Queensland Parliament Estimates 2013

[ozbob]

Estimates

http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/en/work-of-committees/Estimates-2013

Committee of the Legislative Assembly - 16 July 2013

Finance and Administration Committee - 16 July 2013

State Development, Infrastructure and Industry Committee - 17 July 2013

Legal Affairs and Community Safety Committee - 18 July 2013

Agriculture, Resources and Environment Committee - 19 July 2013

Education and Innovation Committee - 23 July 2013

Health and Community Services Committee - 24 July 2013

Transport, Housing and Local Government Committee - 25 July 2013

[ozbob]

Transports turn today ...  from 9am

--> http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/

[ozbob]

Schedule --> http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/committees/thlgc/2013/Estimates2013/pro-25Jul2013.pdf

Transport and Main Roads on first  ...

[ozbob]

Claim by Minister that GC light rail will only achieve 20K pax trips per day ... blames Labor for getting it wrong (est 45K pax per day).

I disagree ...

Twitter

Robert Dow ‏@Robert_Dow 3m

Worlds worst fares in action. Force pax off PT onto cars ... fix the fares pax > 60K per day #qldpol #estimates

[ozbob]

Opposition Transport Ms Trad asks about Cross River Rail.

Minister says he continues to lobby both sides ..

Claims not a genuine deal at this time.

[ozbob]

Minister says he will sign a 50% deal with either Federal Liberal or Labor re CRR.

[ozbob]

Road fiesta now ...   

[#Metro]

Claim by Minister that GC light rail will only achieve 20K pax trips per day ... blames Labor for getting it wrong (est 45K pax per day).

Not sure how he figures that.

20 000 x 52 weeks x 5 days = 5 200 000 per year. This is higher than the CityCats on the Brisbane river and just under the Midland line in Perth.

[ozbob]

Question on increased park n' ride at Springfield Central ... 

Extra car parking won't be available however until early 2014, some time after line opening ..

[ozbob]

Question for acting CEO QR re review of stations from Opposition Transport ..

Confirms there is a review ... staffing ' particularly at new stations ' ..

Not aware if ' customers ' being consulted ...

Review completed end of August ...

[ozbob]

Question re go cards in lieu of QR passes ..

[ozbob]

Dixer on graffiti ...

[ozbob]

Question re Current Chair QR has he stood aside?  Minister says he has resigned. (Ed. resigned 18th June).

Is the former chair of QR being considered for CEO QR?  Yes says the Minister.

Bullying claims against Mr Dawe? Question from Opposition Ms Trad? 

[ozbob]

Twitter

Robert Dow ‏@Robert_Dow 15m

" Affordability has a massive impact on patronage " says @scottemersonmp #estimates #qldpol well fix it!

In part response to question by Opposition as to why patronage falling ...

[ozbob]

Question on go card top-up facilities ...

[ozbob]

Question on bus safety ...

[ozbob]

Question on rail safety/level crossings ...

[ozbob]

Minister mentions bridge strikes .. cost, inconvenience etc.

[ozbob]

Minister for Transport and Main Roads
The Honourable Scott Emerson

Labor caught out on Cross River Rail funding

The State Opposition has been caught out claiming Queenslanders should pay more than $1 billion extra for the Cross River Rail project.

Transport and Main Roads Minister Scott Emerson tabled a letter in Budget Estimates showing the former Labor state government wanted three-quarters of the funding for Cross River Rail to come from Canberra.

"Former Transport Minister and current Opposition Leader Annastacia Palaszczuk wrote to Infrastructure Australia in December 2011, asking for them to pay 75 per cent of the cost to build Cross River Rail," Mr Emerson said.

"Now in opposition, they have backflipped – wanting the Federal government to pay just 25 per cent of the overall cost of delivering the project.

"We understand how important this vital piece of infrastructure is for south east Queenslanders, and that is why we are willing to agree to a 50-50 deal."

The letter from the Leader of the Opposition to Infrastructure Australia said: "To ensure that the benefits of the full Cross River Rail project are realised, future submissions will be made to Infrastructure Australia seeking 75% of the cost of the future stages."

"What we don't want is the Federal Government reducing the state's GST payment on one hand and then using the state's money to pay us with the other," Mr Emerson said.

"Deputy Prime Minister and Federal Transport and Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese is well aware of our position.

"Kevin Rudd needs to stop talking about being a Queenslander and start delivering this crucial project for Queensland."

[ENDS] 25 July 2013

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Transport Minister Scott Emerson grilled about employment in his department of campaign worker

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

25th July 2013

Gold Coast light rail passenger projections

Greetings,

Today in the Transport and Main Roads Budget estimates Minister Emerson said that Labor had it wrong and the daily passenger trip projection for the Gold Coast Light rail is 20,000 trips daily not the 45,000 originally projected in 2009.

We disagree with this latest projection.  The Gold Coast Light rail will be a frequent high capacity service.
During the weekdays service frequency will be every 7.5 minutes (see http://goldlinq.com.au/operating-light-rail/your-journey/) with 15 minutes outside the 7am to 7pm period.

As has been clearly shown with the BUZ network, frequency drives patronage, the Gold Coast Light Rail will be no different.

We ask the Minister for Transport to make  public the methodology behind these latest passenger projections.

Our estimate would be at least 50,000 passengers daily.  Road congestion is a nightmare on the Gold Coast and the light rail will be very welcome and strongly supported.  Particularly with the bus network being geared up to also support the light rail.  In fact the TransLink SEQ bus review has already positioned the Gold Coast bus system in a form to allow this to occur.

Rather than attempt to score political points, we would expect the Minister for Transport to be promoting the wonderful opportunity for improved public transport for the Gold Coast.

