The stadium issue is just a lot of fluff. $3 billion and health gets $40+ billion and schools get over $160 billion and people are complaining about $3 billion. I think it is just that $3 billion sounds like a lot of money and people are unaware of how much money is actually spent in these other areas.

Have any of you fellows posting been reading the recent polls? Parties level-pegging, Daley preferred premier, and a strong anti-Nats movement in the bush. The election will not be the lay-down misere for the coalition which some of you believe it to be. Hung parliament a strong possibility. ALP win at much shorter odds than previously thought.

... I think it is just that $3 billion sounds like a lot of money

$3bil *is* a lot of money.

... I think it is just that $3 billion sounds like a lot of money

$3bil *is* a lot of money.

Liberals are dead meat both Federally and state.

Have any of you fellows posting been reading the recent polls? Parties level-pegging, Daley preferred premier, and a strong anti-Nats movement in the bush. The election will not be the lay-down misere for the coalition which some of you believe it to be. Hung parliament a strong possibility. ALP win at much shorter odds than previously thought.

Look what happened in Victoria.  Before the election, the polls were suggesting a close result with the possibility of Labor only just hanging on.  It turned out to be a complete wipe-out. I'm expecting the same result in NSW, especially with all of the negative press about privatisation of public assets.  The Coalition is running out of public assets to privatise as a means of financing new infrastructure.  What then?  They will have no choice, as governments have done through the decades, to borrow responsibly to fund the increasing infrastructure demands of a growing population.  Debt doesn't have to be a dirty word as many would have you believe.

The Auditor General said they never did their sums on the Newcastle Tram, the Newcastle Herald did a scathing report.
Lets throw millions about, like double the initial guess, what are you going to tell Hunter business's like 'toughen up' at Wickam who had to pack up?
Stick the cash splash,

As the fourth poster...Glady's is a dead woman walking...

No effective opposition

Hasn't done enough wrong

Plenty of cash splashed

Should get back in easily

Going to be impacted by Federal stench
Daly is kicking some early goals (eg stadiums).

Wont be as easy as we think, IMO....

Agree.  One shouldn't assume that Labor will just carry on from where they left off in 2011.  It is after all 8 years ago, which is an eternity in politics.  I would think they would be much smarter than that and learn the lessons from their defeat.  Michael Daly seems to be a more astute political operator than Luke Foley, which is evidenced by his high approval rating with only a limited time in the leadership role.  The greatest failing of the current government, in spite of the huge infrastructure program, is the lack of transparency in their decision making, much of which has been made behind closed doors, ignoring public feed-back from community consultation.  The C&SELR fiasco;  the North West Rail Link community consultation process morphing into an incompatible metro and taking over the Epping to Chatswood Rail link, without being suggested as an option prior to consultation; conversion of the Bankstown Line to metro against the wishes of the local community; relocating the Powerhouse Museum to Parramatta before a business case had been released; ignoring Parramatta City Council's preliminary light rail feasibility study recommendations; Ausgrid privatisation deal which has now come to light; Sydney Ports' privatisation and the stadiums.  Need I go on?

... The greatest failing of the current government, in spite of the huge infrastructure program, is the lack of transparency in their decision making, much of which has been made behind closed doors, ignoring public feed-back from community consultation.  The C&SELR fiasco;  the North West Rail Link community consultation process morphing into an incompatible metro and taking over the Epping to Chatswood Rail link, without being suggested as an option prior to consultation; conversion of the Bankstown Line to metro against the wishes of the local community; relocating the Powerhouse Museum to Parramatta before a business case had been released; ignoring Parramatta City Council's preliminary light rail feasibility study recommendations; Ausgrid privatisation deal which has now come to light; Sydney Ports' privatisation and the stadiums.  Need I go on?

A deeper problem is the quality of the senior public servants who advise whichever party is in government.

I think that most of the hare-brained schemes above were cooked up by lazy public servants attempting to match vague ideas with their interpretation of the current political ideology.

Labor chose schemes that fitted with Treasury's ideas about return on capital and so achieved very little.

The Liberals support anything that reduces the employment of unionists, releases public land for private development, and if possible, gives the appearance of positive action. In spite of this, parts of some of their projects are likely to be quite useful.

To both parties, NSW public servants serve up rubbish ideas to meet the expectations of the party in power.

Since Nick Greiner abolished them, there are no more permanent heads of department to ask "Would that be wise, minister?".

