The NSW Government must lift the two-year veil of secrecy surrounding the Register of Interest (RoI) evaluation process report into the Maldon-Dombarton rail link by publicly releasing it.
The call follows the failure this week to list the project for Federal Government funding by Infrastructure Australia, and an admission by the new Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight, Melinda Pavey MP yesterday that the freight line is not a “high priority” for the NSW Liberal Government.
The NSW Government conducted a 12 month long RoI process in 2015, in which two private sector consortiums – Illawarra Rail Company and Century Custodian Ltd – submitted tenders for evaluation by Transport for NSW.
In November 2015, the then Minister for Roads, Maritime and Freight, Duncan Gay MLC announced the two tenders had been rejected on the grounds that the bids did not meet the RoI criteria.
Despite calls for the evaluation report into the RoI process to be public released, the NSW Government continues to keep the report secret.
Member for Wollongong, Paul Scully MP on Monday wrote to the Minister calling on her to publicly release the RoI evaluation report on the Maldon-Dombarton rail link.
Mr Scully will use a Notice of Motion (NoM) in the State Parliament next week to formally pressure the NSW Government to release the Maldon-Dombarton rail project evaluation report.
Comments attributable to Paul Scully MP:
“It’s simply not good enough for the NSW Government to wash its hands of the Maldon-Dombarton rail link project.
“The NSW Government conducted a 12-month long failed Register of Interest process in which two consortium bids were comprehensively evaluated.
“Aside from very vague public references that both bids did not meet the criteria, we are still in the dark as to the real reasons for the failure of the RoI process. The NSW Government continues to keep the evaluation report secret.
“Given the failure of Infrastructure Australia to list the Maldon-Dombarton rail project for Federal Government funding this week, it is time the NSW Government lifted the veil of secrecy by withholding the evaluation report and publicly released it.”
