Article: Newman promises public service shake-up

[ozbob]

From the Brisbanetimes click here!

Newman promises public service shake-up

Newman promises public service shake-up
Tony Moore
July 17, 2011 - 1:48PM

Campbell Newman has promised major changes to the direction of Queensland's public services in a strategic speech promising to re-introduce ''science'' to Queensland's policy-setting agenda if the Liberal National Party wins office.

The former Army civil engineer again set his sight on the departments of Environment and Resource Management, Health, and Employment, Economic Development and Innovation.

One senior conservative figure said Mr Newman's keynote speech on the final day of Queensland's LNP conference, was a return of the ''real'' Campbell Newman.

Mr Newman's speech today was a targeted attack directed at decisions based on science, accusing the ALP of putting ''politics'' ahead of science.

He promised that Queensland's Chief Scientist Dr Geoffrey Garrett, who led the CSIRO for eight years (2001-2008) would be in charge of science policy.

Queensland's chief scientist role now is to provide high-level, strategic advice to the Premier and Cabinet.

''Our plan, which we will detail further over coming months, will see the Chief Scientist properly in charge of science policy and the Government's applied science efforts - not the Q2 sham that currently exists,'' Mr Newman said.

Despite a hoarse voice from a mild case of the flu, Brisbane's former lord mayor was scathing of how ''science'' had been removed from the role of the Department of Environment and Resource Management, saying it no longer protected Queensland's environment.

''We will use science, not politics, to make important decisions about projects and new laws,'' he said.

Mr Newman did not mention Kate Jones, his opponent in the seat of Ashgrove, who was the Environment Minister until last month.

''DERM is meant to protect our environment,'' Mr Newman said.

''It's meant to protect national parks and show leadership when it comes to protecting waterways and wildlife,'' he said.

''They are meant to be protecting our farmers and prime agricultural land and they are supposed to be working with business to continuously improve environmental practices.''

DERM last month hosted its annual Sustainable Industry Awards, recognising Queensland business working in environmentally significantly areas, and last year announced new national parks and the end of sand mining on Stradbroke Island.

Mr Newman pointedly questioned the role of Premier Anna Bligh's husband Greg Withers, an experienced public servant, in running Queensland's Office of Climate Change.

He also mocked the government for devoting media advisor's time to working out how frequently he wore red striped shirts - as he did today - to media and business functions.

Mr Newman also criticised the operation of the Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innovation.

''Many people from business, the community and even government simply do not understand how this department works, or which of its six ministers is in charge,'' he said.

He also criticised management of the Health Department for spending $220 million for trying to fix that department's payroll system.

Mr Newman called for ''agriculture'' to have its own department, winning loud applause from LNP delegates at the conference.

''Today, I reaffirm that the LNP will make sure that agriculture once again has its own department,'' Mr Newman said.

''We will give this important industry a strong voice in Cabinet and ensure it is very clearly recognised as an important part of Queensland's future.''

Labor's Tim Mulherin, the Mackay-based MP, was named Minister for Agriculture, Food and Regional Services by Premier Anna Bligh in February 2011.

Before that, Mr Mulherin served as Labor's Primary Industries minister.

Read more: http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/newman-promises-public-service-shakeup-20110717-1hjqc.html

[wbj]

No reference to public transport that I can find.

[Fares_Fair]

No reference to public transport that I can find.

Campbell Newman mentioned "overcrowded trains" in his speech at the Convention today ... the message reached the top !

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[#Metro]

And what train (or road) system in the world with a medium sized city isn't crowded at peak hour.

Crisis, Crisis! The sky is blue!!!

[Fares_Fair]

You know, if the infrastructure issues were properly addressed they wouldn't be crowded ...

I do not understand why you find the status quo acceptable (but respect your right to say so).
Our population increases (note it is 60% over the next 20 years) need to be kept pace with.

What would you suggest we do, wait till the trains are crowded and then what - start planning for upgrades - it's too late by then.
I see a crisis coming, IMHO it is already here.

That is why the timetable revamp is worse for long-haul commuters, with arrival and departure times.
That is why it takes longer for our train trips home and NOT shorter as promised by Paul Lucas in Parliament in 2006.
That is why there are too many cars on the Bruce Highway.
That is why there are too many large trucks on the Bruce Highway.
That is why more lives are put in jeopardy.
That is why 44% of our trains (from Caboolture to Nambour weekdays) are buses.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[#Metro]

You know, if the infrastructure issues were properly addressed they wouldn't be crowded ...

