Australian Politics Forum

buzzanddidj

Gold Member

Offline

Australian Politics

Posts: 14137
Eganstown, via Daylesford, VIC
Gender: male

Re: BaillieuWatch
Reply #1680 - Jul 14^th, 2011 at 2:58pm

Police step up pay claim with graphic ads

July 14, 2011 13:52:30

The Victorian Police Association has released a series of graphic advertisements as part of its pay campaign.

The billboard shows a female officer who was glassed in the face and a bloodied officer who was attacked on duty.

They will be displayed on billboards across Melbourne.

Police want a 4.5 per cent wage increase, but the State Government is offering 2.5 per cent.

The Police Association's Greg Davies says the pay offer is an insult.

"This is a stark reminder to our Government that police officers are real people who incur real injuries, while they're trying to do a real job," he said.

"To be told by the State Government that they have to take a real wage reduction is an outrage, particularly when 2,000 of our members are assaulted every year."

Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews says the Premier must honour his election promise to increase police pay.

"These billboards should serve as a reminder today to Ted Baillieu that if you promise a three-per-cent pay rise before the election, then you should deliver that afterwards," he said.

"It's very important that Ted Baillieu understands that Victoria Police are angry and that the community I think are angry, that promises were made before the election, and they have not been kept."
[/size]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-07-14/police2c-graphic2c-pay-campaign/2794732

Back to top

'I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.'

- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

IP Logged

buzzanddidj

Gold Member

Offline

Australian Politics

Posts: 14137
Eganstown, via Daylesford, VIC
Gender: male

Re: BaillieuWatch
Reply #1681 - Jul 15^th, 2011 at 10:05am

Desal wages 'same' as other state projects

Ben Schneiders
July 15, 2011

THE controversial wages deal at Wonthaggi's desalination plant was due to Victoria's powerful unions and unique industrial relations climate, with the high wages almost identical to other similar Victorian projects.

The comments from the top human resources executive at desal builder Thiess come as Premier Ted Baillieu has voiced ''significant concern'' about the high wages at the desal plant and warned about the effect on funding big projects of rising labour costs in construction.

Thiess senior executive Simone Wetzlar said the rates at the desal plant had been
''sensationalised''
.

She said workers were paid at similar rates to other projects involving significant metal construction, such as the Mortlake power station.

An industry analysis shows a labourer working a 56-hour week can potentially gross nearly $3000 a week in wages, overtime and allowances at Wonthaggi - although wet weather has cut the possible earnings for many workers.

Privately, senior industry figures are highly critical of the deal struck by Thiess, saying it conceded significant ground to unions.

Electrical Trades Union state secretary Dean Mighell said his members worked long hours and were able to earn high penalty rates by working 12-hour days for four days straight, which helped make the project ''so attractive to ETU members''.

Mr Mighell said that while the wages were good, he expected many workers to be unemployed for lengthy periods once work finished due to a lack of major projects on the horizon.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/desal-wages-same-as-other-state-projects-20110...

Back to top

'I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.'

- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

IP Logged

lisa.greek Gold Member Offline Australian Politics Posts: 1595 Cairns QLD	Re: BaillieuWatch Reply #1682 - Jul 20^th, 2011 at 10:19am Good to see Big Ted and O'Farrell helping Oprah out. Shame the money couldn't have gone to sometime like funding their many broken election promises. But enjoy the show! http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/taxpayers-forked-out-650000-for-oprah-winfreys-melbourne-visit/story-e6frfq80-1226098000121
Back to top	IP Logged

FRED.

Gold Member

Offline

Australian Politics

Posts: 3698

Re: BaillieuWatch
Reply #1683 - Jul 20^th, 2011 at 10:24am

lisa.greek wrote on Jul 20^th, 2011 at 10:19am:

Good to see Big Ted and O'Farrell helping Oprah out. Shame the money couldn't have gone to sometime like funding their many broken election promises. But enjoy the show!

http://www.news.com.au/travel/news/taxpayers-forked-out-650000-for-oprah-winfreys-melbourne-visit/story-e6frfq80-1226098000121

Photo: Australia-bound: Oprah Winfrey and some of her audience members.Sorry, this video has expired
Video: Oprah headed to Oz (ABC News)
Related Story: Oprah's Oz trip a 'major coup'Map: Australia
More than $3 million will be spent by the Federal and NSW governments getting talk show queen Oprah Winfrey to Australia, but Tourism Minister Martin Ferguson says it will be worth every cent.

