Government buys back Rail

Michael Cullen would have us believe that he has done a great deal by buying back the rail.

Let’s check the facts. Toll Holdings bought rail for $328 million, valued it at $400 million and sold it back to Dr Cullen for $665 million. Great deal? For Toll yes for the New Zealand taxpayer no!

Furthermore, Toll gets keep New Zealand's largest trucking company Tranzlink - which includes 430 trucks, distribution and warehouses - with up to $20 million of free rent on its depots, and removed it's liability to pay millions a year to Ontrack.

Trannzlink will make the money send it to Melbourne and the poor old kiwi taxpayer will continue to pay out in subsidies for a dog of a rail system which has never returned a profit and never likely to.

National is party to this economic rape by stating it won’t privatise the rail if it gets into power later this year. It has no option but to back Labour’s vandalism because if it states that it will privatise the rail Labour will paint them as scary rightwingers prepared to sell off the family silver.