the bushfires - Letter from Melbourne

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21 FEBRUARY TO 6 APRIL 2009 Account Ability Lucy MacIntyre 0413 155 115 Bookkeeping for smaller firms from wise owl who has worked for large accounting practices reported that the train was not faulty. Sources said a junior train driver was uncertain about whether his train had a fault about 9am that day and he had sought advice from his supervisor. The supervisor, instead of the driver, reported the matter to train controllers, but this was contrary to Connex policy and the controllers refused to accept the report. And yet they are winning Despite an average of 20 cancelled trains a day, Connex earned $175m in payments from the Government for services provided and in ticket sales in the last three months of last year. The results also showed that $6.34m had been deducted from Connex’s payments, for the operators disappointing performance in the final three months of the year. Hmmm The Herald Sun reported that the typical number of daily train faults last December was about 155. But that number rose to 328 when Connex refused to pay employees a Christmas bonus. Reports of faults fell back to normal levels as soon as Connex caved in and said it would pay the bonus. Off the rails The faction riven Rail, Tram and Bus Union met rail operator Connex at the Australian Industrial Relations Commission in an attempt to stop the wildcat shutdowns that played havoc with Melbourne’s rail system in January and February. The disagreement between drivers and train controllers over who gets to decide what happens to a train once a fault has been identified lead to at least three trains in a week in mid-February being parked at platforms during rush hour, The Age reported. Rail against the dying of the light Melbourne’s existing suburban rail network could run more than double the present number of trains if it was operated as designed, Connex’s own documents show. Public Transport Minister Lynne Kosky said that few extra trains could be running to central Melbourne during rush hour. But internal Connex rail maps, produced in 2006, show that far more trains were designed to be run on the city’s railway lines, including through the loop, The Age reported. Now autumn is a problem Connex management has sent a notice to train drivers warning them that trains should approach station platforms at 30 kilometres an hour, instead of the usual 50 kilometres an hour due to the onset of the autumn climatic conditions that may affect the normal braking performance of the trains, The Age reported. Feeling the squeeze Connex expects more than 5,000 passengers to be squeezed out every morning peak by 2011. The projections were made in confidential Connex documents submitted to the Government. Connex, though, may not be around in 2011, with the Government soon to announce who will be operating metropolitan trains from the end of this year. Hong Kong’s MTR is competing against Connex and another French company Keolis, the Herald Sun reported. Connex is testing three new carriages which have 44 seats removed to make way for an extra 79 standing passengers on city lines. Passengers had a mixed response when the new design was unveiled, the Herald Sun reported. Rail rats All trains on the Melbourne-Ballarat line were cancelled for about eight hours on the evening of Sunday, March 16 after rats climbed under the tracks near Ballan and chewed up fibre-optic cables in attempt to shelter themselves from rain, the Herald Sun reported. Rail renewal The Essential Services Commission commenced an approval process for the renewal of VicTrack’s rail access arrangement within Victoria, and an approval process for the renewal of Pacific National’s rail access arrangement in Victoria, www. esc.vic.gov.au. Next gen The Parliament of Victoria Education and Training Committee is conducting an inquiry into skills shortages in the rail industry, etc@parliament.vic. gov.au. road Swanston Street caprice Swanston Street could become a one kilometre pedestrian mall with footpaths extending to tram tracks and a ban on all cars – and potentially bicycles – under plans to be considered by the Melbourne City Council. The council has released seven options for the road, ranging from a return to all cars to the removal of all vehicles except trams, The Age reported. Bypass bypassed The future of the $750m, 25 kilometre Frankston Bypass from Carrum Downs to Mt Martha, a key plank of John Brumby’s transport plan in Melbourne, is in doubt, with funding from the Federal Government now unlikely. Sir Rod Eddington’s board finalised its list of priority projects under the Building Australia Fund, but with the global financial crisis whittling money from the fund from $20b to $12.6b, fewer projects than anticipated will get backing, The Age reported. STOP PRESS. Full speed ahead, even without federal $$$$$$$$$$$$... Didn’t really want to listen New 3pm clearway times will be introduced but they will apply only within 100 metres of main intersections. Most other afternoon clearways in the inner city will be changed to start at 4pm, rather than earlier. Existing clearways that already started earlier than 4pm, on arterial roads such as Punt Road in Richmond or Bell Street in Preston, will start at 3pm. Morning clearway hours will run from 6:30am to 10am, as originally envisaged in the Government’s plan. Roads Minister Tim Pallas said having listened to the community and concerns of local traders that the Government had acted appropriately. But he felt the road network would work better if the policy had been left unchanged. The backdown followed a threat from traders and councils – particularly Stonnington – to sue over clearway time changes. They argued that reducing the amount of front street parking would damage businesses, The Age reported. Taxi? A proposal to ban hailing taxis off the street and increase fares in inner Melbourne has been dismissed as impractical and potentially dangerous. Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle, who proposed the ban in a bid to improve safety in the city, won support for his call for four airport style taxi ‘super stops’ with increased security on weekends, The Age reported. The Victorian Taxi Association said while more ranks – and safer ranks – were needed, preventing the hailing of taxis would require a huge cultural shift for drivers and passengers. More than B-double trouble Freight trucks measuring 30 metres long – 4 metres longer than standard B-doubles – will be allowed on major Melbourne roads including the Westgate Freeway, Westgate Bridge, Metropolitan Ring Road and around the Port of Melbourne precinct under a trial later this year. The loads they are allowed to carry will also be increased from 68 tonnes to 77.5 tonnes during the trial. The trucks are expected to be given permanent access to routes stretching from Melbourne to Geelong, Hastings, Mildura, Wodonga, Bendigo and Shepparton if the trial is successful, the Herald Sun reported. Good job VicRoads seeks an executive director-regional services, www.vicroads.vic.gov.au. air Second coming Avalon is set to become Melbourne’s second international airport, with the federal and state governments to sign off on a $50m terminal. 18
