railway ruling right : goodyear says YEAH RIGHT ! U *&%^$#...

railway ruling right : goodyear says YEAH RIGHT ! U *&%^$# !

Railway ruling right : Goodyear

Ben Sharples
Tuesday, May 23, 2006

BHP Billiton chief executive Chip Goodyear has denied lobbying Federal Treasurer Peter Costello over third party access to its Mt Newman rail line and has brushed aside a suggestion the iron ore majors are a protected species in Western Australia.



BHP Billiton CEO Chip Goodyear

Addressing journalists in a conference call, Goodyear denied personally lobbying the Treasurer, saying "I have not met with the Treasurer on this issue".

"This has been an important issue for us, we've worked long and hard on this," he said. "You just can't open that [rail line] to anybody who wants to use it and expect to maintain the reliability and efficiency of the system."

Goodyear said if BHPB had to negotiate different access schemes and rates with third parties who wanted to access the rail line, the timing of its expansions and investments would be delayed.

"Look what is happening in the east – when you have multi-user systems it is slow, it is difficult, and there is a lot of negotiation. Out west you've seen the expansions happen by ourselves, by Rio Tinto … and those systems respond extremely rapidly and that is in the best interest," he said.

When questioned about BHPB's willingness to allow third party access through a State-based regime, Goodyear pointed to the recent agreement with one-time iron ore hopeful Cazaly Resources.

"We were certainly willing to provide haulage services and entered into an agreement to do so, and that's really what we're talking about here," he said. "The difference between allowing someone to put their equipment on our rail line is quite different in the idea that we'll contract to move their product for them."

"We're very serious about it [providing haulage service], we have a demonstrated history … and I would expect not only will the WA Government be quite supportive of that as we work through it, but the company will certainly pursue that fairly diligently and perform to that record."

Taking into account the recent Shovelanna decision and negotiations on iron ore royalties, a diplomatic Goodyear played a straight bat when questioned if the iron ore majors – Rio Tinto and BHPB – were a protected species in WA.

"We get lots of attention wherever we go, but I would say [we are] far from being a protected species, as we do compete on a level playing field with others … we live with the rules and regulations that exist and it's critical that we do," he said.


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