I don’t say Andrew Bolt is relentlessly partisan

. . . But, following news that the desalination plant at Wonthaggi, Victoria, looks like becoming a $23.9b “white elephant,” Andrew Bolt has declared it to be:

The greatest green folly in Victoria’s history.

The problem with Doctor Easychair’s analysis is that the Greens have always opposed the desalination plant as “a loser for the environment, greenhouse gases and the household budget.”

Moreover, as Jeremy Sear notes at Pure Poison,

Friends of the Earth have been long opposed. Likewise the Australian Conservation Foundation, and a coalition of environmental groups operating as “Watershed Victoria” with their Your Water Your Say campaign.

In fact, the Greens and environmental groups were the biggest opponents of the desalination plant. Where the Herald Sun columnist disingenuously pretends that “almost no journalists or academics even questioned this gigantic folly at the time” and concludes that the plant represents “what green madness, unchecked, can lead to”, it is clear looking at the record that there were many, many people campaigning vigorously against the proposal all the way through, and that the Greens and greens in general were those leading the fight.

I try to avoid Doctor Easychair’s writings as far as possible, but from what I’ve seen he’s only opposed desalination plants when his ‘warmist’ bogeyman Tim Flannery advocated for them.

All imarges by Jarcob, January 2008.

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Our loss

With the demise of Victorian Labor at the last state election and the ascendancy of Ted Baillieu’s coalition government, my mind has been turning to those halcyon days when Victoria was ‘On The Move’ under the Kennett Government.

Of course, the Kennett Government was more than just Jeff, it had an exquisite plume in its cap called Felicity, the Great Man’s spouse and Victoria’s First Lady.

Whilst recently reminiscing through old press clippings, tears of nostalgia welled in my eyes as I came upon the following searing cultural criticism from the Lady Herself:

“The worst thing about Australian women is the shit shoes they wear and the terrible handbags we get around with,” the Premier's wife told Mode.

“You would never find that in America. We have got to stop being cheap on the accessories. We think we can get away with it and we really shouldn't.” ...

“We've got to stop thinking of fashion as something frivolous which only people with loud voices and blonde hair play with, because it's not.”

• The Age, 20 February 1997

Some Victorians knew what we had when we had it, for instance Ron Walker...

... head of Melbourne Major Events and mate of the Premier, says in the article that Mrs Kennett is one of Victoria's most valuable commodities in the quest to make Melbourne the fashion capital of Australia.

“She's so beautiful and so elegant; she's a great advantage for us ... She is a beautiful front door for us,” he says.

And at least some of the people knew it too, as evinced by the following supportive letter-to-the-editor:

Felicity Kennett has done us all a great service by pointing out the role of the shoe in contemporary society. As I understand it, the First Lady has implied that poor accessorising by Victorian women is undermining the social fabric. I couldn't agree more. If only nice girls from Kooyong to Canterbury would stop wearing those beastly workmen's boots! And as for moccasins, one should not be seen dead in Safeway without stilettos.

I believe the genesis of shoe dysfunction lies in the Australian habit of looking people in the eye when greeting them. One really ought to look down at the shoes. People of good breeding have always known that the shoes (not the eyes) are the window to the sole.

Kevin Rugg, Beaumaris

• The Age, 1 March 1997

Hopefully Victoria’s new First Lady, Robyn Baillieu, can get our quest to make Melbourne the fashion capital of Australia seriously back on track.

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Transport Trivia Friday

Presenting milestones in Victoria’s transport landscape...

This week: 1979

September	Thousands turn out for a 125th anniversary re-enactment of the first train journey in Australia.
December	Victoria records an annual road toll of 941, down from 1,061 in 1970.

• Source: Transport Research and Policy Analysis Bulletin, Autumn 2010

Next week: ...maybe something else for a change...

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Transport Trivia Friday

Presenting milestones in Victoria’s transport landscape...

This week: 1978

January	The History of Transport Mural, painted by Harold Freeman, is unveiled at Spencer Street Station.
February	Melbourne’s first permanent pedestrian mall, in Bourke Street, is officially opened.
November	The West Gate Bridge is officially opened. A 60c toll applies for cars.

• Source: Transport Research and Policy Analysis Bulletin, Autumn 2010

Next week: 1979 ! !

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Transport Trivia Friday

Presenting milestones in Victoria’s transport landscape...

This week: 1977

February	Jacob begins driving (legitimately), coinciding with steady increase in demand for courses in defensive driving.
December	Stage 1 of the Eastern Freeway (Hoddle Street to Bulleen Road) opens.

• Source: Transport Research and Policy Analysis Bulletin, Autumn 2010

Next week: 1978 ! !

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Transport Trivia Friday

Presenting milestones in Victoria’s transport landscape...

