquire the South Australian Railways, the and on Thursday
night Mr. Jones brought in~ a Bill to establish the Interstate
Commission, which is mentioned in the Constitution and is designed
to co-ordinate transport systems throughout the continent. So it
is a very big week.
Q. Do you eventually hope Sir that the line will go all the way
through to Darwin?
A. That will depend on the economic need for it, certainly.
The Centre requires a regular traffic means, and as you know, only
two years ago the existing railway to Alice Springs was out of
service through floods for nine weeks. So it just became crucial
to have an all weather railway and a railway, moreover, which was
part of a national system, and of international standard.
Q. Is it going to speed up the development of the Territory greatly?
A. I feel certain it will pastoral, mineral, tourist industries
all depend on a dependable form of transport and this will be such
a form.
A. Getting back to the take-over of the South Australian Railways,
will there be a great change in the service once the Commonwealth
takes over the South Australian Railways?
Q. I believe that now the Australian Government has acquired the
South Australian Railways, they will be able to have the amount of
capital which they require. Any modern railway, modern because it
has good rolling stock and a good signalling system, can be a good
economic enterprise. There is nothing to compare with railways in
long distance travel, and the tragedy has been that the Australian
State railways have never been given enough capital since the War
to provide proper rolling stock and proper signalling systems.
Now the Australian Government has greater financial resources than
the State Governments and just after the War the Chifley Labor
Government placed orders completely to re-equip this East/ West
Railway. And in the early fifties it became the first railway in
r, e
Australia which had all its locomotives diesels, which had all
its carriages air conditioned and which had all its trucks running
with bogies, and accordingly it became a very fast, safe,
dependable and in fact profitable service. Now I think by
amalgamating the Commonwealth Railways and the South Australian
Railways we will see that the whole of the core of the Australian
railway system in national terms is modernised, because this
railway system works with those of Victoria, New South Wales
and Western Australia direct. It's central to the whole nation.
Q. South Australian Railways are running at quite a loss at the
moment. Do you feel you will be able to overcome that now?
A. We believe that the non-metropolitan railways which are the
ones which the Australian Government is acquiring through the
new A. N. R. will with the new equipment, which will become available,
become an economic proposition.
Thank you very much.