Federal election 2013: Articles, discussion etc.

[Fares_Fair]

What is the response of the Queensland State Government, in light of today's comments by the Leader of the Opposition?

[#Metro]

What a DUMB DUMB DUMB announcement!
It's a pattern - plonk a great big road in the three main capitals - Melbourne (East West Link), Sydney (Wasteconnex) and Brisbane (hard to find a road project now that they have all been done but Gateway motorway and Bruce Hwy are what they came up with).

Brisbane is a MARGINAL SEAT FULL OF SWINGING VOTERS. TERESA GAMBARO (LIB) holds the seat by 1.13 % a very slim margin and would benefit greatly from CRR. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-election_pendulum_for_the_Australian_federal_election,_2010

[#Metro]

Read the constitution Mr Abbott...

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/coaca430/s51.html

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA CONSTITUTION ACT - SECT 51

Legislative powers of the Parliament [see Notes 10 and 11]

(xxxiv)  railway construction and extension in any State with the consent of that State;

[ozbob]

Twitter

Robert Dow Robert Dow ‏@Robert_Dow

Abbott:"I think it is important that we stick to our knitting ...." your future with Tony #auspol #qldpol #vicpol http://twitpic.com/cgunfw

[somebody]

Pretty sure Kalgoorlie to Port Augusta was federally funded.

[ozbob]

Melbourne Age --> Boost for rail tunnel

Article discussion --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=9811.msg123591#msg123591

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Rail link a heavy cross to bear for Abbott

Discussion on article --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=2034.msg123594#msg123594

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Opposition leader Tony Abbott backtracks on 2010 election promise taking Brisbane cross river rail off list

Discussion on article --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=2034.msg123598#msg123598

[ozbob]

Sent to all outlets:

5th April 2013

Abbott Urban Rail Funding Bombshell Unconstitutional?

Greetings,

The Australian Constitution Section 51 has specific provisions for urban rail, we can't say the same for roads. Road projects should be funded by private sector or tolls where viable, not public subsidy.

See here ----> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=8248.msg123570#msg123570

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA CONSTITUTION ACT - SECT 51

Legislative powers of the Parliament [see Notes 10 and 11]

(xxxiv)  railway construction and extension in any State with the consent of that State;

Tony Abbott should read the constitution, he might understand how Australian Government actually works. Cutting funding to core rail upgrades is the worst thing to happen since the failure of the Brisbane bus review and will cause a catastrophe where both busway and railway systems overload and then fail with passengers during peak hour causing busway, railway and road system failure across Brisbane.

Even worse, Auckland NZ is moving forward with their own Cross River Rail style upgrade and radical revolutionary, not evolutionary, bus review which will cover all corners of Auckland in all day high frequency public transport. As our nearest international competitor, that's more high paying jobs and employers sucked directly out of the Brisbane CBD if we don't act. Brisbane is going to look like a third world country to international businesses if it can't get workers to work on time.

Both the Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Graham Quirk and Tony Abbott are out of control on Public Transport and need to be pulled back into reality, pronto. The Minister for Transport should step aside if he cannot handle the change process.

Best wishes
Robert

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

Sent to all outlets:

4th April 2013

Position statement: Federal Opposition is wrong on urban rail

RAIL Back On Track strongly supports the Australasian Railway Association in their statement  to the effect that "Tony Abbott to grind Australian cities to a standstill"  (below)

Congestion is chaotic in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane particularly.  The way forward is improved public transport, not more of the failed 1960s roads policies.

At least residents in these cities now know what the Opposition is really thinking.  Thank you, many will now no doubt re-assess their political preference.

Contact:

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


Abbott says no to Vic metro tunnel funds --> http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/2013/04/04/11/51/abbott-says-no-to-vic-metro-tunnel-funds

============================

http://www.ara.net.au/UserFiles/file/Media%20Releases/Tony-Abbott-to-grind-Australian-cities-to-a-standstill.pdf

4 April 2013

Tony Abbott to grind Australian cities to a standstill

The Federal Opposition leader has today demonstrated that he simply does not understand public transport.