Disagree. I strongly doubt that Mr Newman was talking specifically about the SC line. I can understand though how you may interpret that as if he was, given your experiences as a SC commuter.

Just because something is crowded DOES NOT necessarily indicate that something is a failure or a bad thing.

If a restaurant is popular and full of people, does that make it a bad restaurant that is failing? Are empty restaurants more successful than full ones?

Are rugby games at Suncorp stadium failures because everyone who wants a ticket can't get one and the stadium is too
small to give everyone a seat?

You know you have a SERIOUS PROBLEM if during peak hour your transit system is EMPTY or has mediocre patronage during PEAK HOUR!! Demand exceeds supply during peak hour... fact of life, and this is true for almost ALL modes including car. So Mr Newman is talking utter rubbish with that statement. It's like saying that further upgrades to the sky needs to be done because it is STILL blue!!!

With respect to the Sunshine Coast... more concrete is required and my supportive position for upgrades to that line has been clear. However. If you live there, then its not like it is a secret what the state of that line is.

[Mr X]

On the other hand it would be ignorant of him to say there are no transport problems though.

[SurfRail]

You know, if the infrastructure issues were properly addressed they wouldn't be crowded ...

Disagree. I strongly doubt that Mr Newman was talking specifically about the SC line. I can understand though how you may interpret that as if he was, given your experiences as a SC commuter.

Just because something is crowded DOES NOT necessarily indicate that something is a failure or a bad thing.

If a restaurant is popular and full of people, does that make it a bad restaurant that is failing? Are empty restaurants more successful than full ones?

Are rugby games at Suncorp stadium failures because everyone who wants a ticket can't get one and the stadium is too
small to give everyone a seat?

You know you have a SERIOUS PROBLEM if during peak hour your transit system is EMPTY or has mediocre patronage during PEAK HOUR!! Demand exceeds supply during peak hour... fact of life, and this is true for almost ALL modes including car. So Mr Newman is talking utter rubbish with that statement. It's like saying that further upgrades to the sky needs to be done because it is STILL blue!!!

With respect to the Sunshine Coast... more concrete is required and my supportive position for upgrades to that line has been clear. However. If you live there, then its not like it is a secret what the state of that line is.

+1 to all of the above. 

People who expect not to have a crowded peak hour journey are being delusional.  I'm sure they are welcome to book a seat on a Traveltrain service or drive to Nambour if they insist on having a seat, and have the werewithal (time and money) to pay for it - then again, they will probably drive and even if we had 20% PT patronage could be safely missed.

Monday
- Arr: Cairns Tilt (9:10am), Bundy Tilt (9:50am)
- Dep: Bundy Tilt (4:55pm), Cairns Tilt (6:25pm)

Tuesday
- Arr: Spirit of the Outback (7:10am), Bundy Tilt (9:50am)
- Dep: Bundy Tilt (4:55pm), Spirit of the Outback (6:25pm)

Wednesday
- Arr: Bundy Tilt (9:50am)
- Dep: Bundy Tilt (4:55pm)

Thursday
- Arr: Cairns Tilt (9:10am), Bundy Tilt (9:50am)
- Dep: Bundy Tilt (4:55pm)

Friday
- Arr: Spirit of the Outback (7:10am), Bundy Tilt (9:50am)
- Dep: Rocky Tilt (4:55pm), Cairns Tilt (6:25pm)

[somebody]

Although regarding the Sunshine Coast and Caboolture lines, the majority of Nambour services are falling short of the benchmark standard in that a number of people are standing beyond Northgate.  This wouldn't be considered acceptable on the Gold Coast line, but somehow north of the river it is.  Go figure.  I think the Petrie services may be alright.

[SurfRail]

Although regarding the Sunshine Coast and Caboolture lines, the majority of Nambour services are falling short of the benchmark standard in that a number of people are standing beyond Northgate.  This wouldn't be considered acceptable on the Gold Coast line, but somehow north of the river it is.  Go figure.  I think the Petrie services may be alright.

Plenty of standees on Gold Coast services by South Bank in the early outbound peak, usually before.  Evidence of good utilisation of service, and plenty of those passengers are only using the service to get to Beenleigh faster anyway.

