Twyford Phil: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Twyford Phil: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Sitting date: 14 August 2012. Volume:682;Page:4311. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
12. 
PHIL TWYFORD (Labour—Te Atatu) 
 to the  
Minister for State Owned Enterprises 
: What advice has he received on the likelihood of KiwiRail finding $3.85 billion from its own balance sheet as required by the Turnaround Plan? 
Hon TONY RYALL (Minister for State Owned Enterprises) 
: 
 I am advised there is little likelihood that KiwiRail will find the $3.85 billion projected in the original 10-year Turnaround Plan launched in early 2010. KiwiRail’s business has been affected significantly since that time by the Christchurch earthquakes the Pike River mine disaster and of course the economic downturn. KiwiRail expects to have a smaller amount of free cash-flow available for reinvestment in the business and risks continue. However it is clear that KiwiRail has a much greater understanding of its business drivers and the company believes it remains on track to meet the original Turnaround Plan objective of viability. 
Phil Twyford 
: Is he concerned that KiwiRail is laying off 181 workers and deferring network maintenance in order to meet the Turnaround Plan’s financial targets when improving the state of the network is the very thing that will allow KiwiRail to reduce journey times and be more competitive with long-haul trucking? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: The board of KiwiRail is determined to achieve the objective of the Turnaround Plan it is determined to maintain safety and it is determined to run this business efficiently. Part of that is making sure that its investments are returning against those objectives and that is why it has made the decisions it has in respect of those infrastructure and engineering staff numbers. 
Clare Curran 
: Does he support in the light of the major faults identified in the Chinese designed and built locomotives the decision by KiwiRail’s board to not undertake a competitive tender on such a major capital acquisition; if so why? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: Those decisions were managed by the board of KiwiRail and its executive. I have confidence in those people that they can turn round what can be described only as a financial basket case which this Government inherited. We are having to put $750 million of very hard-earned taxpayers’ money into this organisation. We expect to get a return for the taxpayers. We simply cannot carry on with an organisation that cannot balance its books and that is what the Turnaround Plan is about. 
Moana Mackey 
: Will he guarantee that the future of the Gisborne to Napier rail line will not be adversely affected by any requirement for KiwiRail to meet financial targets under the Turnaround Plan? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: The requirement is that there is freight on the line and in sufficient numbers to make the line viable into the future. That is what we are expecting. The Government is very well aware of the views of the Gisborne-Wairoa-Napier community in respect of that. At the same time we must make sure that KiwiRail does get on a track to viability because we simply cannot have taxpayers having to put hard-earned money into this business year after year after year. That may be the sort of strange economics of the party opposite but— 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Order! No need for that. 
Phil Twyford 
: Does he think that the Government’s Turnaround Plan for rail is working or not given his earlier answer that KiwiRail will not meet the Turnaround Plan’s financial targets given KiwiRail’s plans to sell the Hillside workshops sell Tranz Rail close the Gisborne-Napier line and cut the Capital Connection and given the series of procurement disasters involving the rolling stock and 7000 rotting Peruvian rail sleepers? 
Hon TONY RYALL 
: I think every Minister in this responsibility over the last 4 years would have told you that it has always been a very challenging task for the board of KiwiRail its executive and staff to meet the Turnaround Plan and it continues to be a challenge. It is not without risks but what I can tell the member is that at a time where there are significant demands on the Crown’s capital for schools roads and hospitals we have put $750 million into this project and frankly I think the spendaholics opposite would not be in a position to do anything else.