"Comments today that an incoming Abbott Government would cut all urban rail funding should send shivers down the spine of commuters everywhere" Australasian Railway Association (ARA) CEO Bryan Nye said.

Over the last decade, public transport use has almost doubled in many of our cities, as Australians realise the congestion-busting benefits that rail transport in particular brings.

"We need more investment in rail and other forms of public transport to keep our cities from grinding to a standstill over the next 20 years, not less", Mr Nye went on to say.

"Clearly not everyone can afford an inner city car parking space, so how does Mr Abbott propose our growing population will get to work each and every day if he refuses to fund public transport?".

In recent years, all sides of politics have acknowledged that the federal government needs to be a key player in public transport in order to ensure a reasonable economic, social and environmental future for our country. Internationally, progressive and conservative governments from the US to the UK and right across Asia and South America all recognise federal involvement in public transport as a sensible approach.

Mr Abbott's hands-off approach goes against even his own party. As his predecessor as Leader of the Opposition, Malcolm Turnbull recently commented: "The sheer efficiency of public transport was a great reminder, actually, for all of us as we consider the problems of congestion in our cities—that there is really no way to ease congestion in big cities other than by investing in mass transit". M Turnbull 20/9/2012

"Leaving public transport solely to the states whilst continuing to fund road projects makes no sense- there is simply no way to coordinate, prioritise and build the public transport our cities need without involvement at a federal level", Mr Nye continued.

"Investment in public transport has advantages in almost every aspect of our lives. Public transport is healthier for us, it reduces carbon emissions, it is safer and above all it creates communities we would rather live in", Mr Nye continued.

One single rail line operating at peak efficiency can carry the same number of people as a ten lane freeway, and one bus can take up to 40 cars off the road.

International and Australian research shows that the overall automobile distance driven per capita is starting to level off and even decline, in contrast to a dramatic increase in public transport patronage over the last decade.

Whilst the current Federal Government has invested more in public transport than all previous governments combined, there is still more funding needed to ensure the future economic, social and environmental viability of our cities and regions.
-ENDS-

[ozbob]

Twitter

Daniel Bowen ‏@danielbowen 1m

Blog: Abbott reckons the Commonwealth doesn't fund railways... Of course they do. Here are some examples. http://www.danielbowen.com/2013/04/05/commonwealth-funded-railways/ ...

[ozbob]

Poll update:

Poll: Is a rail tunnel better than a road tunnel?

Yes 84%
No 16%

Total votes: 6080.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/boost-for-rail-tunnel-20130404-2h9wq.html#ixzz2PXpikiVM

Melbourne Age --> Boost for rail tunnel

Article discussion --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=9811.msg123591#msg123591

[ozbob]

Twitter

Robyn Ironside ‏@ironsider 2m

Transport Minister Scott Emerson says he's disappointed with Tony Abbott's refusal to fund urban rail projects.
https://twitter.com/ironsider/status/319982479123574784/photo/1

[ozbob]

Twitter

Daniel Bowen ‏@danielbowen 2m

Good @DoyleMelbourne comment at end MT @7NewsMelbourne: Melb could be one of the world's most congested cities http://yhoo.it/12i8ean

[ozbob]

Twitter

Anthony Albanese ‏@AlboMP 47m

Abbott has confirmed the #noalition will not fund any urban public transport projects, regardless of assessment by Infrastructure Australia

[Fares_Fair]

CRR also affects the movement of freight through Brisbane, as does the North Coast Line through to Cairns.
I would expect these to still be federally funded given their 'dual' nature of freight and passenger service movements.

EDIT added
If the current economic bottleneck continues, and free trade between the states is restricted by current Cross River limitations and NCL duplication, then they become truly constitutional issues.

That makes them Federal matters.

[ozbob]

Poll update:

Poll: Is a rail tunnel better than a road tunnel?

Yes 84%
No 16%

Total votes: 6080.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/boost-for-rail-tunnel-20130404-2h9wq.html#ixzz2PXpikiVM

Melbourne Age --> Boost for rail tunnel

Article discussion --> http://railbotforum.org/mbs/index.php?topic=9811.msg123591#msg123591

Final

Poll: Is a rail tunnel better than a road tunnel?

