Bracks & Public Transport: Do As I Say, Not As I Do
It would seem that while the Bracks government think public transport should be good enough for everyone else, when it comes to themselves they prefer to do the one thing they continually demonise ordinary Victorians for doing - driving.The Bracks government is set to impose it's new parking tax from January 1, and commuters should ask how many of the Bracks' government's own MPs and Ministers will be catching public transport to work. After all, the declared intention of the tax is to encourage commuters, which most MPs and Ministers are, considering they work on Spring Street, to use public transport:
The Government is expected to raise $38 million in revenue through the levy from 2008, with Melbourne City Council to get a $5 million slice.
It claims the levy will reduce congestion, improve the environment, and encourage more people to use public transport, but critics believe it will do little to achieve those aims. - The Age
As a Year 11 student commuting across the city to Melbourne High School, I can remember Denis Napthine, opposition leader, jumping on my train one morning at Clifton Hill Station, for the ride into Parliament. Yet I have never seen an ALP MP or Cabinet member on public transport, instead I often see Peter Batchelor being scooted around the CBD in a chauffer driven Statesman, and the Parliament House car park full of MPs taxpayer funded cars.
posted by JP @ 10:29 AM
3 Comments:
I clearly remember, in 1999, Peter Costello on an early morning bus in Canberra, being dropped off at Parliament House. Brendan Nelson often rides an old fashioned Penny Farthing to work. Bracks and his statesman, elitist!
As the Brits might say "On yer bike, Bracksy."
Those who govern, including the bureaucrats, do so from ignorance of the plight of those they are aelected and appointed to serve. Until they get out there and mix it with the common herd on their daily travels (and travails) our public transport system will remain a diabolical disaster. Yet there are so many simple, and relatively inexpensive, steps that could be taken to make it work better.
It's PETER Batchelor. I know a PAUL Batchelor. He's a paramedic. Luckily, they allow him to drive an ambulance to do his job. I doubt Mr Herald Scum's cold corpse would be singing praise if the paramedics arrived on foot.
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