Winfrey announced overnight she would fly 300 members of her audience to Australia for an eight-day trip in December.

During the visit Winfrey will shoot several episodes of her daytime talk show, which has a weekly following of 40 million Americans and is screened in 145 countries.

The trip will be partly financed with $1.5 million from Tourism Australia's current financial year marketing budget.

The NSW Government has contributed a further $1 million to $2 million.

"I think it's money well spent," Mr Ferguson told a news conference in Sydney.

"This truly represents an amazing opportunity to showcase Australia, the warmth and hospitality of our people and the depth and breadth of everything our country has to offer visitors from around the world.

"Tourism Australia is finally getting it together.

"We as a nation will win as a result of this coup."

Tourism Australia chief executive Andrew McEvoy says Australia will gain invaluable exposure from Winfrey's visit.

"Our ability as an industry to sell off the back of this and get more Americans and, in fact, more global travellers to take that same trip these people take is phenomenal," he said.

Former federal tourism minister John Brown has implored the media not to be "cynical about the cost".

"We spent hundreds of millions of dollars over 30 years without much effect, I must say that honestly," he said.

"The publicity that Oprah will bring to Australia around the world is something you couldn't buy."

NSW Premier Kristina Keneally says the trip has been in the planning stages for the past year.

She paid tribute to those in the government who kept it confidential.

"In the NSW Government, we dubbed it Project O," she said.

Winfrey and her guests will visit the Sydney Opera House, Melbourne's shopping districts and the Great Barrier Reef in far north Queensland.

The talk show host says she has wanted
Grin

Keneally and Fergursen Wink

ALP ALP Grin

Back to top

« Last Edit: Jul 20^th, 2011 at 10:40am by FRED. »

IP Logged

lisa.greek

Gold Member

Offline

Australian Politics

Posts: 1595
Cairns QLD

Re: BaillieuWatch
Reply #1684 - Jul 20^th, 2011 at 10:36am

SHE'S one of the world's richest people, with a bank balance in the hundreds of millions if not billions, but seemingly a trip to Melbourne was just too much for Oprah's Winfrey's purse to bear.

Taxpayers had to stump up $650,000 to pay for Winfrey's three-day tour of the city with 92 of her closest friends.

Winfrey and her guests made the trip to Australia to celebrate the end of her talk show.

The trip, which included stops in Queensland, Sydney and Uluru, was supposed to be a boost for Australian tourism but since Winfrey's Ultimate Australian Adventure first aired in February visitor numbers from the US have actually dropped.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
Related CoverageOprah: Secret kept from minister Oprah Winfrey down under
NEWS.com.au, 1 hour ago
The phantom cost of Oprah
Adelaide Now, 9 hours ago
Taxpayers stung for Oprah's high life
Herald Sun, 10 hours ago
Oprah's Down Under show a big blowout
Herald Sun, 10 hours ago
Web-surfers flock on Oprah's word
Herald Sun, 24 Jan 2011End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
It cost the country $5 million to bring over the talk show host and her audience. But the bill for Winfrey's trip to Melbourne shows how much tourism bosses were willing to go to keep her happy.

Fine dining

Receipts released under Freedom of Information laws after a fight by the Herald Sun newspaper show:

- Winfrey's guests stayed at the Intercontinental Melbourne at The Rialto with taxpayers' dishing out $78,828 for their rooms, dining, mini-bar, room service and even long-distance phone calls.

- They dined in some of the city's best restaurants, including Rockpool, The Press Club, maze, The Point, The Langham and Daylesford's Lake House.

- They were given gold class visits to the city's finest attractions, including $60,000 for chopper flights to the Twelve Apostles, $10,000 for hot air balloon trips and an almost $14,000 visit to Domaine Chandon winery in the Yarra Valley.

And just to make sure Winfrey knew how much Melbourne loved them, taxpayers shelled out $108,000 to say goodbye with a private dinner at Block Arcade.

Victoria's Tourism Minister Louise Asher told the Herald Sun the money was well spent.

"If you calculate the equivalent advertising space the Victorian part of her shows, which was seven minutes in total, the value of that is $4.2 million," Ms Asher said.

