Mr ADAMS(7.30 p.m.) —The possible closure or sell-off of the Australian National Railways Commission and the discussion on the sale of our airports has caused Tasmania to look hard at its transport systems this week. It has not helped that information that is vital for sensible decision making on Tasrail has been kept from decision makers and only let out by mistake.

I want to take up the issue of the Brew report, some of which was apparently released in error in Tasmania last week. It was of great concern to me to see a headline in newspapers that Tasrail will close because it is not viable. Figures from annual reports told that Tasrail was moving towards being self-supporting until that statement. It appears from the report now that Tasrail was forced into heavy loss-making contracts against the wishes of the Australian National Railways Commission. It has been bearing a load of debts from the whole systems administration. The next bombshell was that the person who came in to relieve the retiring general manager of Tasrail has a contract for only six months. Even if there was a possibility of arguing that Tasrail is now very effective and can stand on its own feet if freed of debt, the governments do not want to know.

Both federal and state governments are after its closure, their excuse being that they do not think it is government business to be running railways. What nonsense! Maybe the Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr Downer), during his current love affair with Europe, might just consider some of the European transport systems. Many of these train systems are government run and subsidised and can move thousands of people and tonnes of freight very effectively and very efficiently. The governments are subsidising the infrastructure, not the fares and running costs.

The biggest problem facing transport in Tasmania today is that the current state government has no idea about planning. There is no strategical transport system for Tasmania. We need to provide an integrated, multimodal transport system—flexible and adaptable—to deal efficiently with Tasmania's future transport needs in a changing environ ment. I believe that Bob Cotgrove's article in the Mercury on 16 September is very important. He identifies that the difficulties faced by Tasrail are not unrelated to other transport means and should be looked at in a broader context.

There has never really been a strong effort to integrate services. The private and public bus systems do not meet. I think the only connection made in Tasmania is that a bus meets the ferry at Devonport. We now have a threat to the air travel should the airports go to the highest bidder rather than to a local consortium.

Both commuter and tourist passenger and freight movement should be developed in unison, if not incorporated together. I can only point to Norway, where they have incorporated a tourist trip in their daily freight and mail runs through the fjords. You start by train on a ratchet railway, collect a ferry for the water travel and then pick up a bus service at the other end. They are all well patronised and easily accessible.

Hobart is taking on trams again, but the river is barely touched in the south or the north. Air travel should be integrated with our other modes of transport. One advantage is that the local rail still has a strong competitive advantage over road transport for certain commodities such as logs, pulp, cement, coal, sulfuric acid, fertilisers and other low value bulk materials.

I call upon the state government to set up a commission of inquiry as a matter of urgency so that all the ideas and concerns of the transport industry can be considered. The proposed update of the Callaghan report might be an appropriate vehicle because it is Commonwealth funded, as long as it can be completed in time and quickly. It would also help local entrepreneurs who are looking at the airports to come up with a profitable package. Tasmania needs a proper strategy to ensure that all transport modes can work together in a unit and that way Tasrail has a very good opportunity and a good chance of still being part of our transport system into the next century.