Withdrawal and resubmission of draft UT4 to expedite review process
Aurizon Network Pty Ltd has withdrawn the 2013 Draft Access Undertaking (2013DAU) submitted to the Queensland Competition Authority (QCA) in April 2013 and resubmitted an amended version (2014DAU) based on consultation and feedback from industry stakeholders over the past 15 months.
This will allow the QCA to base its draft decision on a 2014DAU which is current and reflective of the extensive consultation Aurizon has undertaken with the regulator and industry since April 2013.
The QCA has advised Aurizon Network it will separate the draft decision into revenue and policy. The revenue draft decision will provide information to all parties on the elements of the Maximum Allowable Revenue and will be published in September 2014. The remaining pricing (eg reference tariffs and pricing principles) and policy matters will have a draft decision published in December 2014. Both draft decisions will have an industry consultation period determined by the QCA.
Aurizon Network has consulted with relevant stakeholders including the QCA, Queensland Resources Council, Asciano and Aurizon Operations on the resubmission process and Aurizon Network believes this is a more efficient approach than the QCA basing its draft decision on the 2013DAU.
The QCA’s consultation process on the 2014DAU will open for a period of eight weeks from today, with submissions due by 3 October 2014.
All parties are committed to the delivery of the final approval of UT4 by 30 June 2015