Categories
Politics and activism

Ambulance membership fees drop by half this Friday

I missed the media coverage of this: Coalition cuts ambulance membership fees in half: “From July 1, ambulance membership costs will drop from $150 to $75 a year for families and $75 to $37.50 a year for singles – that is just 20 cents a day for families and 10 cents a day for singles,”  ... [More]

Categories
Politics and activism transport

The 2011 state budget

One would hope that the budget following an election would fulfil the promises made during that election, although it would not be beyond the bounds of reasonableness to spread them out over the term of government. Somewhat surprisingly, at least to me, the Baillieu government has largely fulfilled all of its promises with its first  ... [More]

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Bentleigh Politics and activism transport

The Fkn line and the state election result

A number of seats in the November state election were won and lost because of public transport — and the Frankston line in particular. Statistics continue to show that the line is the worst for punctuality in Melbourne, with a 12 month average of just 69.6% of trains on-time within five minutes. Perhaps it’s fitting  ... [More]

Categories
Politics and activism

Don’t just complain. Take action.

(Pic originally posted in October. Accompanying Facebook group.) No doubt this will sound familiar to those who are active in voluntary advocacy groups: “I DEMAND TO KNOW WHY YOUR GROUP OF OVERWORKED VOLUNTEERS, WHICH I AM NOT A MEMBER OF, IS NOT PURSUING MY PERSONAL GRIEVANCE.” I suspect many people have a genuine grievance, but  ... [More]

Categories
Politics and activism transport

Baillieu and the Clearways

Some thoughts on the new state government, and trams

Categories
Bentleigh Politics and activism

Long live the queen

The electorate office of new member for Bentleigh, Elizabeth Miller, has been vandalised. The stencil, which reads “Long live the queen” with an image of Miller, appears to indicate some preparation was involved. Given the “The king is dead, long live the queen”, I can’t work out if this is pro-Miller, or pro-ex-member Hudson, or  ... [More]

Categories
Bentleigh Politics and activism

Sign of the times

A sign of the times: former Bentleigh MP Rob Hudson’s office, now vacated and up for rent. I wonder if anything gets handed across to the new member Elizabeth Miller’s office? In Federal land, Greens MP for Melbourne Adam Bandt took over former member Lindsay Tanner’s office, but I suspect there was a big clearout  ... [More]

Categories
Politics and activism PTUA transport

Progress in the PT debate

The PTUA’s Annual General Meeting was last night. There was some optimism amongst the committee and membership about where public transport is going since the change of government, but even before that, the political debate has been moving along nicely. An example we talked about last night… At a parliamentary hearing last year as part  ... [More]

Categories
Politics and activism transport

Did these trains lose Labor the election?

Among the 12 (or more) seats lost by Labor in Saturday’s election were four in Melbourne’s south: Frankston, Carrum, Mordialloc, and Bentleigh. What do these have in common? The Frankston line. The Frankston line is the poorest performing in Melbourne. While overcrowding has eased since the June timetable change, punctuality is the worst in the  ... [More]

Categories
Politics and activism

The election

Elizabeth Miller for Bentleigh. Energy, Trust, Commitment, and Snoopy. I certainly didn’t expect Bentleigh to go marginal in such a spectacular way. Apparently counting will resume at 4pm, and the result here may well determine the election. Earlier I spotted a journo and a photographer knocking on Rob Hudson’s door — without success. They then  ... [More]

Categories
Politics and activism PTUA transport

Voting for PT

So how am I voting tomorrow? No comment. But I will tell you what I know about the policies on my pet topic: The Greens, as you might expect, have the best, most comprehensive public transport policy (though it’s not flawless by any means). Of course, we all know they are unlikely to be forming  ... [More]

Categories
Net Politics and activism

The importance of context (even on Twitter)

I’m not having a go at anybody in particular here, but making a point. I tweeted what I thought was an amusing comment from someone I don’t always find myself in thorough agreement with, Roads Minister Tim Pallas: Tim Pallas’s pledge: “I will never, ever, wear lycra in public.” http://j.mp/9Z9zlB #vicvotes — danielbowen A couple  ... [More]