Yes 85%
No 15%

Total votes: 6782.

Poll closed 5 Apr, 2013

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/boost-for-rail-tunnel-20130404-2h9wq.html

[#Metro]

If the current economic bottleneck continues, and free trade between the states is restricted by current Cross River limitations and NCL duplication, then they become truly constitutional issues.

I think this was only so far as border taxes and tariffs went, at least historically

[ozbob]

Melbourne Age --> Abbott comment throws doubt on rail, road funding

Brisbanetimes --> 'Crunch time' rapidly approaching for Brisbane rail

Couriermail --> Queensland rails against Tony Abbott's tunnel vision

[ozbob]

Twitter

Robert Dow ‏@Robert_Dow 6s

Memo to Transport Academics, how about getting off your backsides and inform the urban PT debate? #auspol #qldpol #vicpol #nswpol #wapol

[ozbob]

Crikey --> What's your problem with public transport, Mister Abbott?

What's your problem with public transport, Mister Abbott?

What's your problem with public transport, Mister Abbott?
Alan Davies | Apr 07, 2013 8:13PM

The Coalition's decision to abolish federal funding for urban rail projects will have an enormous impact on Australian cities if an Abbott government is installed in Canberra on 14 September.

Last week Mr Abbott said the Commonwealth government has a long history of funding roads, but

    We have no history of funding urban rail and I think it is important that we stick to our knitting. And the commonwealth's knitting when it comes to funding infrastructure is roads.

This policy would effectively demolish plans for a swag of urban rail proposals around the country that're premised on the Federal government providing the lion's share of capital funding.

The top two major projects on Infrastructure Australia's "ready to proceed" urban priority list are Brisbane Cross River Rail and Melbourne Metro Stage One.

The next stage of Brisbane's Eastern Busway is also on the priority list. Infrastructure Australia's says it will be marked ready to go once "a small number of outstanding issues" are addressed.

Other projects on the list but not as advanced include Sydney's NW rail link, capacity improvements to the Sydney commuter network, Melbourne's Dandenong rail line, Gold Coast light rail, and electrification of the Melton rail line.

Brisbane's Courier Mail headlined its report on Mr Abbott's announcement: Opposition leader Tony Abbott backtracks on 2010 election promise taking Brisbane cross river rail off list. The West Australian followed suit: State rail projects in danger of unravelling.

Mr Abbott's claim that the Commonwealth has no history of funding urban rail projects doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

As Daniel Bowen points out, the Commonwealth is helping fund Qld's Moreton Bay Rail Link, Victoria's Regional Rail Link, Perth City rail Link, and Adelaide's rail electrification project. Moreover, he says if you go back a few years:

    Melbourne's Cranbourne line was upgraded and electrified in the 90s with money from the Commonwealth's Building Better Cities scheme. Commonwealth funding was also used for the "4D" double-deck development train.

The Leader of the Opposition's policy pronouncement is however consistent with the reluctance conservative governments have historically shown toward treating urban affairs as a distinct policy area. The conservative view is it doesn't have national implications.

The trouble in this case, though, is Mr Abbott has already promised to fund transport infrastructure projects in some Australian major cities. It's just that all his undertakings relate to roads.

He's promised to contribute $1.5 billion to the proposed East-West Link in Melbourne and another $1.5 billion to Sydney's WestConnex motorway on condition it links to the CBD.

The Coalition's election manifesto, Our plan: real solutions for all Australians, also says a Liberal government would contribute $1 billion toward Brisbane's Gateway Motorway upgrade and provide (as yet unspecified) funding for Perth's airport Gateway road project.

What's not in the document though is any parallel commitment to improve urban public transport. Indeed, urban public transport isn't mentioned at all, even in passing.

That's despite the fact demand for public transport has grown strongly in most of Australia's capital cities over the last ten years.

For example, patronage on Melbourne's rail network increased 70% over the last ten years and by 40% over the last five.

