31 October 2022

Budget diverts Parkway funding to light rail and Tuggeranong is not happy

| Ian Bushnell
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The Tuggeranong Parkway

The Tuggeranong Parkway: the South West Corridor projects would have funded works along it. Photo: Region.

The cutting of $85.9 million of road funding in the Federal Budget and diversion to light rail Stage 2A has received a mixed response from community representatives.

It was revealed in Senate estimates on Friday (28 October) that the South West Corridor ($50.9 m) Kings Highway upgrades to Pialligo Avenue ($30 m) and Boboyan Road project ($5 m) had been axed, with the same amount allocated to light rail, with the last payment in 2029-30.

Federal bureaucrats also said Stage 2A would be delivered in January 2026, something Transport Minister Chris Steel has refused to say.

A disappointed Tuggeranong Community Council President Glenys Patulny said the South West Corridor project for the Tuggeranong Parkway, including between the Cotter Road and Glenloch Interchange, should have been kept to alleviate the pressures that light rail construction would bring to the whole road network.

READ ALSO You’re being watched – and sniffed – on the ACT’s roads

Ms Patulny said the cut was short-sighted and the Federal and ACT governments had not taken a big-picture view of the whole road system.

She said there would be more and more pressure on the Parkway as the population of the Molonglo Valley grew and as disruptions increased from first light rail stage 2A to Commonwealth Park and then Stage 2B when it progressed towards Woden down Adelaide Avenue.

“These are things that could have a big effect, not just now but into the future, but more when the tram comes online,” she said. “There’s going to be more and more pressure on this Parkway and it needs to be up to scratch.”

Ms Patulny said it wasn’t just about catering for more cars because an extra lane on the Parkway could also be used for electric buses.

She said the Parkway was the most direct route into the City from Tuggeranong and the road served three regions – Tuggeranong, Weston Creek and Molonglo.

“I personally like the idea of the tram, but I think they’ve got to look at the whole picture at the same time, and is this the best thing to cut?”

Light rail.

Money has been reallocated to light rail Stage 2A to Commonwealth Park. Image: ACT Government

Weston Creek Community Council chair Bill Gemmell said he understood both governments’ reasoning that projects needed to be prioritised with construction resources under pressure.

“We’re running out of labour and construction inputs,” he said.

“I don’t know where they were going to get the construction workers, prices would have been inflated by the time they got around to doing it, and was it really a priority project?

“If asked whether we want to improve access into Civic via the Parkway, we’ll all say, ‘of course we do’, but I think we need to take a step back and think about priorities.”

Mr Gemmell said being able to put more vehicles down the Parkway was like putting more water in a funnel – “only so much will go in”.

But with the community facing a decade of disruption, he urged the government to be clearer about the implications of the light rail project.

It was important to get the job done as quickly as possible to minimise the disruption, and the reallocation of funding would help with that, Mr Gemmell said.

An ACT Government spokesperson said the Commonwealth reached out to all State and Territory Governments to ensure projects were realistic, achievable and sustainable in the challenging current construction market.

The spokesperson said that the funding for light rail ensured that the $85.9 million stayed in the ACT.

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The spokespersons said the South-West Corridor project’s aims were always unclear and the former Coalition Government had refused the ACT Government’s request to have the money redirected into the major bottleneck at Parkes Way.

“We agreed in good faith to use a small amount of funding to undertake a feasibility study on what upgrades could be delivered on the Southwest Corridor to inform future planning. This work is currently underway,” the spokesperson said.

“The Australian Government’s decision to redirect the remainder of funding to other projects for the time being also reflects the reality that we cannot undertake major upgrades to all of the roads to the city from the Southside, including Monaro Highway, Athllon Drive, Commonwealth Avenue and John Gorton Drive all at the same time as tearing up the Tuggeranong Parkway for no clear reason.”

The spokesperson said the Pialligo Avenue project had unresolved planning and environmental issues to do with the future extension of the runway at Canberra Airport.

In relation to Boboyan Road, talks were continuing with the Commonwealth to reclassify roads in the ACT, which are regional/rural roads, so that they attract 80/20 funding as in other states and territories.

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With all the focus on LR costs and calls for a wider view of the transport system perhaps there should be a business case for the roads too? Might answer the discovery of the sweet spot between different transport types, needs and requirements. ….before we or our grandkids have to dig expensive tunnels and underground rail!

Good point. I’m pretty sure Infrastructure Australia regularly do undertake reviews, analysis and business cases for roads across Australian cities. Federal reports appear on the web every so often.

It was them who had bus rapid cost benefit for Canberra at about three times the light rail equivalent based on the business cases.

But you are spot on in asking for business cases for all major infrastructure spending, whether they be roads, rail or recreation. Any investment that is worth less than half the money you put into it, shouldn’t ever be getting hundreds of millions of taxpayers dollars.

BJ is correct that all major road projects should and typically are subject to robust business case preparation. The Majura Parkway in the ACT for example had a cost benefit ratio of well over 2.

The only exception is when the politicians get their mitts on the projects and make decisions for political reasons rather than logical ones. Which is exactly the problem with light rail. We see this at all levels of government from all political parties and it should be opposed everywhere regardless of your politics.

