OT: Current Affairs and Politics

[Suitman]

To add insult to injury, I heard a figure quoted of $30 million per month is what it's costing to keep the fleet in their current storage and off the network.... I'll see if I can track down a source for that, I heard it a while ago...

But you're right, this 100% about trying to future proof guard jobs, it's as simple as that. Insulting to the taxpayer to dress it up as anything else....

EDIT - found the article

NSW government attacks rail unions over mothballed $2b train fleet

A new inter-city fleet that unions say is unsafe is sitting in sheds unused at a cost of $30 million a month, Treasurer Matt Kean says.

www.google.com

This is what I don't get.
Why would it cost $1 million a day to store our trains in infrastructure that the govt should own?
Even if the storage facilities are privately owned and leased to the govt, how can it cost that much to lease it?
Per day!!!
There's something seriously wrong with the figures being quoted.

 

[hindy111]

When it’s your turn to buy the f**king donuts.

(But seriously, did they not learn anything from George Floyd ?)

Smashed the merkin.

 

[hindy111]

This is what I don't get.
Why would it cost $1 million a day to store our trains in infrastructure that the govt should own?
Even if the storage facilities are privately owned and leased to the govt, how can it cost that much to lease it?
Per day!!!
There's something seriously wrong with the figures being quoted.

I know a friend who was working on repairing the new fleet of trains. His story was they are bits of rubbish and had already started rusting and they are repairing most of them. And they've kept it quiet and covered it up so public aren't aware. This could explain why trains are being STORED and costing so much
( They are being fixed )

 

[Suitman]

I know a friend who was working on repairing the new fleet of trains. His story was they are bits of rubbish and had already started rusting and they are repairing most of them. And they've kept it quiet and covered it up so public aren't aware. This could explain why trains are being STORED and costing so much
( They are being fixed )

If that's the case, how come the union haven't called it out?
I call bs from your mate.

 

[hindy111]

If that's the case, how come the union haven't called it out?
I call bs from your mate.

He is not the type that bullshits. No reason to. He is a panel beater/Spray painter. This is 2-3 yrs ago when he was telling us this. Unsure what he'd have to gain to fabricate this sort of lie.
Reckons they are bits of junk quality wise.

 

[the phantom menace]

The union kind of is calling it out though - constant claims of various safety concerns about this new cheap foreign-made fleet of trains, too fat to fit through the tunnels when ordered, didn't allow the driver a suffiicently safe view for closing doors (given there were intended to be no guards) and it goes on.

Who knows what privatised shambles the "storage" arrangements actually are - and who benefits? But these trains have been a debacle for Gladys, Constance, Stokes, and (now) Elliot and Perrottet - governments have changed hands over less.

 

[hindy111]

The union kind of is calling it out though - constant claims of various safety concerns about this new cheap foreign-made fleet of trains, too fat to fit through the tunnels when ordered, didn't allow the driver a suffiicently safe view for closing doors (given there were intended to be no guards) and it goes on.

Who knows what privatised shambles the "storage" arrangements actually are - and who benefits? But these trains have been a debacle for Gladys, Constance, Stokes, and (now) Elliot and Perrottet - governments have changed hands over less.

Just what I was told hey. They trying to cover it up but are being modified/repaired and was a bungle.

 

[Gronk]

If that's the case, how come the union haven't called it out?
I call bs from your mate.

Maybe he’s confusing it with the lightrail rolling stock ? I saw that guy’s transport vlog on the Dulwich Hill line and how they have borrowed the cars from the city east. They have had to adapt platforms etc whilst the orginal cars are being repaired.

 

[Gronk]

So it’s on, the argy bargy has commenced and Rupert is strong arming Crikey. Is it a bluff ? Who will blink first ?

The Lachlan Murdoch letters in full: Fox CEO demands Crikey apologise

In letter one, Lachlan Murdoch's lawyer issues Crikey a concerns notice over an allegedly defamatory article. He requests immediate deletion and publication of an apology that will remain visible for 14 days.

www.crikey.com.au

I’ve subscribed this morning and will contribute when they seek crowdfunding.

 

[Twizzle]

when they made Lachy a yank they removed his sense of humour

 

[Gronk]

Unsure why Fox want this to explode. This will be bigger than the the Ben Roberts-Smith case which is still going. All that has done so far is damage his reputation further.

SAS had 'culture of silence' and ignored 'despicable breaches of the laws of war', barrister says

A barrister for Nine Entertainment tells the Federal Court that SAS soldiers "were willing to turn a blind eye" over allegations two Afghan men were executed during a mission in 2009.

www.abc.net.au

Previously the Fox network have defended their BS by saying that a reasonable person would not take what they say seriously.

You Literally Can't Believe The Facts Tucker Carlson Tells You. So Say Fox's Lawyers

Fox News viewers don't expect facts from Tucker Carlson, according to network lawyers who defended their star in a slander lawsuit filed by a woman who said she had an affair with President Trump.

www.npr.org

 

[dannyt]

when they made Lachy a yank they removed his sense of humour

You assume he had one to remove

 

[Gronk]

Alex Glassons and the RTBU are seriously taking the piss atm.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the new inter-city fleet of trains.
In fact, the new trains are bringing us into the first world with regard to safety. It's not a safety issue. It's a jobs and wages issue. These trains do not require guards, and that is what this comes down to.
The current govt need to do a way better in selling this issue, rather than crawling up the unions arse and promising a $240 million spend to remove all the cctv and sensors built into the trains, just so the guards can keep their jobs.
It's a f**king joke.

