Vic How would you rate Daniel Andrews' performance as Victorian Premier? - Part 7

[Ned_Flanders]

Puffing Billy needs legislation?

Yeah, I was Gunna ask this too.

Whats going on with puffin Billy???

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

Puffing Billy needs legislation?

Yeah, I was Gunna ask this too.

Whats going on with puffin Billy???

Puffing Billy has always been an oddity in tourist railways.

The Emerald Tourist Railway Act 1977 established the Emerald Tourist Railway Board who run the railway.
That board reports to the government.

The VR at the time had zero interest in the preservation or Tourist scene. Effectively it was made to take it off thier hands


Looks like this new Bill is just an update of that.

 

[Ned_Flanders]

Puffing Billy has always been an oddity in tourist railways.

The Emerald Tourist Railway Act 1977 established the Emerald Tourist Railway Board who run the railway.
That board reports to the government.

The VR at the time had zero interest in the preservation or Tourist scene. Effectively it was made to take it off thier hands


Looks like this new Bill is just an update of that.

But why is it a thing now? Wouldn't this just be a tick n flick job?

 

[Hornberger]

The Vic Libs, they aren't sending their best.

Victorian Liberal MP Wendy Lovell chastised for saying children in social housing ‘cannot mix’ in wealthy areas

Former housing minister accused of ‘postcode snobbery’ after saying there is ‘no point’ putting disadvantaged families in ‘best street in Brighton’

www.theguardian.com

When their worst is Bernie Finn, how can you be sure this isn't their best?

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

But why is it a thing now? Wouldn't this just be a tick n flick job?

Having a quick flick through it looks like they're just changing some words around
The ETRB is going to be known as the Puffing Billy Railway board.

It seems they're just updating the bill and nothing else

 

[Ned_Flanders]

Having a quick flick through it looks like they're just changing some words around
The ETRB is going to be known as the Puffing Billy Railway board.

It seems they're just updating the bill and nothing else

So this is just making trouble for the sake of it

 

[boncer34]

So this is just making trouble for the sake of it

I think the suggestion above is that to deny they're stifling debate the government has decided to allow debate on this "issue."

 

[Pakenhamsaint]

So this is just making trouble for the sake of it

I think what's happening is the government has allowed considerations on it for reasons.

 

[swingdog]

I think what's happening is the government has allowed considerations on it for reasons.

Puffing Billy to win the Airport Link contract.

 

[HurleyHepsHird]

So what's the newest "scandal" that's going to bring Andrews down?

 

[Gralin]

So what's the newest "scandal" that's going to bring Andrews down?

Puffing billy

 

[HurleyHepsHird]

Puffing billy

At least a surreal and idiotic one, is better than a fabricated one I suppose.

The cookers do love their nonsense.

BTW, found out something interesting. So it turns out the original "tradies" that kicked off the shenanigans outside of the CFMEU offices were at least in part tradies, though not union members.

The key group involved are a bunch of Croatian Nationalists, standover men and thugs. A few of them work as concreters for a bloke that runs one of the largest concreting firms in Melbourne.

He has long ties to the Liberal party and now the UAP.

He doesn't have good relations with the union.

His firm is infamous for extorting builders and developers by stopping mid job, then demanding 2-3x the price for completion.

No other concreters will touch their work because they are well known for sending in the boys and at worst bikies to rough people up, damage worksites and intimidate workers.

He's very well connected on the rightwing side of politics, due to donations and party organising which is why he's been so protected for so long by the coppers.

The biker goons and a few of the Croatian Nationalist flogs identified on that first day were his boys. He's also one of the people behind a rash of UAP signage popping up on worksites around Melbourne.

 

[Big_Luch]

At least a surreal and idiotic one, is better than a fabricated one I suppose.

The cookers do love their nonsense.

BTW, found out something interesting. So it turns out the original "tradies" that kicked off the shenanigans outside of the CFMEU offices were at least in part tradies, though not union members.

The key group involved are a bunch of Croatian Nationalists, standover men and thugs. A few of them work as concreters for a bloke that runs one of the largest concreting firms in Melbourne.

He has long ties to the Liberal party and now the UAP.

He doesn't have good relations with the union.

His firm is infamous for extorting builders and developers by stopping mid job, then demanding 2-3x the price for completion.

No other concreters will touch their work because they are well known for sending in the boys and at worst bikies to rough people up, damage worksites and intimidate workers.

He's very well connected on the rightwing side of politics, due to donations and party organising which is why he's been so protected for so long by the coppers.

