I was thinking the government ads about transport upgrades back in 2009-10 (Labor) are pretty similar to 2014 (Coalition). How would it be if I got them both and dubbed the audio of one over the video of another? The 2010 version is mostly about trains; the 2014 one has been chopped a tad to ... [More]
Tag: politics
One thing I really really hate about spammers is how they often insist on the bottom of their email that you’re receiving their crap because you subscribed to it. They know it’s not true. I know it’s not true. Along the same lines are these types of letters, one of which I received yesterday. The ... [More]
If Tony Abbott’s Coalition won’t build rail, why do they include a rail icon on their infrastructure policy? At least, I’m assuming it’s an icon for rail — not giant white picket fences to keep out asylum seekers, or something like that. (The above is from the summarised version. The slightly more detailed policy document ... [More]
A few thoughts on Federal politics from the last few days. I think Gillard did some great stuff. Carbon tax (some don’t like it, but it works), National Disability Insurance Scheme, the Royal Commission into child abuse, and (along with her predecessors on both sides) keeping the economy afloat in dire economic times — and ... [More]
The way the state budget has been framed in terms of transport was almost inevitable: the East-West motorway (stage 1) vs the Metro Rail Tunnel, with the motorway winning this round. While they are quite different projects, serving (mostly) different markets and (attempting to be) solving different problems, I thought it might be interesting to ... [More]
“We spoke to Infrastructure Australia and their advice was that the most pressing road priority in Melbourne was the east-west link,” Mr Abbott told reporters in Frankston on Thursday. “Now the Commonwealth government has a long history of funding roads. We have no history of funding urban rail and I think it’s important that we ... [More]
Because I’m interested in politics, I make it my practice to follow various politicians on Twitter, whether I agree with them or not, including all the local ones I can find. My local federal MP Andrew Robb would have to have the single most relentlessly negative Twitter feed of any of them. Here’s all his ... [More]
The first Tuesday of May is Victorian State Budget day. On Budget day, journalists and some interest groups (well, those that have the resources) attend the Budget Lockup, where from about midday to the 3pm public release, they get to peruse the budget papers, but can’t communicate what they find with the outside world. They ... [More]
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Australia Day thoughts
Happy Australia Day. Some thoughts: 1. Spotted this morning, some glorious Australia Day supermarket multiculturalism: 2. I was a Flag Monitor in grade 6. Along with my mate Mark, we put the flag up on the school flag pole. Apart from a minor hitch on the first day when it went up upside down for ... [More]
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How much does a train cost?
Sometimes when the media or politicians want to highlight what they see as massive government waste (particularly in the transport arena, but also in other areas), they compare it to how many extra trains could have been bought instead. While it may seem a little myopic, I think overall it’s a good thing. It’s a ... [More]
This might not be everybody’s cup of tea, but there was some fascinating reading on economics and politics in last week’s media, and since I have nothing else for you, here it is in my blog: Bernard Keane on Access Economics’ poor record on forecasts: Then there was Access’s early 2009 warning that it would ... [More]
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Who to vote for in Transport?
Please note that as always, the views expressed on my blog are my own, and are not necessarily a PTUA position. The state election’s about six weeks away. The Opposition has been criticised for not having a transport policy, but it’s important to note that Labor hasn’t said much about what they’d do, either. Sure, ... [More]