Taxpayers also paid $30,700 to fly 92 of Winfrey's audience and 21 crew and staff from Sydney to Melbourne.

They were also thrown an $80,000-plus welcome party - a $775-a-head event organised by Peter Jones Special Events for Winfrey's audience guests and 49 others, including 19 Tourism Victoria staff and a welcome gift of a Nicola Cerini tote bag (cost $12,915) containing a journal ($2195) and Koko Black chocolates ($1244).Winfrey's Federation Square square appearance cost almost $160,000.

****************************************************

LOL "Victoria's Tourism Minister Louise Asher told the Herald Sun the money was well spent"

Pizz myself laughing! Wonder how many attendees got mugged on the train system on the way home

Back to top

IP Logged

FRED.

Gold Member

Offline

Australian Politics

Posts: 3698

Re: BaillieuWatch
Reply #1685 - Jul 20^th, 2011 at 10:49am

lisa.greek wrote on Jul 20^th, 2011 at 10:36am:

SHE'S one of the world's richest people, with a bank balance in the hundreds of millions if not billions, but seemingly a trip to Melbourne was just too much for Oprah's Winfrey's purse to bear.

Taxpayers had to stump up $650,000 to pay for Winfrey's three-day tour of the city with 92 of her closest friends.

Winfrey and her guests made the trip to Australia to celebrate the end of her talk show.

The trip, which included stops in Queensland, Sydney and Uluru, was supposed to be a boost for Australian tourism but since Winfrey's Ultimate Australian Adventure first aired in February visitor numbers from the US have actually dropped.

Start of sidebar. Skip to end of sidebar.
Related CoverageOprah: Secret kept from minister Oprah Winfrey down under
NEWS.com.au, 1 hour ago
The phantom cost of Oprah
Adelaide Now, 9 hours ago
Taxpayers stung for Oprah's high life
Herald Sun, 10 hours ago
Oprah's Down Under show a big blowout
Herald Sun, 10 hours ago
Web-surfers flock on Oprah's word
Herald Sun, 24 Jan 2011End of sidebar. Return to start of sidebar.
It cost the country $5 million to bring over the talk show host and her audience. But the bill for Winfrey's trip to Melbourne shows how much tourism bosses were willing to go to keep her happy.

Fine dining

Receipts released under Freedom of Information laws after a fight by the Herald Sun newspaper show:

- Winfrey's guests stayed at the Intercontinental Melbourne at The Rialto with taxpayers' dishing out $78,828 for their rooms, dining, mini-bar, room service and even long-distance phone calls.

- They dined in some of the city's best restaurants, including Rockpool, The Press Club, maze, The Point, The Langham and Daylesford's Lake House.

- They were given gold class visits to the city's finest attractions, including $60,000 for chopper flights to the Twelve Apostles, $10,000 for hot air balloon trips and an almost $14,000 visit to Domaine Chandon winery in the Yarra Valley.

And just to make sure Winfrey knew how much Melbourne loved them, taxpayers shelled out $108,000 to say goodbye with a private dinner at Block Arcade.

Victoria's Tourism Minister Louise Asher told the Herald Sun the money was well spent.

"If you calculate the equivalent advertising space the Victorian part of her shows, which was seven minutes in total, the value of that is $4.2 million," Ms Asher said.

Taxpayers also paid $30,700 to fly 92 of Winfrey's audience and 21 crew and staff from Sydney to Melbourne.

They were also thrown an $80,000-plus welcome party - a $775-a-head event organised by Peter Jones Special Events for Winfrey's audience guests and 49 others, including 19 Tourism Victoria staff and a welcome gift of a Nicola Cerini tote bag (cost $12,915) containing a journal ($2195) and Koko Black chocolates ($1244).Winfrey's Federation Square square appearance cost almost $160,000.

****************************************************

LOL "Victoria's Tourism Minister Louise Asher told the Herald Sun the money was well spent"

Pizz myself laughing! Wonder how many attendees got mugged on the train system on the way home

Former federal tourism minister John Brown has implored the media not to be "cynical about the cost".

"We spent hundreds of millions of dollars over 30 years without much effect, I must say that honestly," he said.

"The publicity that Oprah will bring to Australia around the world is something you couldn't buy."

NSW Premier Kristina Keneally says the trip has been in the planning stages for the past year.

She paid tribute to those in the government who kept it confidential.

