The Australian politics thread

[Mr Casson]

Originally Posted by morgieb

Yeah but in Canberra, you can get out of the city in around 10 minutes. The suburbs are extremely close to the CBD.

Here's a hint that ought to serve you well in life. Don't talk about something you have literally no idea about.

[Redbacks]

Just be greatful to have public transport that doesn't operate once every 30 mins during peak and hourly off peak.

[morgieb]

Originally Posted by Redbacks

Just be greatful to have public transport that doesn't operate once every 30 mins during peak and hourly off peak.

Is that the case where you live?

Yeah, Sydney buses do annoy me from time to time, but I agree that it could be a lot worse. The only worry is buses and trains being too ****ing overcrowded!

[Spark]

Originally Posted by morgieb

Yeah but in Canberra, you can get out of the city in around 10 minutes. The suburbs are extremely close to the CBD.

I live about 10 minutes from the CBD but... yeah, this ain't true.

[Redbacks]

Originally Posted by morgieb

Is that the case where you live?

That was the case in Adelaide when I was living about a 20 min drive from the CBD, made no sense for anyone who worked in town to catch a bus as you tripple the commute time each way.

Now, in London its rapid, 5 mins would really be considered a long wait for a the tube in Zones 1,2. It's more a problem of all the ridiculous connections to get everywhere.

The View of our parliament from abroad (bit rich for the Poms to talk about professionalism given the extent to which they rorted the expense system)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13615751

But generally, even across Europe, the question seems to be: Why did they remove a scholar like Rudd (oblivious to his errors) and import a rat pack when things appear so good?

[vic_orthdox]

Originally Posted by benchmark00

Couldn't believe how dire the trains are in Melbourne when I was down there a few weeks ago. All single storey with non-changable seats.

TBH, I know it's probably fashionable to criticise Sydney public transport, but unless you live in a tricky area, you shouldn't really have any problems with it. The trains are rarely late (sometimes are, granted) and are all double storey. Sometimes they're over crowded which needs addressing but I don't really have a problem with the way the trains are run. Busses are less reliable but still leave often enough not to cause too much of a problem.

Found it more expensive and annoying having to buy different tickets for different forms of transport. Hard to talk about timeliness, difficult to measure as a tourist as you generally aren't in as big a rush to get there, nor travelling during the peak.

I've used Melbourne trains for years, live right next to a train station, and the deterioration over the past couple of years has been noticeable with the huge increase in patronage. Trams are fantastic though in comparison to buses, IMO, except if you are in a car. Well, in Melbourne, anyway.

[Top_Cat]

Adelaide's public transport system is the absolute pits if you're going from the suburbs to the city but reaches a new level of suck if you're going from suburb to suburb. Forget going from one side of the city to the other too if you value your sanity or time.

A mate of mine lives 30mins north of the city and the airport is 10 mins west. To get there via public transport (bus to train station -> train to city -> bus, distance about 30Km) to airport to catch a plane for a conference took him Two. Freaking. Hours.

No-one beats Japan for public transport. Sososososososo good.

[Burgey]

One thing all of the major world cities with good public transport have is that their undergrounds were built yonks ago. The cost nowadays to build Tube systems is enormous, plus it comes with the associated Nimbyism of the age.

Ausage referred to the Hills District in Sydney. It's a classic example of poor planning. Since the mid-80s, there have been tens of thousands of houses built in the area - I recall living in Castle Hill in the late 80s and going to Rouse Hill to buy fresh produce from the farmers there ffs. Now there isn't a tree in sight and it's wall-to-wall McMansions.

The only transport infrastructure built since then is the M2 motorway, which is currently being widened, because even though they knew they were putting hundreds of thousands of people in the Hills, they decided to make it only a 2x2 road.

It's dire. The bus service is good, but of course, the bus lane only goes half way to the city.

The lack of foresight is appalling. Now they want to put a Metro in and they'll presumably have to reclaim land and it'll take decades and billions to get done. The other impediment is all the seats out there are safe Tory filth, so the Libs know they'll vote for them anyway, and Labor could build individual paths paved with gold and the idiots would still vote for Alex Hawke.

[Prince EWS]

Originally Posted by benchmark00

Couldn't believe how dire the trains are in Melbourne when I was down there a few weeks ago. All single storey with non-changable seats.

TBH, I know it's probably fashionable to criticise Sydney public transport, but unless you live in a tricky area, you shouldn't really have any problems with it. The trains are rarely late (sometimes are, granted) and are all double storey. Sometimes they're over crowded which needs addressing but I don't really have a problem with the way the trains are run. Busses are less reliable but still leave often enough not to cause too much of a problem.

Yeah, AWTA. I live in one of Sydney's worst areas for public transport and still don't have huge issues with it.

[howardj]

Originally Posted by Jono

John Bergin - Penny Wong 'meowed' at by Senator David Bushby in an estimates hearing - TwitVid

Cop that Bushby you douchebag.

Could understand why offence was taken...by cats.

[Jono]

Louise Asher sleeps through vote in parliament

[Craig]

Originally Posted by Top_Cat

Adelaide's public transport system is the absolute pits if you're going from the suburbs to the city but reaches a new level of suck if you're going from suburb to suburb. Forget going from one side of the city to the other too if you value your sanity or time.

A mate of mine lives 30mins north of the city and the airport is 10 mins west. To get there via public transport (bus to train station -> train to city -> bus, distance about 30Km) to airport to catch a plane for a conference took him Two. Freaking. Hours.

No-one beats Japan for public transport. Sososososososo good.

The public transport here isn't too flash either. Buses are seldom on time, and the train line doesn't go all the way down to Coolangatta Airport which is why I prefer to fly out of Brisbane instead. And it isn't cheap to take the train up to Brisbane Airport either, it costs nearly $30 to get there, a joke.

It was the one good thing about China, it took me more then 90 minutes on the subway from Shanghai Pudong Airpont to my hostel and it only cost me $0.60. I so wish we had something similar to the Skinkansen where it connected from Brisbane to Melbourne, and TBH I would prefer that to flying. Although the logistics and the cost would be astronomical though.

[Mr Casson]

Originally Posted by Craig

The public transport here isn't too flash either. Buses are seldom on time, and the train line doesn't go all the way down to Coolangatta Airport which is why I prefer to fly out of Brisbane instead. And it isn't cheap to take the train up to Brisbane Airport either, it costs nearly $30 to get there, a joke.

It was the one good thing about China, it took me more then 90 minutes on the subway from Shanghai Pudong Airpont to my hostel and it only cost me $0.60. I so wish we had something similar to the Skinkansen where it connected from Brisbane to Melbourne, and TBH I would prefer that to flying. Although the logistics and the cost would be astronomical though.

It's all well and good to say we should have a shinkansen but if you look at Japan, it's hardly going to be a cheap alternative - not to mention it would take longer.

And by the way, anyone who says Japan's public transport is better than Korea's needs a haymaker to the throat.

[GotSpin]

Public transport is pretty reliable where I live

[Burgey]

Today's First Dog on the Moon cartoon sums it up so well..

For the kiddies: My first book of Animal Sounds | Crikey