ABC Radio reports Morris Iemma has told a meeting of his faction that he will resign. He will be succeeded by Nathan Rees, who entered parliament barely 18 months ago as member for Toongabbie.
Iemma out
Analysis and discussion of elections and opinion polls in Australia
ABC Radio reports Morris Iemma has told a meeting of his faction that he will resign. He will be succeeded by Nathan Rees, who entered parliament barely 18 months ago as member for Toongabbie.
Gary Bruce
After how much Labor did with the doubling of revenue in that last 9 years, do you trust them with a few billion dollars
Not many in NSW does
Thanks to all who have provided info re the metros. Very informative and much appreciated
If more of the NSW cabinet gets the shove – Reba Megaher or Kevin Greene, there may be a few more by elections out there.
Actually, how deep is the NSW Labor talent pool?
Bird of paradox
Do you know who live in the seat of Lakemba?
Its filled with Arabs
The islamic party of Australia has a greater chance of winner the seat that the Liberal party no matter what the margin
Barry 98
I appreciate that that is the “official” explanation of Sydney NW Metro and not your own view. It is not credible in engineering terms. These are the problems:
– the Metro proposal still avoids fixing city loop station capacity, which is at crisis point and arguably not even safe, let alone efficient.
– at best 10% of the system demadn might be in the NW so building them a metro without fixing the real constraints for the 90% is crazy.
– Both Metros and traditional heavy rail can run at high frequency (eg Hong Kong heavy rail) so there is no inherent frequency advantage to NW Metro.
– NW Metro is a long line, so there is a problem if the automated trains run all the way into the city. That would make it very slow. What is really needed is a local feeder line (all stops) from NW into a major station, then expresses.
– by comparison the private Parramatta proposal was for a fast (express) line out to Parramatta. This would have had a dual benefit – faster services for peopel from Parramatta out and less crowded trains for inner west trains.
91 Gary Bruce Says:
That’s a direct quote out Mo Io’s presser. The party meeja managers been quick of the mark with the talking points memo despite all the distractions this arvo.
Face the facts the electricity privatisation was a bad idea. The people of NSW do not want it. It hasn’t worked anywhere else in the western world. (By “worked ” I mean it benefited the people who actually pay and use the electricity.)
101 dovif – and that proves?
106 Albert Ross – I wasn’t arguing a case for or against electricity privatisation – see 79dovif if you want to debate that issue – I was trying to show that the failure to get that through does not show that the unions run NSW. The Libs snookered that, voting against their own policy.
Steve Annabelle @ 95
Made me laugh there. When your secretary asked “who is Morris Iemma?,” you could have said, simply, “good question.”
(Later, you could have handed her a copy of The Faraway Tree and said, “you might find a reference to him in here.”)
Will anyone think about Iemma in two and a half years time when they go to the polls?
I doubt it.
A week is a long time in politics and O’Farrell has his own issues to address.
Yep, NSW Labor is an absolute sham. It’s all the Liberals’ fault. They should have won the last election. Instead they almost sent Brogden over the gap and then gave us that dork Debman.
Barry O’ Farrell is o.k. but his team is just as utterly useless. Where are all the good people these days?
Dole bludgers look better value. Low pay, keep inflation down, and if they break the law they pay for it. Compare that to some in parliament and most of the management in our public companies. Yep, better value, that’s for bloody sure!
Just saw Rees on an interview on 7 news in Sydney. He promised no more spin to the people of NSW because they have had sh!t upto his back teeth.
Good start. Let’s see what he does from here?
How is at someone from the ALP left can only achieve the highest office when the ship has hit the fan?
Graeme
They join “Centre Unity” 😛
Rees is perhaps what N.S.W Labor needs: a good, hardworking bloke from the Western Suburbs, obviously smart too, and a much better media performer than Iemma!
nsw labor needs to be evacuated asap from state government.
Singe Gun
How will O’Farrell obtain a no confidence vote? 2011 is a long way away. 😛
Progressive at #16 – who cares what NSW Labor needs? What NSW needs is to get rid of this apalling government.
Nathan Rees may be a good man and may stop the spin (but I doubt it). But what is he going to do about the NSW economy? What is someone from the left wing going to do about the bloated public service? My guess is nothing much.
You could be right Steve A.
We want that north-west rail line, I’ll give you the tip.
If we don’t get the north-west rail line, I’m switching to state liberal permanently!
What is immensely amusing is the idea that anything will change under Nathan Rees. NSW Labor cannot and never will change overnight. He is underscored by the same hapless incompetence. There is a $42 billion hole in the budget, but everyone is too busy stabbing Costa for being too rationalist. Money doesn’t come from thin air. It comes from the back of our hip pockets! I, for one, do not want an additional $500 million interest bill that will result from losing our AAA credit rating!
If anything, this entire sham is a perfect reason to change the NSW Constitution and omit fixed terms.
Same strategy seems to be working in Tassie,
http://news.theage.com.au/national/tas-premier-proves-popular-100-days-on-20080901-46zf.html
“Tuesday marks 100 days since the unpopular former premier Paul Lennon resigned, floundering in scandal and with a 17 per cent approval rating.