"In the NSW Government, we dubbed it Project O," she said

Back to top

IP Logged

buzzanddidj

Gold Member

Offline

Australian Politics

Posts: 14137
Eganstown, via Daylesford, VIC
Gender: male

Re: BaillieuWatch
Reply #1686 - Jul 20^th, 2011 at 11:21pm

Protesters try to stop logging of old forests at Sylvia Creek

Herald Sun
July 18, 2011

CONSERVATIONISTS will try to halt a controversial logging operation northeast of Melbourne today.
Protesters will walk into the logging exclusion zone at Sylvia Creek, near Toolangi, in a bid to stop logging work.

Luke Chamberlain, spokesman for

The Wilderness Society, said protesters wanted to stop the destruction of one of the few old forests in the area to survive the Black Saturday bushfires.

"Logging must stop once anyone's on the site," he said.

Mr Chamberlain said the area included mountain ash trees which were home to the endangered Leadbeater's possum, Victoria's animal emblem.

"Most of these ancient trees will be wood-chipped to make Reflex paper, it's a disgraceful waste when we could be using plantation timber to supply all the paper we need," he said.

"We're calling on the State Government to protect Victoria's native forests for the sake of our wildlife, and to preserve these vital stores of 'green carbon'."

According to the Department of Sustainability and Environment, the forest contains critically endangered Leadbeaters Possum, rainforest of state significance and senescent Mountain Ash tree's.

There are ferns in the understorey that could be as old as from the 13th century AD. These towering ferns are 8-10 metres tall and occur alongside the endangered Tree Geebung and old Mountain Pepper.

Preliminary studies have found the forests meet Leadbeaters Habitat Zone 1a.

http://indymedia.org.au/2011/07/19/save-sylvia-creek-from-logging

Back to top

'I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.'

- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

IP Logged

buzzanddidj

Gold Member

Offline

Australian Politics

Posts: 14137
Eganstown, via Daylesford, VIC
Gender: male

Re: BaillieuWatch
Reply #1687 - Jul 21^st, 2011 at 11:19am

Armed police "rejects" to be placed on Victorian railway stations

July 19, 2011

POLICE dropouts and rejects could be headed for the front line as armed guards at railway stations.
Academy failures are already being trained as protective services officers, raising fresh concerns at State Government plans to put armed guards on all suburban and major regional railway stations next year.

A third of current protective services recruits have failed to qualify for the police force.

And dozens more dropouts are expected to apply as the Baillieu Government seeks to recruit hundreds of extra police and 940 protective service officers to guard the stations.

Three of the 13 latest PSO recruits dropped out of training at the Police Academy.

Victoria Police refused to reveal why they quit.

Victorian Council of Social Service CEO Cath Smith said the station guard plan should be shelved until "critical" concerns about inadequate training were addressed.

"It should not be a role for those who didn't make the grade as police," she said.

"PSOs will be armed with semi-automatic firearms, capsicum sprays and batons.

"They've been given expanded powers to detain and arrest people yet they will receive significantly less training than operational police. This is creating a recipe for disaster."

Ms Smith said it was vital railway guards were fully trained to interact with vulnerable people who regularly used public transport - young people, people with mental health issues, people with drug and alcohol issues, Aborigines, and culturally diverse groups.

Police Association secretary Greg Davies warned that PSOs at railway stations would create "the propensity for more confrontation".

"It's going to be incumbent on the police force to make sure they are adequately trained and fully equipped to deal with those situations."

The guards will have the power to detain people believed to have committed a serious offence.

They will have the power to arrest drunks and search people suspected of carrying weapons, graffiti tools or inhalants.

There are 138 existing PSOs, whose main duties are protecting the Shrine of Remembrance, Parliament House and the courts.

A Herald Sun request under Freedom of Information for details of PSO recruits who had previously tried to join Victoria Police and why they had failed was denied by the force

.

The Herald Sun believes the recruits were advised to leave and try out as a PSO or face failing the police course.

Police recruits can be failed for several reasons, from physical fitness to psychological suitability.

The plan to put two armed PSOs at each station from 6pm until the last train is expected to cost more than $160 million.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/reject-cops-set-to-be-armed-guards-at...

Back to top

'I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.'

- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

IP Logged

Equitist

Gold Member

Offline

Australian Politics

Posts: 9632
NSW

Re: BaillieuWatch
Reply #1688 - Jul 21^st, 2011 at 11:30am

This whole thing is looking more and more scary by the day - and I would be surprised if there is not at least one innocent and vulnerable member of the general public killed within the first 6-12 months of the roll-out of this ill-conceived Baillieu policy...

For obvious reasons of public safety (and OH&S considerations for the rail security personnel themselves), security on trains and stations ought to be done by well-resourced, highly-trained and experienced Police-cum-Community Liaison Officers - not young, inexperienced, gun-ho, control-freaking and/or wannabe-hero rednecks...

Meantime, I wonder how many of the applicants also failed the psych test to join the Armed Forces!?

Back to top

Lamenting the shift in the Australian psyche, away from the egalitarian ideal of the fair-go - and the rise of short-sighted pollies, who worship the 'Growth Fairy' and seek to divide and conquer!

IP Logged

buzzanddidj

Gold Member

Offline

Australian Politics

Posts: 14137
Eganstown, via Daylesford, VIC
Gender: male

Re: BaillieuWatch
Reply #1689 - Jul 21^st, 2011 at 11:32am

THE Herald Sun has warned repeatedly of the dangers of putting armed protective services officers on railway stations.
Our concern has been the level of training of the PSOs promised by the Baillieu Government as part of its election platform.

These officers are to be armed with semi-automatic weapons and will have wide-ranging powers of search and arrest.

Passengers need protection, but the police are the obvious choice.

The Herald Sun found a third of the current crop of PSO recruits dropped out of police training after being told they would be better off as PSOs.

They might be up to the job in less volatile circumstances, but guarding railway stations at night from violent offenders could end in tragedy.

The Baillieu Government needs to rethink how it should tackle the problem and look at increasing the number of transit police
.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/editorials/on-our-guard/story-e6frfhqo-12260...

That's the most sound editorial from a Murdoch tabloid I've EVER read

Back to top

'I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.'

- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

IP Logged

buzzanddidj

Gold Member

Offline

Australian Politics

Posts: 14137
Eganstown, via Daylesford, VIC
Gender: male

Re: BaillieuWatch
Reply #1690 - Jul 21^st, 2011 at 11:46am

UPDATE ...

Lib quit over plan for armed guards at stations

July 20, 2011

A LAW and order adviser to the Liberal Party quit over its plan to put armed guards on railway stations.
Former police officer Chris Andrews resigned as convenor of the party's police and emergency services committee after the policy was hatched in 2009.

The party went to last November's election with the plan to use protective service officers at stations as policy.

It has since attracted widespread criticism, coming under fire from welfare bodies and the Police Association.

Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said the policy had "substantial problems" and there were serious doubts about the Coalition's ability to deliver its flagship law and order initiative.

"It is a complete shambles -- over time, over budget and serious doubts about the way it will work," he said. The armed guards should have to meet the same standards as regular police officers.

The Government's plan is to have fewer than 100 officers on city centre stations within 12 months with

outer suburban stations and trouble spots -- such as Frankston, Footscray, Dandenong and Sunshine -- left to wait.

A police spokeswoman said the current PSO squad was doing a nine-week course and not being trained as transit PSOs

.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/lib-quit-over-plan-for-armed-guards-at-stations...

Back to top

'I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.'

- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

IP Logged

buzzanddidj

Gold Member

Offline

Australian Politics

Posts: 14137
Eganstown, via Daylesford, VIC
Gender: male

Re: BaillieuWatch
Reply #1691 - Jul 22^nd, 2011 at 1:23pm

Metro starts ripping out train seats

July 22, 2011

The removal of the third aisle seat in 48 trains in the X'Trapolis fleet will provide more space for commuters, Metro says

PASSENGERS will have less chance of getting a seat on Melbourne's already crowded train carriages as Metro starts ripping out seats in some trains to increase capacity.
The train operator says the removal of the third aisle seat in 48 trains in the X'Trapolis fleet will provide more space for commuters and speed up the time it takes to get on and off.

Every six-car X'Trapolis train will have 72 fewer seats - down from 528 to 456.

Metro says the reconfigeration will bring the older X'Trapolis trains into line with the 38 new X'Trapolis trains being rolled out.

The reconfigured trains will come into use from next week. Extra handles will also be installed.