I would like to see the V Set replacements, replaced with brand new(er) V sets, with thick comfortable forward facing vinyl seats, the same kind of plush carpet and sound deadening materials used in the existing V Sets, all made in Australian workshops using Australian steel.

The XPT/XPL replacements should also have forward facing chunky vinyl seats (like the V sets). The loco and carriages should be designed in Australia from the ground up, be manufactured in Australia, using Australian Steel.

Vote 1:    V Set Party.

Why only one type of seat? Why not :
* some forward facing
* some backwards facing
* some turnover seats?

The forward and backwards facing seats should not face each other.

The existing turnover seats on the V sets are fine, along with the backward facing benches at each end. But the fixed backward seating currently under construction on the v set replacements are a backward idea. The Tangaras G sets and the Oscar's don't have fixed seating so why should the new fleet?

Vote 1: V-sets

A deeper problem is the quality of the senior public servants who advise whichever party is in government.

I think that most of the hare-brained schemes above were cooked up by lazy public servants attempting to match vague ideas with their interpretation of the current political ideology.

Labor chose schemes that fitted with Treasury's ideas about return on capital and so achieved very little.

The Liberals support anything that reduces the employment of unionists, releases public land for private development, and if possible, gives the appearance of positive action. In spite of this, parts of some of their projects are likely to be quite useful.

To both parties, NSW public servants serve up rubbish ideas to meet the expectations of the party in power.

Since Nick Greiner abolished them, there are no more permanent heads of department to ask "Would that be wise, minister?".

I think consultants are now taking over the role of the public service and may be pushing their own agendas, which may not necessarily be in the public interest. The public service has now lost much of its technical expertise, acting in the interest of the state and is unable to properly vet advice from external consultants.

... I think it is just that $3 billion sounds like a lot of money

$3bil *is* a lot of money.

not today it isn't when nsw has a half trillion dollar economy

The existing turnover seats on the V sets are fine, along with the backward facing benches at each end. But the fixed backward seating currently under construction on the v set replacements are a backward idea. The Tangaras G sets and the Oscar's don't have fixed seating so why should the new fleet?

Vote 1: V-sets

v sets are old, need replacing and the seats are only comfortable for some people. I personally don't find the v set seats at all that comfortable although obviously nowhere near as bad as oscar seats are. Being in a v set normally always give me a migraine headache due to the poor ac and general cabin quality.

I will agree that the non reversible seating is a bad idea on the new intercity fleet and is only being done to save money. The seats don't need usb charging either since people should have enough battery charge or have there own battery bank device to recharge there own devices.

As for the election I think that polls are rarely that accurate and all you have to do is look at labor in victoria where the existing government with a good record on building things got re elected even though polls said otherwise. Of course the fly in the ointment is will the NSW libs get done over by the outcry over the federal libs.

I'll tell you why Gladys will get the punt in 2 words, George Street. 1000's of people affected by the huge stuff up in the main area of Sydney, the Light Rail should have been up and running by the March election, but now won't be completed until at least a year later than expected, people are very angry about this.

Kind Regards

I'll tell you why Gladys will get the punt in 2 words, George Street. 1000's of people affected by the huge stuff up in the main area of Sydney, the Light Rail should have been up and running by the March election, but now won't be completed until at least a year later than expected, people are very angry about this.

Kind Regards

George street is not an election loser. Sure it is a pain that it is late but people are taking to the new open bits and can see the end of the tunnel. Only a small minority are angry about this and people such as yourself making a much bigger deal out of this issue. Trams will be testing down george street during the election to remind people that it was worth the wait.

If your really going to blame someone for the light rail then blame clover moore since light rail in george street was her pet want as mayor of Sydney. In hindsight I think the libs might have chosen a metro instead.

I'll tell you why Gladys will get the punt in 2 words, George Street. 1000's of people affected by the huge stuff up in the main area of Sydney, the Light Rail should have been up and running by the March election, but now won't be completed until at least a year later than expected, people are very angry about this.

Kind Regards

George street is not an election loser. Sure it is a pain that it is late but people are taking to the new open bits and can see the end of the tunnel. Only a small minority are angry about this and people such as yourself making a much bigger deal out of this issue. Trams will be testing down george street during the election to remind people that it was worth the wait.

If your really going to blame someone for the light rail then blame clover moore since light rail in george street was her pet want as mayor of Sydney. In hindsight I think the libs might have chosen a metro instead.

It is a big issue, I am not making a real big deal of the issue, as it doesn't really affect me in anyway, but I have been there and seen the huge mess that it has created. it's the business owners that are making a big deal out of it, and they have every right to, as it affects there day to day business.