LETTER FROM MELBOURNE Linfox Aviation, which controls the former military airport under a 99-year lease, is confident Avalon International will soon be handling one million passengers a year, the Herald Sun reported. Geelong businessman Frank Costa is set to develop an international fruit and vegetable centre at Avalon. The proposal is expected to further undermine government plans to move the wholesale fruit and vegetable market from Footscray to Epping, as developer Mirvac backed away from the project amid global economic turmoil, The Age reported. Why bother with Sydney? On the opinion pages of The Age, Sally Capp, chief executive of the Committee for Melbourne, a network of leaders of Melbourne’s major corporations, institutions and organisations, wrote that our transport system can have a vital impact on Melbourne’s stability and prosperity. In the heatwave of late January, attention was on the public transport system, but the heat should also be on the national aviation landscape, which presently limits so many travelling opportunities for Melbourne and the rest of Australia internationally, as so much traffic is funnelled through Sydney by Qantas and the Government in Canberra. Big birds on the ground Qantas was forced to ground three of its flagship A380 super jumbos amid a string of problems in early March. But the jumbos manufacturer, Airbus, said there were no safety issues involved, only teething, the Herald Sun reported. Like a tiger The Victorian government helped with the setup costs of the Singapore-government backed Tiger Airways Australia in 2007, as part of its efforts to lure the low-cost carrier to Melbourne’s Tullamarine Airport. Tiger was awarded $3.9m in Government grants, The Age reported. Falling out of the sky Due to falling demand Virgin Blue will ground up to five aircraft and may sack up to 400 workers and Qantas will cut back on international routes, The Age reported. Elsewhere, there are plenty of reports of the huge downturn in air travel everywhere. ports Jobs, jobs, jobs The Port of Melbourne Corporation seeks senior appointments for a major development project, execrec@kpmg.com.au. Community Backflip part of personal training exercise Yarra Council has turned 180 degrees on a plan to charge fitness instructors to use its parks. Instead, the council has decided to issue free permits as part of a six-month trial. But fitness operators will be required to apply for a permit, nominating the park, date, time and group size of proposed sessions, the Melbourne Leader reported. Wirth every minute In mid-March, Dr Hugh Wirth celebrated 40 years with the RSPCA, in which time he has helped raise the profile of the RSPCA through his weekly radio program, which has run for 28 years, the Herald Sun reported. The strength of twenty Youth Worker Les Twentyman was in the Alfred Hospital following complications from gastric band surgery, but seems well on the way to recovery, 30-days later, at the end of March. Vale Julius Lockington Patching, AO, OBE, Olympic administrator, aged 92. Ben Bodna, AM, Australia’s first public advocate, aged 73. William Russell McKinnon, solicitor, grazier, and breeder of thoroughbred horses, President of the Victorian Polo Association, involved with the Moonee Valley Racing Club and director of Embleton Limited. Doug Jukes, auditor, humanist, aged 57. Oliver Noel Warin, geologist who was involved in the discovery of the Bowen Basin coal deposits and the Cannington zinclead-silver deposit in Queensland and much else, aged 76. Pamela Gail Keating, a board member of Environment Victoria, Business Skills Victoria, the Metropolitan Waste Management Group, ZeroWaste SA, and chairwoman of Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria, aged 54. Captain William Bolitho AM. Jean Battersby, AO, founding executive officer of the Australian Council of the Arts, aged 80. Jason Monet, artist, aged 70. Cliff Mitchell Dohle, pilot, aged 73. George Limb, businessman, pioneer wine grower on the Bellarine Peninsula and world champion royal tennis player. Alfred John Leslie, Australian forestry professional, aged 87.Terry Wayne Taylor, formerly with Ferrier Hodgson, aged 62. Darren Tyquin, race caller, aged 41. Robert Reginald Anderson, DFC, pilot, chartered accountant, educator, attended Brighton Grammar, aged 90. Alwyn Ruta Samuel, lawyer, pilot, president and en route legal counsel to SPELD, the organisation that battles for people with specific learning difficulties, aged 92. Pat Wood, served on the Scotch College Council. Tom Lanyon Clark, former executive officer of the Old Geelong Collegians Association. Yvonne Isabel Nichols, lecturer at Melbourne University, aged 94. William John Roberts, doctor, social justice advocate, aged 80. Frank Gallacher, Glasgow born Melbournebased film, television and theatre actor, aged 65. Peter Wherrett, pioneering motoring journalist, aged 72. Dr Eric Wigglesworth AM, honorary research fellow at the Monash University Accident Research Centre, a passionate advocate of injury prevention and respected researcher with particular expertise in rail safety and occupational health and safety. Laurie Short, anti-communist, union leader, secretary of the Federated Iron Workers Association from 1951 to 1982, aged 93. Horton Foote, American playwright and screenwriter who won an Oscar for his screen adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird, aged 92. Sydney Earle Chaplain, the second son of Charlie Chaplin and an awardwinning actor, aged 82. Susan Nyardzo Tsvangirai, the wife of Zimbabwe’s Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai, in a car accident, aged 50. 19
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Page 9 and 10: LETTER FROM MELBOURNE Adieu Melbour
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the bushfires - Letter from Melbourne

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