The biker goons and a few of the Croatian Nationalist flogs identified on that first day were his boys. He's also one of the people behind a rash of UAP signage popping up on worksites around Melbourne.

So construction company Croatians with their bikies were fighting against union Croatians and their bikies (the 'shop stewards' that came to stand out the frontof the building)?... have I got this right?

 

[Kwality]

Interesting review of Swedens management of Covid:
How Sweden Chose its Own Path Through the Worst Pandemic in 100 Years, by journalist Johan Anderberg (Scribe, $32.99), out March 29.

An official inquiry into Sweden’s Covid response handed down its final report last month. It concluded that the no-lockdown strategy was fundamentally correct but that tougher measures (limits on public gatherings, temporary closure of high-risk locations, etc) should have been introduced earlier. It noted that many countries that pursued lockdowns “experienced significantly worse outcomes than Sweden, indicating… that it is highly uncertain what effect lockdowns have in fact had”. The panel of eight experts noted high death rates among the elderly and said measures to protect them had failed. It also criticised the government for delegating too much responsibility to the Health Agency. More than 17,000 people have died from or with Covid-19 in Sweden – higher than its Nordic neighbours. “After two years of pandemic, Sweden does not stand out,” Anders Tegnell said. “We are not the best, but we are definitely not the worst.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/weekend-australian-magazine/no-masks-no-lockdowns-how-did-that-go-for-sweden/news-story/3e6f96d0d85a6bd995fc0524dc0aa6a4

Sure to be the template for an attempt of a similar review of Australia's efforts, particularly lockdowns.

'For almost all of 2020 Sweden imposed no curfews, kept compulsory schools open, and didn’t force its citizens to wear face masks. Adjustments made to the strategy from November of that year – lower density limits in restaurants, limits on public gatherings – didn’t succeed in wiping Sweden’s unique path from memory. If anything, the opposite was true. When the Swedish parliament recommended face masks for its members a year into the pandemic, it had the effect of highlighting the fact that for all this time members of parliament had not been masking up. For almost all of 2020, Sweden had chosen a different path. So, how did it go?'

'..... During the 2020 pandemic year, one such idea spread from country to country, from politician to politician. From China to Italy and Spain, across the European continent to North America, South America and Africa. It was the idea that countries could close down their societies, and that by forcing people to stay home they could prevent the spread of the virus. It was an idea never before tested at such a scale and for which no one had calculated the social and economic costs.'

'...... The fact that critics in several cases were censored by large US platform companies was perhaps less significant than the way in which, early on, influential journalistic institutions in the US and Europe chose to equate those who expressed lockdown scepticism with a general contempt for science. In this respect Sweden too was an exception. The debate about what level of restrictions should apply was perhaps louder than in other countries – but it was also freer.'

Interesting read, the Aus version will be make for equally interesting politics.

 

[Crankyhawk]

Interesting review of Swedens management of Covid:
How Sweden Chose its Own Path Through the Worst Pandemic in 100 Years, by journalist Johan Anderberg (Scribe, $32.99), out March 29.

An official inquiry into Sweden’s Covid response handed down its final report last month. It concluded that the no-lockdown strategy was fundamentally correct but that tougher measures (limits on public gatherings, temporary closure of high-risk locations, etc) should have been introduced earlier. It noted that many countries that pursued lockdowns “experienced significantly worse outcomes than Sweden, indicating… that it is highly uncertain what effect lockdowns have in fact had”. The panel of eight experts noted high death rates among the elderly and said measures to protect them had failed. It also criticised the government for delegating too much responsibility to the Health Agency. More than 17,000 people have died from or with Covid-19 in Sweden – higher than its Nordic neighbours. “After two years of pandemic, Sweden does not stand out,” Anders Tegnell said. “We are not the best, but we are definitely not the worst.”

https://www.theaustralian.com.au/weekend-australian-magazine/no-masks-no-lockdowns-how-did-that-go-for-sweden/news-story/3e6f96d0d85a6bd995fc0524dc0aa6a4

Sure to be the template for an attempt of a similar review of Australia's efforts, particularly lockdowns.

'For almost all of 2020 Sweden imposed no curfews, kept compulsory schools open, and didn’t force its citizens to wear face masks. Adjustments made to the strategy from November of that year – lower density limits in restaurants, limits on public gatherings – didn’t succeed in wiping Sweden’s unique path from memory. If anything, the opposite was true. When the Swedish parliament recommended face masks for its members a year into the pandemic, it had the effect of highlighting the fact that for all this time members of parliament had not been masking up. For almost all of 2020, Sweden had chosen a different path. So, how did it go?'

