e-Petition Rail duplication Beerburrum to Nambour

[Golliwog]

e-Petition Update 

1882-12   Railway duplication - Nambour to Beerburrum                No. of Votes: 190              Closes: 17/08/2012

http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/work-of-assembly/petitions/e-petitions

and select the page no. 2 which is confusingly shown as 12 at the bottom of the page, pick on the no. 2.

Weren't there also a few paper petitions for this going around?

[Fares_Fair]

Yes.


1882-12     Railway duplication - Nambour to Beerburrum    No. of Votes:  202     Closes: 17/08/2012

[Fares_Fair]

1882-12     Railway duplication - Nambour to Beerburrum    No. of Votes:  204     Closes: 17/08/2012

Closes tomorrow.

[Golliwog]

Yes.


1882-12     Railway duplication - Nambour to Beerburrum    No. of Votes:  202     Closes: 17/08/2012

Any idea how many signatures on the paper versions?

[Fares_Fair]

Yes.


1882-12     Railway duplication - Nambour to Beerburrum    No. of Votes:  202     Closes: 17/08/2012

Any idea how many signatures on the paper versions?

No Golli.
Paul Dawkins was the sponsoring petitioner via Peter Wellington MP for Nicklin.

There have been a number of e-Petitions and paper petitions on this subject - the feeling I got was that many pax are over petitions that go nowhere.
We need to concentrate on that 3 yearly electoral petition.

[somebody]

We need to concentrate on that 3 yearly electoral petition.

If there is bipartisan support for inaction then that is a bit pointless.

[Fares_Fair]

We need to concentrate on that 3 yearly electoral petition.

If there is bipartisan support for inaction then that is a bit pointless.

There is much on the public record that would make it a significant local issue for the Sunshine Coast MP's.
In the end, it's all about being answerable to the people - and the people will have questions on this. That I can assure you.

[SurfRail]

Or they could borrow it. 

[somebody]

It's not hard to imagine that they could improve efficiency in government dramatically.  Not if they continue on their current path though.

[Fares_Fair]

Minister for Transport and Main Roads
The Honourable Scott Emerson
11/09/2012

Qld Rail begins consultation on reform

Italicised excerpt below:
Mr Emerson said "the budget delivers the LNP's key election commitments to be a passenger-focussed government improving frequency, reliability, and affordability."

Rail duplication to Landsborough (last ALP Govt completion date was 2020, with previous completion date by mid-2012)
and then to Nambour (last ALP Govt completion date was 2031, but with qualifications, and with previous target dates of 2016, 2020, then 2026).

Sunshine Coast MP, in the seat of Glass House, the Hon. Andrew Powell, needs to take note given his strong support of commuters, including e-petitions and paper petitions to bring these dates forward, prior to the LNP's 24th March 2012 election victory.

[ozbob]

Minister's response to e-Petition

--> http://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/apps/EPetitions_qld/Responses/1882-12.pdf

[Fares_Fair]

... works cannot be brought forward at this time.

Former Labor Government deadlines are LNP Government deadlines.

... delivery to Landsborough by 2021.
... delivery to Nambour by 2031.

On the bright side, the e-petition question was directly answered.
No beating around the Sunshine Coast bush here.

"Paging the Hon Andrew Powell MP..."

[ozbob]

So much for the LNP supporting the Sunshine Coast ...

Might be time for the Public Transport Party.  Both LNP and ALP are in fairy land ...

[achiruel]

Regarding duplication to Nambour, while I understand the need for the freight task etc., would the money be better spent on duplicating to Beerwah and building CAMCOS?  I suspect the growth in demand for trains north of Beerwah would be greatly reduced if CAMCOS were built.

I'm not sure, what is the relevant costs of Beerwah-Nambour duplication vs CAMCOS to Maroochydore?

[Stillwater]

On this issue, if the Sunshine Coast LNP members were smells, they would be undetectable.

The only money going (and likely to be the case for some time) is coming from the Feds.  The Feds have a stronger interest in facilitating trade and commerce, i.e. rail freight; hence the duplication to Nambour, paid for by the Feds, makes sense if argued from a freight capacity enhancement perspective.  Improvements to passenger rail are a by-product to better rail capacity when looked at this way.

After all, there are only so many lanes you can add to the Bruce Highway, and we have evidence that the highway congestion is affecting people's decisions to holiday on the Sunshine Coast.

A business case to the Feds for money to duplication to Nambour would be relatively easy to do, as most of the planning, route selection etc has been done.

Two things inhibit the state from putting forward the case for the Nambour line duplication with rail freight enhancement as its focus - (1) Queensland has sold off QR National and divested itself of rail freight expertise that would prepare the case and (2) it won't put up a case for Fed money for Nambour duplication because it does not want a competing project to CRR Lite.

For CRR Lite, the LNP has a unique argument.  It goes something like this ......  CRR was going to cost $7 billion, give or take a billion, with costs shared between governments.  We (the LNP) have pared the cost back to $4.5 billion, which is about $500m less that what the Feds would have contributed to an $8 billion project.  The $3.5 billion 'saving' represents what the state would have contributed, therefore the project can be funded entirely by the Feds and the private sector, with no state financial input.