This week: 1976

July	Random breath testing of drivers is introduced in Victoria.
November	Smoking is banned on trains, trams, and government buses in Victoria.

• Source: Transport Research and Policy Analysis Bulletin, Autumn 2010

Next week: 1977 ! !

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Transport Trivia Friday

Presenting milestones in Victoria’s transport landscape...

This week: 1975

January	The 27-kilometre extension of the suburban train network from Dandenong to Pakenham is completed.
May	The first ‘Z’-class trams enter service.

• Source: Transport Research and Policy Analysis Bulletin, Autumn 2010

Next week: 1976 ! !

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Out of the Connex and into the Metro

Customers of Metro Trains, which took over Melbourne’s train system from Connex about six months ago, can arrange to receive text messages advising of delays and disruptions to services.

The text will usually read something like as follows:

Minor delays Pakenham line: citybound trains may be delayed up to 15 minutes

To which one might ask: What kind of suburban train operator would consider fifteen minutes a ‘minor’ delay?

Fifteen minutes is not a ‘minor’ delay unless we’re talking about something like a trans-continental flight. But for someone travelling by train from, say, Dandenong to the City, fifteen minutes represents around a third of the traveling time.

This isn’t Spain! In the context of a suburban train ride, fifteen minutes delay is ƒυςќιηģ major!

Sadly, it seems customers of Metro Trains have not only to contend with chronic delays in their train service. They’re also insulted daily with the debasement of language which seeks to deny the problem.

And there’s no end to it in sight. Unless...

Perhaps Melbourne’s employers might initiate a class action against Metro Trains to recover the millions they’ve lost in productivity, through thousands of their employees being needlessly and uselessly confined to rail carriages for a significant portion of each working day.

Metro customers might help get the ball rolling by clocking in to work 10 or 15 minutes earlier than when they arrive, and tell their employers to invoice Metro Trains for the difference.

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Transport Trivia Friday

Presenting milestones in Victoria’s transport landscape...

This week: 1974

January	The last red swing-door train (commonly known as a ‘Dogbox’ or ‘Doggie’) is retired from passenger service. Carriages on these trains were narrow to prevent an open door hitting an oncoming train.
April	Compulsory blood-alcohol testing after road traffic accidents is introduced.
July	Metric road signs are introduced in Victoria.

• Source: Transport Research and Policy Analysis Bulletin, Autumn 2010

Next week: 1975 ! !

—READ MORE—

Transport Trivia Friday

Presenting milestones in Victoria’s transport landscape...

This week: 1973

August	The Victorian Government signs a $6m contract to build the first of Melbourne’s underground stations, Museum Station (now Melbourne Central).
December	Plans are announced to reduce Victoria’s open-road speed limit to 60 mph.

• Source: Transport Research and Policy Analysis Bulletin, Autumn 2010

Next week: 1974 ! !

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Transport Trivia Friday

Presenting milestones in Victoria’s transport landscape...

This week: 1972

April	Construction resumes on the $75m West Gate Bridge project after an 18 month delay, following its catastrophic collapse in October 1970.
November	Legislation is introduced requiring Victorians to obtain a learner’s permit before they can start driving.
	The first of Melbourne’s new stainless-steel Hitachi trains enters service on the suburban network.

• Source: Transport Research and Policy Analysis Bulletin, Autumn 2010

Next week: 1973 ! !

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Transport Trivia Friday

Presenting milestones in Victoria’s transport landscape...

This week: 1971

May	The last ‘wig-wag’ (mechanical pendulum) railway signal in Victoria is replaced by a modern flashing device.
June	Construction work officially begins on the Melbourne underground railway loop, initially estimated to cost $80m. (On completion in the mid-1980s, the final cost was $500m.)
December	Speeds on Victorian country roads are limited to 70 mph for a 12 month trial period.

• Source: Transport Research and Policy Analysis Bulletin, Autumn 2010

Next week: 1972 ! !

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Transport Trivia Friday

Presenting milestones in Victoria’s transport landscape...

This week: 1970

February	The completed Tullamarine Freeway is opened by the Premier, the Hon. Sir Henry Bolte.
July	Melbourne Airport is officially opened.
	After 48 years of operation, the Victorian railways poultry farm at Noble Park is closed. The farm supplied chickens and eggs for the railway’s cafes, bakery, dining rooms and cars.
October	A section of Melbourne’s West Gate Bridge collapses, killing thirty-five workmen.
December	Compulsory wearing of car seat belts becomes law in Victoria. Seat belts, if fitted, must be used by drivers and front-seat passengers.

• Source: Transport Research and Policy Analysis Bulletin, Autumn 2010

 
Next week: 1971 ! !

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