The underlying drivers of this growth aren't mere temporary blips. Mr Abbott is ignoring structural changes in demographics; in the composition of the economy; and in the relative price of travel by different modes.

Failure to fund key public transport projects is an efficiency issue as much as anything else. It will limit the economic capacity of Australia's major cities.

There are other problems inherent in Mr Abbott's evident inclination to involve himself in urban policy but only via freeways. Consider, for example, the proposed $9 billion Melbourne Metro rail tunnel.

It's a key issue because the Prime Minister promised last week to contribute Commonwealth funding to build it (the amount is unspecified, but would need to be in the order of 75% plus).

But if it isn't funded by a Coalition government, the Victorian government says other expansions of the metropolitan rail network couldn't proceed i.e. popular proposals for new rail lines to the airport, Doncaster and Rowville.

Mr Abbott's promise to provide $1.5 billion for Melbourne's East-West Link freeway presents another problem.

Although they'd have largely different functions, the Melbourne Metro and the East-West Link road are competing for scarce State and Commonwealth funding.

The Victorian government says the ratio of benefits to costs for Melbourne Metro is 1.30 i.e. it's positive. As noted, Infrastructure Australia has classified it in its top 'Ready to Proceed' category.

However the East-West Link road proposal isn't fully developed yet. It's only classified by Infrastructure Australia at the 'Real Potential' stage, the second of four categories.

    Proposals included at Early Stage and Real Potential are at the initial stages of development and range from those that seek to address a problem of national significance that is still being investigated before solutions are proposed, to those that explore a range of potential solutions.

There isn't a final business case for the East-West Link yet. Moreover, as I've discussed recently, the best evidence available suggests the benefit-cost ratio for East-West Link is only around 0.50 i.e. the benefits are only half the costs!

The Coalition's aversion to funding public transport in cities isn't a mere stumble by the Leader of the Opposition or some transitory political convenience. As the Coalition's election statement shows, it runs much deeper. It's ideological.

Most observers think it's a foregone conclusion that the Coalition will be in government after 14 September, very likely with a strapping majority that will give them at least two terms in office.

Unless the State's can encourage Mr Abbott to back-pedal, our big cities could become much less attractive to residents and businesses.

It's therefore important to understand what thinking underlies the Coalition's position and where urban transport goes from here. That's an important question I'll come back to.

[ozbob]

Crikey --> Has the Coalition (already) broken a promise?

Has the Coalition (already) broken a promise?
Alan Davies | Apr 09, 2013

The Coalition has committed to rigorously evaluating infrastructure proposals on merit if it wins government. But five months out from the election it seems to have blithely ignored its own promise

There's a very interesting passage at page 31 of the Coalition's election manifesto, Our plan: real solutions for all Australians – the direction, values and policy priorities of the next Coalition government.

It sets out how an Abbott government would empower Infrastructure Australia to ensure taxpayer funding is applied cost-effectively to construct infrastructure rather than being "just wasted money".

This is what the statement commits the Coalition to do:

    We will strengthen the role of Infrastructure Australia, improve its governance and make it more transparent and accountable, as well as a more effective adviser.

    We will require all Commonwealth-funded projects worth more than $100 million to undergo a cost-benefit analysis by Infrastructure Australia to ensure the best use of available taxpayer monies.

    We will require Infrastructure Australia to publish justifications for all its project recommendations.

    We will prioritize projects based on a proper cost-benefit analysis.

    Within 12 months of election we will announce infrastructure priorities and construction timetables in consultation with the States.

That all sounds very proper and sensible, especially the insistence on cost-benefit analysis as a basis for prioritising projects. The commitment to publish the rationale for recommendations is very worthy too.

As the Coalition's manifesto says, a commitment to an objective, evidence-based process of evaluation is indeed likely to "deliver better value from infrastructure spending".

It'd be a great policy – and warrant kudos to Tony Abbott and his team – if it hadn't already been trashed.

But it's entirely at odds with the promise made by the Coalition in June last year (see media release) that an Abbott Government would commit $4 billion to accelerate construction of three specific freeway projects:

East-West Link (Victoria) – $1.5 billion

M4 East (NSW) – $1.5 billion

Gateway Motorway upgrade: Nudgee to the Bruce Highway (Queensland) – $1 billion.