'..... During the 2020 pandemic year, one such idea spread from country to country, from politician to politician. From China to Italy and Spain, across the European continent to North America, South America and Africa. It was the idea that countries could close down their societies, and that by forcing people to stay home they could prevent the spread of the virus. It was an idea never before tested at such a scale and for which no one had calculated the social and economic costs.'

'...... The fact that critics in several cases were censored by large US platform companies was perhaps less significant than the way in which, early on, influential journalistic institutions in the US and Europe chose to equate those who expressed lockdown scepticism with a general contempt for science. In this respect Sweden too was an exception. The debate about what level of restrictions should apply was perhaps louder than in other countries – but it was also freer.'

Interesting read, the Aus version will be make for equally interesting politics.

Would want to see the underlying assumptions made for the inquiry.

 

[Kwality]

Would want to see the underlying assumptions made for the inquiry.

Didnt look beyond what I posted.

This may help:

Covid-19 in Sweden | sweden.se

Here is a brief summary of how Sweden is handling the Covid-19 pandemic.

sweden.se

• For study-related information, go to migrationsverket.se.

 

[Crankyhawk]

Didnt look beyond what I posted.

This may help:

Covid-19 in Sweden | sweden.se

Here is a brief summary of how Sweden is handling the Covid-19 pandemic.

sweden.se

• For study-related information, go to migrationsverket.se.

Unfortunately doesn’t help, the migration link seems to be more around how to be a student in Sweden and the other link was a summary of current settings, not what the book is suggesting (which is theoretically a review of how the no lockdown approach compared to other countries either covid zero approaches or suppression with lockdown approaches) which is why I want to see underlying assumptions for the comparison

 

[Mr.X]

So Andrews has a meeting in his office with someone, announces a heap of funding for activities relating to the community to get votes, then this mob registers themselves as an entity with ASIC

A few highlights from the article below - this looks seriously dodgey

1. Local bottle shop owner Luckee Koh attends a meeting in late July 2018 at Andrews office calling himself member of the “Australia India Strategy Group"
2. A few weeks later, Mr Andrews announced Labor would, if re-elected in November 2018, spend tens of millions of dollars on initiatives which were claimed to be proposed by the group
3. There is no direct evidence that the Treasury Place meeting and the funding commitments were linked, but the Australia India Strategy Group was quick to claim credit
4. Australian Securities and Investments Commission records show that on August 6, 2018, a week after the Treasury Place meeting, the Australia India Strategy Group was registered as a business name for the first time

How the Premier’s local bottle shop owner claimed he won millions in projects

 

[Mr Blicavs]

The hypocrisy of Andrews and his supporters to whinge about marginal seat carparks, and the lack of transparency. They prefer the grog shop approach to public spending.

 

[Sttew]

The hypocrisy of Andrews and his supporters to whinge about marginal seat carparks, and the lack of transparency. They prefer the grog shop approach to public spending.

You gotta get on the beers!

 

[Mr Blicavs]

You gotta get on the beers!

Women giving birth at the side of the road as country hospital maternity services close...money can't be found for them.
But a sly chat with a bloke in a grog shop, with no business case... we've got cash for that! The bloke wasn't even representative of an established community group. A chatty Premier at the grog shop, is not the same as transparency, financial accountability, or a business case. We can't have such shocking financial governance if it means those maternity services have no money.


Disgusting

 

[Opine]

I’m convinced DA’s only motive is to esure road safety. These cams are in no way, no way, no way, intended as a revenue raising exercise even if $$$$ may be a significant incidental byproduct. I never handle my phone while driving, Siri, so this won’t effect me.

Mobile phone detection cameras on the cards for Victoria

 

[boncer34]

I’m convinced DA’s only motive is to esure road safety. These cams are in no way, no way, no way, intended as a revenue raising exercise even if $$$$ may be a significant incidental byproduct. I never handle my phone while driving, Siri, so this won’t effect me.

Mobile phone detection cameras on the cards for Victoria

They're 100% revenue raisers just like speed cameras.

But know how to not get fined?

Don't do the wrong thing.

 

[PonsfordMagpie]

Andrews has Covid.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews tests positive to COVID-19

The Premier says he received his results on a rapid antigen test and has "mild symptoms", including a sore throat and temperature.

www.abc.net.au

 

[HirdyLannister]

Andrews has Covid.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews tests positive to COVID-19

The Premier says he received his results on a rapid antigen test and has "mild symptoms", including a sore throat and temperature.

www.abc.net.au