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

[ozbob]

Queensland Parliament Hansard

--> http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/hansard/2013/2013_07_25_EstimatesTHC.pdf

[mufreight]

The Hansard report of Minister Emerson's attendance before the estimates hearing removes any doubt as to the level of incompetence of this Minister, it provides absolute confirmation of his unsuitability for the position.
His responses revealed that money has been syphoned off from the Richlands - Springfield rail line for roadworks on the Centenary Highway, that he considers it acceptable that the latest public transport fare increases have driven a drop in commuter patronage greater than the percentage of the fare hikes with an overall drop in fare box revenue.
In the light of his statements in relation to Cross River Rail it will be interesting to see how he avoids signing on the dotted line if the Federal Government agrees to the desired 50 - 50 funding before it goes into caretaker mode prior to the election.
Also notable were his comments in relation to the haulage of general freight throughout the state particularly to and from the north with no mention of infrastructure upgrades for the NCL.
Score grading for Minister Emerson  F

[ozbob]

Opposition Media Release

Emerson puts Tony Abbott ahead of Cross River Rail

LNP Transport Minister Scott Emerson today revealed he is willing to risk the future of Brisbane's Cross River Rail project to help Tony Abbott become Prime Minister.

Shadow Transport Minister Jackie Trad said Queensland was on track to hit a rail capacity crisis in 2016 because Minister Emerson continues to be more interested in playing politics than finding solutions.

"Minister Emerson today confirmed he rejected Federal Labor's $715 million Cross River Rail offer under the confected excuse of a 100% GST concession, but accepted a 50% concession from the Federal Coalition for the Bruce Highway," Ms Trad said.

"Minister Emerson happily accepts a 50% concession from the Coalition, but is willing to kill of Cross River Rail unless Labor offers more – clearly this is just about politics.

"Letters between the Minister Emerson and Federal Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese clearly show Federal Labor agreed to all of the funding principles the Newman Government' requested during negotiations on Cross River Rail.

"But in a base political manoeuvre to help their federal colleagues in an election year – the Newman Government is now holding Cross River Rail hostage."

Ms Trad said Mr Emerson also revealed he has been spectacularly unsuccessful at convincing Tony Abbott to fund the critical project.

"Over 60 days ago, Mr Emerson promised Queenslanders he would fight to convince Tony Abbott to fund Cross River Rail," Ms Trad said.

"After many discussions with Tony Abbott and his Federal counterparts, the Federal Coalition still hasn't put one single cent on the table for Cross River Rail.

"If the Newman Government is serious about getting Cross River Rail done, all Minister Emerson needs to do is pick up the phone, call Anthony Albanese the Deputy Prime Minister and sign the deal he helped broker – it's the only offer on the table."

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

25th July 2013

Greetings,

Can anyone have any faith in the patronage projections when the Newman Government cannot get basic budget patronage figures correct?

Ms TRAD: Minister, I turn to page 16 of the SDS, and you do have control over patronage figures because you have just admitted that you want to have control over the system. So can you explain to the committee why under your control patronage could not even reach the target that you set—5.4 million trips less than what you had set for yourself as a target? Can you explain this complete and utter failure in patronage?

http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/documents/hansard/2013/2013_07_25_EstimatesTHC.pdf page 22

Lets not worry about road tunnel traffic projections either hey?

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

Sent to all outlets:

25th July 2013

Gold Coast light rail passenger projections

Greetings,

Today in the Transport and Main Roads Budget estimates Minister Emerson said that Labor had it wrong and the daily passenger trip projection for the Gold Coast Light rail is 20,000 trips daily not the 45,000 originally projected in 2009.

We disagree with this latest projection.  The Gold Coast Light rail will be a frequent high capacity service.
During the weekdays service frequency will be every 7.5 minutes (see http://goldlinq.com.au/operating-light-rail/your-journey/) with 15 minutes outside the 7am to 7pm period.

As has been clearly shown with the BUZ network, frequency drives patronage, the Gold Coast Light Rail will be no different.

We ask the Minister for Transport to make  public the methodology behind these latest passenger projections.

Our estimate would be at least 50,000 passengers daily.  Road congestion is a nightmare on the Gold Coast and the light rail will be very welcome and strongly supported.  Particularly with the bus network being geared up to also support the light rail.  In fact the TransLink SEQ bus review has already positioned the Gold Coast bus system in a form to allow this to occur.

Rather than attempt to score political points, we would expect the Minister for Transport to be promoting the wonderful opportunity for improved public transport for the Gold Coast.

Best wishes
Robert

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org
RAIL Back On Track http://backontrack.org

[Stillwater]

Will we see Mr Emerson, at the end of his ministerial tenure, pointing to his failures as being the fault of Labor?

[#Metro]

OMG The Australian Clown Party could do a better job.

[#Metro]

Pay me $90 000 pa and I'll run the transport portfolio. Outsource to me! I'm cheaper and would do a better job!! 

Lapdog Consultants & Lobbyists Pty Ltd ABN 123 456 789

[Arnz]

And it is Minister Emerson under the torch.  May be a very slim chance that we could be seeing a new Transport minister if this gets referred to the ethics committee.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/queensland/a/-/latest/18197751/qld-minister-denies-lying-to-parliament/?cmp=fb

[ozbob]

One wonders what is going on in transport.  Having steered a bus review failure, fare review failure, and now more uncertainty as a result of estimates.  Recall that estimates 2012 resulted in the former DG of TMR being stood down, eventually terminated by the Premier.  Still an investigation ongoing by the CMC.  And now this.

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Scott Emerson denies lying to parliament

[Stillwater]

Has there been any further developments regarding this matter?

[ozbob]

Has there been any further developments regarding this matter?

Couriermail --> Labor bid to haul Scott Emerson up before Ethics Committee for misleading Queensland Parliament thrown out

[Stillwater]

  Thanks.