I should certainly hope we would have a right to better service frequency than before though, given the ridiculous sums invested in the S2K third track and amplifications south of Ormeau.

[Fares_Fair]

Although regarding the Sunshine Coast and Caboolture lines, the majority of Nambour services are falling short of the benchmark standard in that a number of people are standing beyond Northgate.  This wouldn't be considered acceptable on the Gold Coast line, but somehow north of the river it is.  Go figure.  I think the Petrie services may be alright.

Plenty of standees on Gold Coast services by South Bank in the early outbound peak, usually before.  Evidence of good utilisation of service, and plenty of those passengers are only using the service to get to Beenleigh faster anyway.

I should certainly hope we would have a right to better service frequency than before though, given the ridiculous sums invested in the S2K third track and amplifications south of Ormeau.

My concerns on the Sunshine Coast line is that there is no room for growth in the peak, other than more standees.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[somebody]

My concerns on the Sunshine Coast line is that there is no room for growth in the peak, other than more standees.

Well, there is also the option of extending more of the Caboolture trains to Nambour.  Perhaps combined with more empty counter peak movements.

Although the current timetable really shafts the Sunshine Coast line.  Something has to be done to get a better one IMO.

[Fares_Fair]

My concerns on the Sunshine Coast line is that there is no room for growth in the peak, other than more standees.

Well, there is also the option of extending more of the Caboolture trains to Nambour.  Perhaps combined with more empty counter peak movements.

Although the current timetable really shafts the Sunshine Coast line.  Something has to be done to get a better one IMO.

I'm not sure that that is possible Simon, given that 44% of our Caboolture to Nambour weekday services are buses.
Having said that, I hope you are right.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

[somebody]

My concerns on the Sunshine Coast line is that there is no room for growth in the peak, other than more standees.

Well, there is also the option of extending more of the Caboolture trains to Nambour.  Perhaps combined with more empty counter peak movements.

Although the current timetable really shafts the Sunshine Coast line.  Something has to be done to get a better one IMO.

I'm not sure that that is possible Simon, given that 44% of our Caboolture to Nambour weekday services are buses.
Having said that, I hope you are right.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.

That statistic could always be reduced by removing RailBus services!  I wonder how many people use the buses?

The Canadians look at single track freight railways by finding the longest section time and doubling it.  Then they argue that delays escalate rapidly after you use 60% of this capacity. Of course, the tolerance of passengers to delays is significantly less than that for freight!  Given that Beerburrum-Glass House is an 8 minute section, a 30 minute peak frequency should be possible if you don't mind savaging the counter peak timetable and also having an effective freight curfew, at least in the peak direction.

I should certainly hope we would have a right to better service frequency than before though, given the ridiculous sums invested in the S2K third track and amplifications south of Ormeau.

You do have better frequency!  From 14 July 2007, the before 9 AM Central arrivals were:
6:35, 7:11, 7:36, 8:09, 8:30, 8:53
Now it is:
5:56, 6:38, 7:08, 7:23, 7:39, 7:54, 8:09, 8:24, 8:41

Although for the dollars spent, 3 additional AM services, one of which well before the previous first service, seems a bit weak.

in the PM peak, 4PM - 6PM ex-Central in late 2007 is:
4:02, 4:30, 4:57, 5:15, 5:28, 5:59
Now:
4:23, 4:38, 4:53, 5:13, 5:27, 5:39, 5:55.

1 extra service in the PM!!!

[justanotheruser]

You know, if the infrastructure issues were properly addressed they wouldn't be crowded ...

Disagree. I strongly doubt that Mr Newman was talking specifically about the SC line. I can understand though how you may interpret that as if he was, given your experiences as a SC commuter.

Just because something is crowded DOES NOT necessarily indicate that something is a failure or a bad thing.

If a restaurant is popular and full of people, does that make it a bad restaurant that is failing? Are empty restaurants more successful than full ones?

Are rugby games at Suncorp stadium failures because everyone who wants a ticket can't get one and the stadium is too
small to give everyone a seat?

You know you have a SERIOUS PROBLEM if during peak hour your transit system is EMPTY or has mediocre patronage during PEAK HOUR!! Demand exceeds supply during peak hour... fact of life, and this is true for almost ALL modes including car. So Mr Newman is talking utter rubbish with that statement. It's like saying that further upgrades to the sky needs to be done because it is STILL blue!!!