The May 26 generational change has worked for Labor, according to the latest poll.
According to the pundits, Mr Bartlett, 40, a former IT consultant who entered politics only four years ago has met his many challenges.
Forty per cent of voters agree with the pundits, preferring the “Gen X” leader as premier in last month’s Enterprise Marketing and Research Services (EMRS) poll, seven percentage points ahead of Liberal Leader Will Hodgman.
Labor and Liberal each attracted 30 per cent of the vote in the August EMRS poll, making Mr Bartlett’s personal rating key to Labor’s success at the March 2010 election.”
“Just saw Rees on an interview on 7 news in Sydney. He promised no more spin to the people of NSW because they have had sh!t upto his back teeth.”
No doubt he was advised to say this by his press secretary!
I think the implosion of the NSW Government, the struggle of the WA Government, and the near-defeat of the NT Government, show that Australians feel most secure when they have one colour of government in their state, and the opposite colour in Canberra. I certainly think Howard can be thanked for wall-to-wall Labor state and territory governments, but within a few short years, the trend is likely to totally reverse. From the latest polls, the public seems very happy with Rudd in Canberra, so it’s not an anti-Labor trend per se.
I have a basic belief that every government, from whatever party, needs to be turned over at least every ten years. It stops entrenched political appointments, and a fresh approach to problems.
ESJ,
NSW have had their change of Government. Libs have cocked it up again.
LOL GG, No its Victoria 1992 all over again. It’s just we have a Liberal Party that cant even do mongrel very well.
Have to agree Antonio. It’s just a pity that NSW citizens have to wait yet another 2 1/2 years before they can have their say.
No 124
GG, there is no change of government. It’s the same bunch of dunces running the same dud bureaucracy.
I also fail to see why Carmel Tebbutt is receiving so much praise. Her performance left the education portfolio in a disaster.
ESJ,
Yeah, I have commented on that before.
However, I think it a major strategic error by the Libs not to support the privitisation of electricity which is their policy. Short term political gain over principle. Their problem going forward is that Labor can now say “How can you trust them Libs?”. “They say this is their policy, but this is what they will do”?
And, that is a fair observation unfettered by my Labor bias.
Also, if they had supported a major economic reform they would have got street cred and certainly having Iemma indebted to them will have allowed the infighting in the ALP to continue for much, much longer.
Obviusly, as GP pointed out, the econmic problems aren’t going to go away. But, believe it or not, Labor are now in with a fighting chance.
Classic Lib cockup.
Wow GP, what a person can do in a few months, Tebbutt has not been in the ministry since the last election.
How many months was she education minister? Who cut funding for education in NSW?
Twit. 😛
vera @ 122
That may be true to a degree. But for a state than has only had 4 liberal premiers since 1934, breaking even with the liberals is pretty average.
Scotty
true being level isn’t great but they were behind before the leader change
GG,
Disagree with you about the Libs’ stance on privatisation. What you said might be regarded by Labor as a good debating point, but in reality:
– why is it O’Farrell’s job to make Iemma’s life easy?
– why is it good policy to sell assets at a time when it’s hard to find buyers?
To be frank, O’Farrell’s decision of last week is going to be a complete non-event by March 2011.
Dyno,
Paul Keating said, “I wan’t to do you slowly”, re Hewson. Supporting privitisation would not have made Iemma’s life any easier.
Why have a policy if you won’t implement it when you have the opportunity. Every successful politician writes in their memoirs that “be true to yourself” is the recipe for success on the greasy pole of politics.
Time will tell re the next election.
No 130
Don’t try and cover up her responsibility for her portfolio. She opposed Howard’s proposed reforms for greater transparency in schools. She’ll probably do the same again with Rudd (Howard’s plans Mark II: Rudder stamp). Schools are still a mess and being from the left, she is still in the pocket of the Teacher Unions. Shame on her. Tebbutt is as much a failure as Sartor, Meagre Meagher and Tripodi.
[why is it O’Farrell’s job to make Iemma’s life easy?]
It was his job to keep Iemma as Premier until the election
Call an election now and get it over and done with. It will save the good people of NSW from another 2 years of incompetence and infighting.
Dario,
Cruel but fair – maybe you’re right. Wonder what the new boy will be like.
Glen,
We really do need an election in NSW in my view. Fixed terms are an example of “cure worse than disease” I reckon – people get worked up about early elections, but surely they’re not as bad as the kind of enforced paralysis we currently have.
Let’s hope Rees can get the party behind him enough to start governing.
It really is time for state labor to forget about the polls, forget about cheap media stunts, forget about the cover ups, and forget about excuses. They really now have nothing to lose, but to do the job in the next 2 1/2 years.
If they turn it around and Rees turns out to be a fair dinkum bloke and an achiever, then they are in with only half a chance.
Dyno is absolutely correct. Privatisation is a generally held principle of the Liberal Party, but the method by which it is enacted must be sound. Given the uncertainty in the energy market thanks to the economic vandals Rudd, Wong and Garrett, it may never be possible to secure a good price for the assets.