The other thing in your comment that often gets missed is it is possible to plan for the future and set aside corridors for when other transport types might be needed or when upgrades are required. So that you don’t have to come back and spend far more money than would otherwise be the case by retrofitting infrastructure in unsuitable areas.

But politicians don’t typically like this because they can’t make big important announcements and they don’t get to cut the ribbons of the big, new, fancy stuff they’ve built in the short term.

““If asked whether we want to improve access into Civic via the Parkway, we’ll all say, ‘of course we do’”
No, that’s not what the tram project is about: it’s about making it more difficult to travel around the city in anything other than a tram – just have a look at the plans for the roads as published on the Canberra council website (particularly note the clover-leaf for northbound traffic wanting to head east towards Fyshwick/Queanbeyan).

Leon Arundell8:33 am 02 Nov 22

Page 21 of the Business Case for Stage 2A says that it has a BCR of only 0.4. That means that for every dollar it costs, it will provide only forty cents worth of benefits.
The ACT Government spokesperson, who described Stage 2a as realistic and sustainable, clearly doesn’t understand costs and benefits.

Yeah this gets me too.

Forty cents in the dollar is probably the lowest return on investment I’ve ever seen for a funded project.

Any company after a government or private grant

Even if you support light rail, shouldn’t labor be open about how they are robbing Tuggeranong?
TCC should run at the next election

I would have thought that with all the anticipated disruptions on the roads along the light rail corridor it would have been a sensible thing to upgrade the Parkway to be able to cope with an increase in traffic.

Add an extra lane to the Parkway in both directions in order to encourage people to use it instead of Commonwealth Avenue – Adelaide Ave – Yarra Glenn

Instead of contributing to debate Chewy14 your reply says it all. Your first and last paragraphs speak volumes about your contribution to debates!! Self-opiniated comes to mind!

Jack D,
I agree my reply does say it all in providing the factual information to you. It does speak volumes to my contribution to debates in interrogating the evidence and outlining a logical response to those who consistently present a predetermined ideological position to any issue that has little basis in reality.

You dismissed others replying to your comments as “naysayers” or “neysayers” as you put it, which is funny on Melbourne cup day, rather than engaging with the points being made.

You provided a few initial comments that have been logically picked apart by numerous commentators due to their factual inaccuracies. If you want to engage in debates productively, perhaps you should start by addressing the points rather than going straight to politically biased ad hominems.

Although I do appreciate the irony of me being called a Labor stooge on one post today and you attacking my objectivity here in the opposite direction.

Thank you so much for your feedback Chewy14! It has really made me step back and reflect! I’m gobsmacked! All my hot air up against your intellect! Your volumes of input and informed knowledge which leaves me lacking! How could I begin to match your skills in interrogating evidence and providing factual information to those who don’t know, those who consistently and persistently present predetermined ideological positions on issues with little basis to reality! Thank you also for pointing out my incorrect spelling of “naysayers”. I take pride in my spelling abilities. Many years ago I was the very proud recipient of many awards in spelling competitions at school. Unfortunately, these skills have fallen by the wayside over the years. Unlike your well-honed intellectual skills, I was not under the impression that I had to reply to all responses to my comments on Riot-Act to prove some sort of intellectual superiority. I will take your advice on board and endeavour to respond to all those “naysayers” who reply to my comments despite many inanities, shortfalls and inaccuracies in their responses. Thanks again Chewy!

Jack,
That’s a lot of words to once again not address the arguments being made.

Hardly surprising though, partisan hacks are often good at waffling on.

Well I guess we should be thankful it was only road funding hoovered up for Tram 2 , and not from the Hospital.

Two grieving families is enuff.

Stage 1 took the hospital funding.

Dennis Pinner4:39 pm 01 Nov 22

The roads in the north also have plenty of pot holes after all the rain, some of them monsters.
The light rail serves Gungahlin because that was the cheapest start. The cost from Civic to Woden and further is much larger and all of Canberra is paying for it. The passenger numbers for the business case to Gungahlin wete exceeded from day one.
The light rail needs to go ahead. If anything it’s Belconnen that should winge because we are not even on the radar for light rail.
The Parkway needs an alternative and you are getting it. The light rail will make a big difference down south.

Hello Dennis,
I’m not so sure that LR will be a good alternative to the “Tuggeranong Parkway” given that LR is only planned to go to Woden.
For people down south, getting into the City depends largely where they live. The Parkway is only one option, so is

Dennis,
Seems like you haven’t looked at the patronage numbers lately.

They exceeded the initial projections which were deliberately low balled, but since then are significantly below expected usage.

Covid has changed people’s working arrangements and current patronage is about 2/3 of where the government’s business case predicted.

And as outlined by Kenbehrens, Light Rail makes no difference to those “down south”, it won’t get to Tuggeranong til the 2040s if it ever happens.

And even when it does arrive there, it will be significantly slower than the existing options so doesn’t really help transport at all.

Hi Dennis, Belconnen to the City and then on to the airport is Stage 3 of the Light Rail; so, after City to Woden (Stage 2) and before Woden to Tuggeranong (Stage 4).