Metro spokeswoman Geraldine Mitchell said the changes will provide more capacity on the network.

"It enables us to better utilise the space we have available and will provide more comfort for customers," she said.

"There tends to be a lot of congestion with people crowding near the doors. By creating more space, we're providing more room for people to move about.

"Ultimately this will help to get more people to work on time and home on time, safely and comfortably."

The changes were approved by the State Government in March and should be complete by next March.

Daniel Bowen, president of the Public Transport Users Association, said the changes were acceptable as long as Metro did not remove any more seats than had been decided.

"The old seating layout is inefficient and leaves a narrow gap between seats which means people crowd around doorways," he said.

Ms Mitchell said Metro would apply for more funding next year to remove seats on the Comeng fleet.

The X'Trapolis fleet only services less crowded lines.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/metro-starts-ripping-out-train-seats-...

Reader comments ...

Quote:

Andrew of E/Hills Posted at 9:55 AM Today
Only Metro can be going forward and stepping backwards at the same time! Taking away seats is a lot cheaper than buying extra trains! You must think of Metro's bottom dollar, not the comfort of the paying customer! If it's against the law (with heavy fines made payable to Metro) for travelling with out a validated ticket, why isn't it against the law for Metro when they fail to provide the service that I have paid for with my yearly ticket? (And make the fines payable to me, not the government!)

Quote:

Grant of Ringwood East Posted at 9:22 AM Today
News to me that the Xtrapolis trains only serve less crowded lines. Does this writer use trains? The Clifton Hill and Box Hill line trains are hardly among the "less crowded" lines.

Quote:

Suaresh of Melbourne Posted at 8:52 AM Today
I am not understanding why it is that people are not being allowed to ride on the roofs. It is happening every day in my country and is quite safe

.

Quote:

Regular Commuter Posted at 8:35 AM Today
I'm struggling to follow the logic here, less seats in trains will make them more comfortable?! Yeah right!

More ...

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/more-news/metro-starts-ripping-out-train-seats-...

Back to top

« Last Edit: Jul 22^nd, 2011 at 1:32pm by buzzanddidj »

'I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.'

- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

IP Logged

buzzanddidj

Gold Member

Offline

Australian Politics

Posts: 14137
Eganstown, via Daylesford, VIC
Gender: male

Re: BaillieuWatch
Reply #1692 - Jul 26^th, 2011 at 1:01am

Liberals broke poll cash laws

Royce Millar
July 26, 2011.

A LIBERAL Party fund-raising group with which Premier Ted Baillieu has been involved breached federal electoral laws by failing to declare tens of thousands of dollars in donations to candidates in the lead-up to last year's state election.

Business First, a little-known group based in Melbourne's southern suburbs, raised money for Liberal candidates in a group of key bayside seats that helped the Coalition defeat John Brumby's government in November

But the group, founded by property development lobbyist and former Liberal MP Geoff Leigh, has operated beyond the reach of Australian electoral law, public scrutiny and, it seems, Liberal Party discipline.

Liberal director Damian Mantach refused to be interviewed about Business First when first contacted by The Age last week. But in an email he acknowledged the group's existence and described it as an ''associated entity'' of the party.

This means it was required by law to make disclosures of revenue and payments to the Australian Electoral Commission, including for functions in early 2010 attended by Mr Baillieu, Planning Minister Matthew Guy and Treasurer Kim Wells, who were then in opposition.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/liberals-broke-poll-cash-laws-20110725-1hx8n.h...

A Melbourne University specialist on money and politics criticised the party's failure to make groups like Business First transparent and accountable.

''Shadowy fund-raising vehicles that flout disclosure laws and fail to comply with party accountability measures should have no place in Australian politics,'' said Dr Joo-Cheong Tham. ''The fact the Geoff Leigh, the founder of Business First, is also a lobbyist … is also cause for concern.

''There will, at the very least, be a perceived conflict of interest when ministers and parliamentarians who have benefited from Mr Leigh's fund-raising activities are lobbied by him.''

Mr Leigh said he took responsibility for Business First's failure to make disclosures to the electoral commission.

Opposition planning spokesman Brian Tee said the revelations raised serious questions for Mr Baillieu, who in 2009 promised the Coalition would combat ''networks of power and influence that operate behind the scenes of John Brumby's Government'' and provide ''the highest standards of probity, transparency and integrity in government''.