No sign of the promised transparency and accountability here, much less the commitment to cost-benefit analysis.

Moreover, not one of these projects is in either Infrastructure Australia's 'Ready to Proceed' category or its next-best 'Threshold' category (for projects that are reasonably close to ready). Rather, they're in the preliminary 'Early Stage' or 'Real Potential' categories.

Melbourne's East-West Link at least has the benefit of prior analytical work done by Sir Rod Eddington in 2008 on improving east-west transport connections across Melbourne. However as I noted on Sunday, that work indicated the benefit-cost ratio for this road is almost certainly negative.

It's possible that further investigations and intensive design work might produce positive cost-benefit ratios for one or two of these projects, but of course at this stage that's unknown.

The fact is the Coalition has committed to a process to evaluate projects that it's already disregarded.

The surprising thing is it published the election manifesto in January this year, six months after the $4 billion commitment was first made. That's either incredibly foolish or incredibly arrogant.

And no, I'm not being partisan, as some (elsewhere) have suggested. I've been just as critical of Labor and Julia Gillard when warranted e.g. here and here.

[ozbob]

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> A federal election on the horizon means politicians of every stripe will have plenty to offer Australian voters



AN artist's impression of the Gabba Station as part of the proposed Cross River Rail.
The project is likely to become a political football in the lead-up to the federal election. Source: The Courier-Mail

[#Metro]

Cross river rail and the entire rail core plus CBD sit within the marginal electorate of BRISBANE held by liberal MP Theresa Gambaro and is held by 1%. Politicians love marginal seats and even better as it os a network upgrade, impact will be felt across SEQ. Dumb politically not to fund it.

[ozbob]

Melbourne Age --> Without the tunnel, Napthine is in a hole

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> Abbott's knitting unravels as talk turns to highway and rail funding

[ozbob]

The Guardian --> ALBANESE: Why Labor deserves your vote

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Palmer revives Menzies' party to contest fed poll

[ozbob]

Fascinating press conference with the UAP happening --> http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/brisbane-live/brisbane-live-at-work-friday-april-26-20130424-2ieo1.html

[ozbob]

Brisbanetimes --> Embrace the pain

[somebody]

A comment I got from the internet:
'Voting for Tony Abbott because you hate Julia Gillard is like eating sh1t because you hate spinach'

[Golliwog]

A comment I got from the internet:
'Voting for Tony Abbott because you hate Julia Gillard is like eating sh1t because you hate spinach'

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a big fan of some of the sh!t that's gone on with Labor, but that's basically sums up my opinion on the current situation.

[ozbob]

Twitter

Robyn Ironside ‏@ironsider 8m

Transport Minister, Opposition leader and Premier at Brisbane transport management centre. http://t.co/QGYEnSS4jO

[ozbob]

Twitter

Robyn Ironside ‏@ironsider 26s

Premier says he wanted to show the Opposition leader traffic issues Brisbane grapples with each day. #qldpol

[ozbob]

Twitter

Robyn Ironside Robyn Ironside ‏@ironsider 1m

Tony Abbott offering "message of hope and optimism". Says he's offering $1B for gateway Motorway upgrade from Deagon deviation to Bruce Hway

[ozbob]

Twitter

patrick condren ‏@PatrickCondren 11s

.@TonyAbbottMHR will continue to study bris cross river rail but won't commit to funding it @theqldpremier

[ozbob]

Twitter

Robyn Ironside ‏@ironsider 39s

Tony Abbott confirms Cross River Rail is off the agenda for the coalition, at least in their first term. #qldpol

[ozbob]

Twitter

Robyn Ironside Robyn Ironside ‏@ironsider 9s

Premier says Mr Abbbott's refusal to fund cross river rail doesn't mean they'll accept Labor's offer of $715m. #qldpol

[SurfRail]

[ozbob]

Couriermail --> High-profile MPs Wayne Swan and Kevin Rudd vulnerable at election as Labor support hits 21-month low