This merkin from Sydney Uni reckons that not economically viable. I don't agree and reckon that the Sydney Metro is future proofing the network.

Newflash for economists; not everything the government does has to be the cheapest option to qualify as the best option.

Costs of Sydney’s driverless train conversion outweigh the benefits | Architecture & Design

The NSW government’s industrial dispute with rail unions over the new intercity trains is tipped to add hundreds of millions of dollars to costs on Australia’s largest infrastructure project that has already blown out by billions.

www.architectureanddesign.com.au

 

[Suitman]

This merkin from Sydney Uni reckons that not economically viable. I don't agree and reckon that the Sydney Metro is future proofing the network.

Newflash for economists; not everything the government does has to be the cheapest option to qualify as the best option.

Costs of Sydney’s driverless train conversion outweigh the benefits | Architecture & Design

The NSW government’s industrial dispute with rail unions over the new intercity trains is tipped to add hundreds of millions of dollars to costs on Australia’s largest infrastructure project that has already blown out by billions.

www.architectureanddesign.com.au

Agreed.
Furthermore, this guy has a history of favouritism towards the existing heavy rail system. He's salty that his beloved Bankstown line is being converted. Stuck in the old ages.

This quote says it all......

"The NSW government has indicated Metro services will operate up to every four minutes, but the timetable for the Bankstown line metro is not yet public."

News flash dude. Automated Metro's do not have timetables. Is a train every 4 minutes in peak not enough for you?
I have caught the NW Metro into the city dozens of times, changing at Chatswood (at this stage). Metro trains on Sundays run every ten minutes. Every time I arrive at Chatswood, a Sydney Trains service arrives within minutes. A simple cross platform transfer.
Metro can be easily integrated with the current Sydney system. Thankfully, within 18 months I won't even need to change at Chatswood, as the Metro will give me the choice of three new city stations to alight, depending on my destination.
This guy needs to move on from the 20th century.

Also, if we are building new infrastructure, it's a no brainer to make them metro's and not heavy rail. The construction costs are the same, but the Opex costs are significantly less.

Finally, it is still bullshit what the RBTU are doing.
The new Intercity fleet was fit for purpose. It was the reason the govt chose that particular train. So what if a couple of tunnels in the Blue Mountains had to be widened.
The driver has all the technology in front of him, yet the Union has forced the Govt (the govt should have told them to get f**ked) to cave in, remove all that technology, just so guards can keep their jobs on this fleet.
Disgraceful what the union is doing to this fleet.

 

[Gronk]

LACHLAN MURDOCH'S LAWSUIT

The news Crikey is being sued for defamation by Fox chief executive and News Corp co-chairman Lachlan Murdoch has gone around the world, folks. The lawsuit was filed late on Tuesday in Federal Court, CNN reports, one day after Crikey challenged Murdoch in an open letter plainly stating the outlet’s willingness to “test this important issue of freedom of public interest journalism in a courtroom”, Al Jazeera reports. As Crikey’s Bernard Keane reported yesterday, it’s essential to scrutinise Fox and the Murdochs in relation in the January 6 2021 Capitol riot: “The insurrection was repeatedly described as ‘peaceful’; its ‘energy’ and ‘positivity’ were lauded by Fox personalities. Yet according to Lachlan Murdoch, the role of his family in one of the key disruptive forces in US politics, Fox News, is somehow off limits, beyond public discussion in Australia.” As The Conversation writes, there is truly no better example than Murdoch’s case to show how Australia’s rigid defamation laws “enable the rich and powerful to intimidate their critics”. Murdoch has recruited top silk Sue Chrysanthou SC — you may remember she was disqualified from representing former attorney-general Christian Porter over a historic rape allegation he vehemently denied, because Chrysanthou had spoken to the alleged victim’s friend Jo Dyer previously, as Guardian Australia reports. Anyway, Crikey editor-in-chief Peter Fray and chairman Eric Beecher said on Wednesday that the site “stands by its story” in defending the important pillar of public interest journalism, as the BBC reports. And it’s not the only one. Yesterday former PM Malcolm Turnbull told the ABC Murdoch’s case was “hypocritical”, saying the Murdochs were “always bleating about freedom of speech, and how the defamation laws are too harsh”. The SMH’s Chip Le Grand came across a little more jaded, calling the case a matter of “towering egos and cold commercial interests”. Indeed the SMH’s print issue went with the headline “I didn’t start this” alongside a smiling photo of Murdoch on its front page. No word yet on why Nine newspapers refused to run our open letter as an ad, as The New Daily reports, unlike The Canberra Times and The New York Times. As Crikey’s Charlie Lewis points out, Nine had no qualms countlessly running Clive Palmer’s blaring yellow ads on its front pages, as Worm readers would be used to seeing in Hold the Front Page CrikeyWorm - Crikey will not be cowed

 

[Gronk]

 

[Gronk]

In other news I just walked past Tony Abbott in Martin Place. Merkin takes up 2 lanes when he swaggers his way down the street.

Speaking of f**kwits.

 

[Twizzle]

he would do even worse now

 

[84 Baby]

Here we go. Will or won’t the Dawson judge convict? Highly doubt this will go another adjournment.

 

[Gronk]

Here we go. Will or won’t the Dawson judge convict? Highly doubt this will go another adjournment.

Beyond reasonable doubt with no body ? Unlikley.

What would I know ? They convicted Bruce Burrell for Kerry Whelan's murder without a body.