Mr Tee said: ''Mr Baillieu promised his government would be

open and accountable

, so he must not ignore or sweep these allegations under the carpet."

Back to top

'I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.'

- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

IP Logged

buzzanddidj

Gold Member

Offline

Australian Politics

Posts: 14137
Eganstown, via Daylesford, VIC
Gender: male

Re: BaillieuWatch
Reply #1693 - Jul 31^st, 2011 at 4:01pm

The Federal Opposition Leader wants to plant "a million trees" as part of his, so called, "direct action" on climate change

The Liberal Premier of Victoria wants to start ripping them out for property developers

Driving a green wedge between the locals

Royce Millar
July 30, 2011.

IN THE weeks leading up to the November state election it was hard not to notice Liberal candidates in the pivotal electorates of Melbourne's south-east.

Sporting big smiles, Donna Bauer, Lorraine Wreford and Inga Peulich beamed from prominent billboards and hoardings across their respective sandbelt seats of Carrum, Mordialloc and South Eastern Metropolitan.

Given the parlous state of party finances, it was a well-resourced campaign, generously bankrolled, as The Age reported this week, by property interests.

In return, the successful Liberals have fostered expectations among landowners and developers
.

Almost as telling as the billboards were the properties on which they stood. Some were either the subject of planning applications or owned by people dreaming of the windfall that would flow if only the government and/or local council would allow their plot of land to be transformed into something more lucrative. Houses, for instance.

For some, those expectations centre on the swath of paddocks that runs through their area, once known as the Springvale Wedge, which they see as an underutilised and unkempt no-man's land.

To develop or not: sites such as this former farmland have become the touchstone issue of local politics in this part of Melbourne. In these suburbs, where the politics are raw rather than refined, the money new rather than old - and where expectations of making lots of it are now high - planning has the potential to be perilous for Premier Ted Baillieu.

Planning is a famously problematic area for governments. In Victoria, Liberal administrations in particular - notably the Hamer/Thompson reign, with the land deals of the late 1970s, early 1980s - have been badly damaged by it.

Forty years ago this year, another Liberal government- under premier Rupert Hamer - first tabled its vision of a city developed around a series of ''green wedges'' - farmland and open space that would break up Melbourne's relentless suburbia.

The south-east is the one region where the green wedge really is a wedge, running as it does like a spine that divides bayside suburbs from Cranbourne and Springvale. But the wedge is also social. One person's badlands is another's precious wet, woody grasslands

Back to top

'I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.'

- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

IP Logged

buzzanddidj

Gold Member

Offline

Australian Politics

Posts: 14137
Eganstown, via Daylesford, VIC
Gender: male

Re: BaillieuWatch
Reply #1694 - Aug 4^th, 2011 at 10:16am

Thumbs up for tram, train, bus

Reid Sexton
August 4, 2011.

SATISFACTION with Melbourne's public transport network has reached its highest levels in four years as the train, tram and bus networks begin to reap the benefits of improvements in recent years.

The steady rise in passenger satisfaction was under way before November's state election, suggesting the boost has little to do with the new Coalition government
.

Public transport was a key battleground in last year's state election, with dissatisfaction credited with delivering the Coalition key marginal seats.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/thumbs-up-for-tram-train-bus-20110803-1ibpa.ht...

Satisfaction with V/Line dips

Reid Sexton
August 4, 2011.

V/LINE'S rail services have recorded their lowest customer satisfaction result in at least seven years, according to a confidential Transport Department survey.

The customer satisfaction survey for V/Line passengers in the March quarter of this year shows the average passenger rated its rail services 72 out of 100.

This is down from about 80 in mid-2004.

Numerous factors have contributed to the recent low.

These include a recent decline in the rating of the running of services, now standing at 74.8.

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/satisfaction-with-vline-dips-20110803-1ibp7.ht...

Quote:

As a regular commuter from Bendigo to Melbourne I can hazard a guess that some of the disatisfaction stems from the recent messing around with the timetabling and running of the morning "express" train, and the fact that over the past month afternoon services (that express again) are regularly up to 20 minutes late. The recent two week shut down didn't necessarily make anyone happy and the rumoured 4 week shut down next January really takes the biscuit

.

Wayne | Melbourne - August 04, 2011, 9:14AM

Back to top

'I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.
Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.'

- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

IP Logged