No 134
GG, what does Paul flapping Keating have to do with Iemma and O’Farrell? PJK has an over-heightened sense of self-importance who thinks that crude quips about Liberal politicians suddenly makes him an authoritative commentator on modern Federal politics.
The point to be taken here is that the Nationals were never going to support the privatisation and if the Liberals did, it would have made the Coalition look marked by division and disunity. In the end, the ALP imploded and the Coalition retained whatever scintilla of credibility it still has in the NSW public.
No 140
Fact of the matter is that Rees is going to have to make some seriously tough decisions in the forthcoming months regarding capital works. Costa’s dire image of the fiscal problems cannot be underestimated. I suspect the NW metro will be delayed or cancelled. Surprise, surprise – no wonder idiot Watkins resigned altogether.
It hasn’t been a good day. I’m agreeing with GP 🙁
GP
A simplistic evaluation of the Liberals in NSW:
O’Farrell used to be fat and now he is thin.
Controlled by religious fanatics.
Their policy positions are negotiable depending on the opportunity.
Is this a change you can believe in?
No 144
GG, please explain this incessant need to reference religious fanatacism? Where is it? I have not seen it and I am involved in the party.
Krudd is a committed Christian himself.
Wake up mate – come up with some new arguments.
I’d class Rudd as a modest Christian, not a bible bashing crackpot.
re: socrates @ #105
I was giving an explanation of a metro and also description of the Sydney proposal. It was not my intention to include any kind of value assessment in that posting.
IMHO there are advantages and disadvantages with the Metro proposal.
Firstly, I will answer the points you raised. Please note that these are just my views and I not saying you are wrong.
1. City Loop station capacity. I assume you are referring to Town Hall and Wynyard in particular. I have not heard anyone claiming that the North West metro would fix capacity issues at either of these stations. There will obviosly be some changes to Wynyard to allow for the additional platforms and extra volume of passengers. It is my understanding the capacity issues are the number of people on the platforms for Western Line services. Is this correct?
2. At best 10% of demand from North West. I’ve read the same comments in the SMH Letters to the editor. No one railway line carries 100% of the passengers (unless of course there is only one railway line). A North West railway (of whatever type) is to carry passengers that don’t currently use trains. There are other projects currently taking place to upgrade and expand the existing network (track duplications and quadruplications, turnbacks, new South West railway, Epping to Chatswood railway).
3. I agree with you that heavy rail can run at high frequency. When you have numerous lines merging into one, as the CityRail network does, the trains are only running at high frequency on the shared section of track. If the North West rail was built using heavy rail on a track isolated from the rest of the network, then it could also run at high frequency.
4. North West metro would be very slow. The proposal shows a trip time of 44 minutes from Rouse Hill to St James. I’m sure that this is much faster than the original heavy rail proposal and is comparable in time to existing CityRail express services from that far out to the city. (I don’t know if the 44 minutes is feasible).
5. Local feeders to main stations then express. I’m not sure if this means change trains at the main station or the feed train becomes the express. Either way it is adding extra load to a part of the network that is already at capacity.
Here is a quick summary of what I like and dislike about the North West Metro proposal.
Likes:
1. It is separate from other services, so doesn’t get caught up in other network delays
2. More doors allow fast loading and unloading at busy stations
3. Provides large capacity service to the North West
4. Uses a shorter route than the original heavy rail proposal
5. Provides a service to Top Ryde, Gladesville, Drummoyne, Rozelle, etc that wasn’t in the original North West proposal
6. Doesn’t dump the North West traffic onto an already crowded system
7. Screens at stations (if this is included in the final design) to prevent people getting on the tracks
8. High frequency services are more likely to be used than 4 trains per hour services
Dislikes:
1. Stations are too far apart. If people need to drive to a station then they may just drive all the way to their destination. More stations increase travel time so maybe line is too long
2. There should be a station at Barrangaroo, not channelling Barrangaroo passenders through Wynyard
3. People who want to travel between Top Ryde or Gladesville and Parramatta/Western Line have to go via Wynyard or Epping and Strathfield
4. People in North West wanting to access Macquarie Uni, North Ryde business area and Chatswood need to change at Epping. If trains are arriving from North West every few minutes but only leaving for Chatswood every 15 minutes then may have a lot of people on platforms at Epping
5. St James to Moore Park should be part of the North West project, to reduce car and bus traffic in that area during sporting events
6. Reduces value of Bushfire Bill’s home and destroys the native trees
I like the idea of metros and believe that we should be heading in that direction, although the North West proposal isn’t the one that I would favour.
No 146
Frank, name your Bible Bashing crackpot in the NSW Libs. Please do so. It’s all in your imagination. Aside from Mike Baird and Pru Goward, O’Farrell is about as moderate as you can get for a Liberal.
At the end of the day, both parties have their extremes. The stranglehold of unions in the Labor party is also a disincentive to vote for them.
No 147
Barry, good overview, but you forgot the most important issue: the ability, or lack thereof, for the government to fund the $12 billion required for the project.
149
Thanks to the Howard Gvt starving the states of funds.
You know its true.