Kind Regards

I'll tell you why Gladys will get the punt in 2 words, George Street. 1000's of people affected by the huge stuff up in the main area of Sydney, the Light Rail should have been up and running by the March election, but now won't be completed until at least a year later than expected, people are very angry about this.

Kind Regards

George street is not an election loser. Sure it is a pain that it is late but people are taking to the new open bits and can see the end of the tunnel. Only a small minority are angry about this and people such as yourself making a much bigger deal out of this issue. Trams will be testing down george street during the election to remind people that it was worth the wait.

If your really going to blame someone for the light rail then blame clover moore since light rail in george street was her pet want as mayor of Sydney. In hindsight I think the libs might have chosen a metro instead.

I doubt if trams will be testing down George St during the election campaign sims, but agree with you 100% that the South East Metro would have been a better option, considering how much the cost of the light rail has blown out.  It doesn't need hindsight to come to that conclusion.  The major justification was to remove the conga line of buses down George St, which is a legitimate reason, but when you consider the cost of disruption to businesses and to the public generally, you'd wonder whether it was worth it.  A metro, although more expensive, would cause minimal disruption during construction and would be more beneficial in the longer term by providing ample future capacity, which the light rail won't.  

Similarly, metro lines along the Parramatta Rd and Victoria Rd corridors would also significantly reduce the bus congestion in George St.  Light Rail is not an option in the CBD for a city the size of Sydney, just as it wouldn't be in major cities like London, Paris and New York.

Since Glady's wants to keep her job, it was smart to pull the trigger as soon as possible. The Federal Coalition is poison at the moment and the longer they are in the headlines the worse it will be for the NSW Coalition.  It'll be even worse for her if ScoMo calls a Federal election for April or May, which it looks like he's going to do.

Glady’s doesn’t get to pull any triggers, nsw has fixed four year terms. The cards just fell.

It is a big issue, I am not making a real big deal of the issue, as it doesn't really affect me in anyway, but I have been there and seen the huge mess that it has created. it's the business owners that are making a big deal out of it, and they have every right to, as it affects there day to day business.

Kind Regards

No it isn't and of course a mess was created because it is called construction. A bit difficult not to make a mess when you are constructing a project down the oldest street in the country. Most of the hard stuff is done and completion is not far away and when trams are running people will forget about the difficulties.

What is more likely to kill this government is not it's projects but it's privatisation policies, rising electricity, homelessness, foreign ownership of private housing resulting in the inability for young people to buy or even able to afford to rent homes. Land valuation benefiting their developer mates and perception of corruption.

We have 40+ years of backlogged infrastructure being built and so not a single transport project will affect this government being re elected. It will be other intangibles they are failing at which will cost them in march.

What will cost them votes is that there is very little attention being paid outside the Sydney basin.

Wagga is a case in point.

It is a big issue, I am not making a real big deal of the issue, as it doesn't really affect me in anyway, but I have been there and seen the huge mess that it has created. it's the business owners that are making a big deal out of it, and they have every right to, as it affects there day to day business.

Kind Regards

No it isn't and of course a mess was created because it is called construction. A bit difficult not to make a mess when you are constructing a project down the oldest street in the country. Most of the hard stuff is done and completion is not far away and when trams are running people will forget about the difficulties.

What is more likely to kill this government is not it's projects but it's privatisation policies, rising electricity, homelessness, foreign ownership of private housing resulting in the inability for young people to buy or even able to afford to rent homes. Land valuation benefiting their developer mates and perception of corruption.

We have 40+ years of backlogged infrastructure being built and so not a single transport project will affect this government being re elected. It will be other intangibles they are failing at which will cost them in march.

Should the Libs be re-elected, wait for the, or attempt to privatise Sydney Water. It's been streamlined/corporiteized in preparation.

Glady’s doesn’t get to pull any triggers, nsw has fixed four year terms. The cards just fell.

Heh, forgot about that.

How about just simply washing the V sets for a start.....

Platform skeptics are suggesting that the V sets are currently not being washed so that the NIF gets re-announced as election sweetner....and everyone falls over themselves thinking this new nirvana will be fantastic.

Seems like all the other set types are being run through the wash plants regularly...just not the Vsets

Regards,

Catchpoint

I too have noticed that the v sets are covered in red mud/dust. This could well be the setup of an election promise:

All v sets to get regular washing.

Vote 1: Gladys Party