The 43% fraction, and the name Robert Whitton has come up in another
forum. Funny how the same person leads to a similar result ...


(For those that don't know, Robert Whitton is also the administrator
of National Express, running M> and V/Line trains & trams in
Melbourne).

I will try to get onto Trevor Dobbyn to see whether the staff have
been paid out.

Full story from the Herald Sun (a Daily Telegraph lookalike) below.
----------- *************** ------------
Subject: HS: $20m transport payout

http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,6158949%
255E2862,00.html

$20m transport payout
By JOHN MASANAUSKAS, transport reporter
21mar03

THE State Government yesterday announced a $20 million bailout of
firms
hit by the collapse of public transport operator National Express.

And administrators of the failed British-owned company said it was
possible it traded while insolvent and directors could face charges.

Transport Minister Peter Batchelor announced the bailout in Parliament
yesterday afternoon, shortly after the world was distracted by the
start
of the Iraq war.

Opposition transport spokesman Terry Mulder said Mr Batchelor had
reversed his earlier policy on the payout under the cover of war.

"He's done a double backflip and thrown in $20 million hoping no one
would notice," he said.

But Mr Batchelor's spokesman, Matt Phelan, denied the Government had
tried to use the war to hide the payout.

Mr Phelan said the Government was obliged to provide details after
National Express administrators told creditors about the payment on
Wednesday.

"We have no control over the administration. The administrators put
out
a report," he said. "If we hadn't done anything we would have been
accused of hiding a secret payment".

Mr Batchelor pledged the $20 million yesterday after hinting to the
Herald Sun last week that unsecured creditors were unlikely to get
Government help.

National Express, the former operator of M>Train, M>Tram and V/Line
passenger service, owed about $70 million to hundreds of trade
creditors.

Major creditors include transport infrastructure company Thiess,
maintenance firm EDI Rail, Bombardier Transportation and TXU
Electricity.

In December, when National Express withdrew from its privatisation
contracts, Mr Batchelor said the Government would honour the wages and
entitlements of the company's employees.

But no commitment was given to trade creditors.

Mr Phelan said the Government had decided to help the firms because of
their role in keeping the public transport system running.

"They remain an important part of the system," he said.

National Express's parent group will contribute $10 million to
creditors
if a deed of company arrangement is accepted. At best, creditors will
receive about 43c in the dollar.

Rail, Tram and Bus Union state secretary Trevor Dobbyn said taxpayers
were again footing the bill for a failed Kennett era privatisation
experiment.

In their latest report, National Express administrators said there was
a
strong argument the group traded while insolvent from December 16 to
23
last year.

"And quite possibly for a period prior to the announcement by the
parent
company that it would withdraw funding from the Group," they said.

Joint administrators Simon Wallace-Smith and Robert Whitton said some
National Express directors and employees could face prosecution under
the Corporations Act.

A second creditors' meeting will be held next Wednesday, when the
administrators will recommend a 60-day adjournment to consider a deed
of
company arrangement.