Enron tricks

John Key's answer to the massive hole in regional transport budgets created by his decision to scrap the regional petrol tax? Enron tricks. Auckland and Wellington Regional Councils, in anticipation of the revenue, had already signed contracts for electric trains to ensure they arrived when they were needed. But rather than the government stepping in to pay for them, they are instead planning to get KiwiRail to do it. This is being sold as an "efficiency" - it apparently being better for KiwiRail to own the trains than them being split among several regional operators - but oddly there's no push to take over existing trains, which rather blows the whole argument out of the water. Instead, the real reason is fiscal. Getting KiwiRail to pay moves the cost off balance sheet, allowing the government to pretend its decision had no fiscal consequences. It will also likely load KiwiRail with debt, giving the government ammunition to use when they want to push to sell it in the future. I guess John Key learned something in his time as a banker after all...