With respect to the Sunshine Coast... more concrete is required and my supportive position for upgrades to that line has been clear. However. If you live there, then its not like it is a secret what the state of that line is.

while it is true an empty train would be a sign of failure I also believe that jam packed trains are also. Crowded is ok. To use the examples you have as proof that packed in like sardines is fine is ludicrous. Lets use your example of stadiums shall we. Lang Park was old and always crowded so they rebuilt it to provide more seats. What did they do at the gabba when more room was required? Thats right they renovated it to remove the dog track. Resaurants also expand their business hours  and seek additional seating if possible. So they do see over-crowding as a problem that needs to be fixed.

[O_128]

You know, if the infrastructure issues were properly addressed they wouldn't be crowded ...

Disagree. I strongly doubt that Mr Newman was talking specifically about the SC line. I can understand though how you may interpret that as if he was, given your experiences as a SC commuter.

Just because something is crowded DOES NOT necessarily indicate that something is a failure or a bad thing.

If a restaurant is popular and full of people, does that make it a bad restaurant that is failing? Are empty restaurants more successful than full ones?

Are rugby games at Suncorp stadium failures because everyone who wants a ticket can't get one and the stadium is too
small to give everyone a seat?

You know you have a SERIOUS PROBLEM if during peak hour your transit system is EMPTY or has mediocre patronage during PEAK HOUR!! Demand exceeds supply during peak hour... fact of life, and this is true for almost ALL modes including car. So Mr Newman is talking utter rubbish with that statement. It's like saying that further upgrades to the sky needs to be done because it is STILL blue!!!

With respect to the Sunshine Coast... more concrete is required and my supportive position for upgrades to that line has been clear. However. If you live there, then its not like it is a secret what the state of that line is.

while it is true an empty train would be a sign of failure I also believe that jam packed trains are also. Crowded is ok. To use the examples you have as proof that packed in like sardines is fine is ludicrous. Lets use your example of stadiums shall we. Lang Park was old and always crowded so they rebuilt it to provide more seats. What did they do at the gabba when more room was required? Thats right they renovated it to remove the dog track. Resaurants also expand their business hours  and seek additional seating if possible. So they do see over-crowding as a problem that needs to be fixed.

your both right, On the ipswich and ferny grove lines overcrowding shows success on the SC line it shows failure.

[SurfRail]

while it is true an empty train would be a sign of failure I also believe that jam packed trains are also. Crowded is ok. To use the examples you have as proof that packed in like sardines is fine is ludicrous. Lets use your example of stadiums shall we. Lang Park was old and always crowded so they rebuilt it to provide more seats. What did they do at the gabba when more room was required? Thats right they renovated it to remove the dog track. Resaurants also expand their business hours  and seek additional seating if possible. So they do see over-crowding as a problem that needs to be fixed.

Well, only in the sense that they need capacity to serve more people and make more money.

The solution is of course to provide more capacity, but that will also eventually (or even immediately) be swallowed up.  There is no such thing as a successful rail system that operates non-crowded services in the peaks.  If you have empty trains, it is because the service is crap (eg here) or because you are spending much more than you need on that service and should be redeploying that funding elsewhere (eg withdrawal of the Whitfords shuttle in Perth).

The same principles apply for road and rail, but the different is that adding to rail is a cheaper way of increasing a city's productivity by maximising the opportunity for travel compared to the dollar spend.

[wbj]

Although regarding the Sunshine Coast and Caboolture lines, the majority of Nambour services are falling short of the benchmark standard in that a number of people are standing beyond Northgate.  This wouldn't be considered acceptable on the Gold Coast line, but somehow north of the river it is.  Go figure.  I think the Petrie services may be alright.

Simple solution to the problem of standing after Northgate in the express services would be to drop the Petrie stop. But I can't see that being popular.

[ozbob]

The standing benchmark used by TransLink is 20 minutes ...

Passenger load is a measure of the
number of trains with a passenger
standing when the train is more than 20
minutes from Central station, or north
or south of Caboolture and Beenleigh
stations respectively for measures on the
Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast lines.

http://translink.com.au/resources/about-translink/reporting-and-publications/2011-12-quarterly-report-jul-to-sep.pdf  page 16

[Fares_Fair]

This 'standing' standard is ignored for Sunshine Coast commuters who regularly stand for around 40-50 minutes in the afternoon peak.

Regards,
Fares_Fair.