[Stillwater]

Note the careful wording of Mr Emerson's letter:

"The Queensland Infrastructure Plan (QIP), released by the previous government. outlines planned infrastructure projects over the next 20 years. Duplication of the track between Beerburrum and Landsborough, as identified in QIP, is expected to be delivered by 2021 and the expected delivery of the Landsborough to Nambour seation is by 2031 Due to the significant debt left by the previous Labor Government, it is not possible to bring forward these works at this time."

Mr Emerson quotes the previous government's deadlines for these projects, but does not give any commitments on behalf of the LNP Government.  He appears to be saying that the projected completion dates for duplication, first to Landsborough, then to Nambour, will be beyond the 2021 and 2031 deadlines.

Mr Andrew Powell MP, the Member for Glasshouse, has said that he will 'do his best' to even meet Labor's unacceptable deadlines.  People elected the LNP because the Labor promises re the NCL duplication were unacceptable, and Sunny Coast LNP MPs happily chorused that it was unacceptable.  Now they are in charge they do what is unacceptable.

They have moved from chanting 'four legs good, two legs bad' to standing on their haunches and saying 'two legs good, four legs bad'.  Soon they will be able to do so in new Ministerial digs funded by demolition of the Executive Building.  Transport public servants will be shifted for away, out of town to the northern suburbs, and ministers will not have to come into contact with the public, instead riding the express lift from the secure underground carpark to a penthouse office above the city smog line.

[Fares_Fair]

Commitments made for projects beyond the next election are not worth the paper they are written on. I wouldn't bother asking for one.

Thinking about the freight issue further. as the line is multi user, the works are more costly than should be for freight only. ie if it was freight only it would be single track, no O/H. The existing route would be left for the sparks and yes this means the RTT may actually be slower than Sunlander. This makes the thing messy, but when you try and make it for sparks, on a commerical basis it all falls apart due to need for dual track and O/H and stations.

regards
Shane

QR's own report to the productivity commission in 2006 stated that for an outlay of $300m on the NCL (below rail), there would be savings of $430m. ($2006, and over 20 years).
It itemised them too.

Attempts to get more recent information regarding this type of report and data, has come to naught thus far. (refer to today's C-M story about information openness)
It appears that they do not want to give me the rope by which I can hang their decisions out to dry (for all to see). (mixed metaphors in use here)

What is galling is the prospect of the reconstruction of their own parliamentary tower, with the claim that it won't cost us a cent.
We all know that it won't cost us a cent, will be more like a mint or casino.

[Jonno]

Cop out.  Expect a Press Release in the oming days some like "Newman Govt announced $300m  project to add an extra 500 meters of dual carriage to Bruce Highway".

[Stillwater]

Ahh, the nostalgia .... government spin at its best.  The best BCR around - grab hundreds of thousands of dollars in free publicity for the cost of writing a media statement.

From the Brisbane Times, 31 August 2010:

Rail commuters will arrive into Brisbane at 160kmh as the State Government turns to high-speed trains to move the south-east corner's swelling population.  Premier Anna Bligh said commuters from the Gold and Sunshine coasts could reach Central station in about an hour under the Integrated Regional Transport Plan, which will be released today.

She said new high-speed trains would help get commuters out of cars and into public transport as the government aimed to double the share of public transport use from seven to 14 per cent in the next 20 years.

"We need to completely overhaul the way trains operate to achieve this level of growth and provide a level of service that is superior to driving a car," Ms Bligh said.

"We are working to deliver a rail revolution – a network that carries more people, more often, more quickly."

Now that Translink has been brought directly under the TMR umbrella, what is the vision the LNP government articulates for rail and public transport?  It is time we started having a debate about the revenue-raising side of these grand visions.  Ask Canberra to raise an extra 2c a litre on all fuel sold in Queensland, with the money returned to the state?  A congestion tax?

Another way would be for the state to legislate for councils across SEQ to levy an extra $25 per household in rates per annum by way of a 'public transport levy', with the money raised being returned to the councils for public transport initiatives.  It is ludicrous that councils such as the Sunshine Coast Council has such a levy ($10 per household, I think), yet councils such as Redlands do not.

Those opposing such a levy, or those arguing that they don't use public transport, could be told simply that the levy charge is their contribution to the congestion they create by using their own cars on the road.

The real lesson for government is don't espouse a 'grand vision' without first having secured the funding mechanism to achieve it.  Secondly, it is possible to 'pay off Labour's big debt' while also raising additional revenue.  (It is not all about sacking people and cutting goverment programs.)

The difficulty for the LNP government is that it has made one of those motherhood election promises that it will protect families against cost of living rises.  Better, more frequent public transport, funded by an additional revenue stream, could deliver better cost outcomes for families by providing them with more opportunities to leave the car at home.

[Set in train]

Cop out.  Expect a Press Release in the oming days some like "Newman Govt announced $300m  project to add an extra 500 meters of dual carriage to Bruce Highway".

It's already happened: Gillard and Bligh agreed to fund making Mains & Kessels Rd intersection an unecessary grade separation - $300M is the pre-construction sticker price (sure to rise).

Does nothing for local traffic, wrecks local business and employment, does nothing for local communities of Robertson and Macgregor, just a total, blatant pork barrel that no local voter wants.

$300 million and it distrupts long term plans of a busway to run on the eastern side of Mains Rd from the SEB to Calamvale.

[Jonno]

Yep Progress at its best!!!!!