Dear Mr Bushnell
You have just reminded me of a recent article you wrote. The Liberal opposition in Canberra has been fighting tooth and nail against the light rail project since 2012 and have never had a policy position on their future transport plans for the ACT including light rail. There have been repeated calls on the Liberals and Mr Parton as opposition transport spokesman over the past 4 years to release those plans but have failed to do so. You indicated (only 4 weeks ago) that Mr Parton will be doing this sometime soon. I note that the Queen died and Mr Parton took off around that time to spend a few weeks with his mother in WA, delaying the release. Maybe you could chase up with Mr Parton when he is likely to release the Liberals’ transport plan? Thank you in anticipation. Kind regards, Estelle.

ACT Labor strategists and ex Labor MLA’s have previously admitted that they target funding and projects in the north of Canberra “because that’s where ACT elections are won or lost”.

A Federal Labor government shouldn’t be redirecting and using commonwealth funds to support their Territory counterparts who instead want to use the budget money for low value return investment projects into key local electorates.

What happened to federal Labor’s pledge to stop pork barrelling? This is a replica example of what politicians like Barnaby did and what made us all angry. Coalition and Labor are as bad as each other.

Seems to me the current Labor government is doing the right thing. Reirecting pork barrel funding allocated by the previous desperate LNP government to win votes. Despite the need for these projects all were funded without a proper business case. Mostly in NSW. This funding will now go to projects that have applied and presented a proper business case.

michael quirk12:19 pm 01 Nov 22

Are you serious? Agree busines cases should be produced for all projects There is no business case for light rail with the extension to Woden likely to cost north of $2 billion.

The stage 2A business case has a cost benefit of just 40 cents for every dollar spent on it (and that’s from the ACT government’s own business case where the Auditor General even questioned the ability to see that return).

I’m all for funding good infrastructure projects, but they have to stack up to at least a reasonable level.

Jack D.
Do you expect that people are so silly that they will accept that funding from the Parkway has been reallocated to
LR 2a because there was a positive business case for 2a?
Everyone knows it’s a political decision, just like the billions of Federal funding being poured into Victoria’s rail infrastructure plans, just before the Victorian election.

What rot!!! $2b dollars Michael Quirk? Where did you pull that figure from? The light rail will be a jointly funded project. I understand negotiations are still underway. It is going ahead get over it. It is a project that will ensure Canberra’s future transport needs despite all of the neysayers. The Libs now have to come up with their own plans for the city’s future transport needs instead of whingeing from the sidelines. They have to come up with a plan some time. They have only had 10 years to do it in. We know they don’t support light rail.

Bahaha,
Surely no one could write that about light rail with a straight face?

This is the same light rail that doesn’t have a robust business case yet is still being prioritised by the local government because they’ve made it an article of faith which they’ve used to pork barrelling over multiple elections.

The same light rail that has been savaged by the Auditor General for failures to consider costs and benefits properly.

The same light rail that has not been able to be considered for priority funding on the Infrastructure Australia assessments because its return is so bad.

This funding has been allocated through the proper budget process as it should be kenbehrens. Pork barrelling is taxpayer money squirrelled away by governments to use on marginal electorates in the lead up to elections. Remember Sports Rorts and the Parking Rorts affairs used by the LNP government to win? This new Labor government was elected to fix the $1 trillion debt they inherited. I have not seen anyone complaining about the millions of dollars of taxpayer money rediverted from NDIS, Indigenous Affairs and aged care by the Morrison government, just to name a few!! They also squirrelled away $16m of taxpayers money at the last election to bribe marginal electorates. Zed used it to bribe ACT voters when he discovered he was on the nose. He promised his government would upgrade sports grounds including Vikings Oval and the AIS Arena. Zed’s bribes were not budgeted for it was pork barrelling from a $16m taxpayer slush fund!

Well Chewy14 no matter what the benefits of light rail and its integration into the bus network the neysayers will always pick and choose the negatives. I haven’t read all of the reports or the Auditor-General’s report. Despite all of the squeaky wheels against the light rail and its expansion there are many out there in the community who support it. Based on Infrastructure Australia’s report which I briefly looked at (2019 and online), they estimate that there will be a 25% increase in population in 2031. Without the light rail, IA estimates that the cost of congestion in the ACT and Queanbeyan is $289 million in 2016, growing to $504 million in 2031. They also predict that by 2031 bus services are assumed to improve incrementally through increased service frequencies and the extension of routes into growth areas with the introduction of light rail adding significant capacity. A significant part of this increase is due to improvements outside peak periods from the ACT Government’s Rapid Route services, which run services every 6 to 15 minutes during extended hours of operation from 7am to 7pm. Services are also assumed to run every 15 to 30 minutes in the off-peak and weekends. And they are just a few of the positive impacts IA has predicted. But I am sure you and the other neysayers will come back with a few more negatives. Bahaha!

Jack D,
Everything you just said in those comments is pretty much wrong. Considering you admit to not reading all the reports though, that is hardly surprising.

There is no business case showing the project is justified or needed. The cast majority of identified benefits are around land development, not transport.

Light Rail has received local funding and federal funding outside of normal infrastructure funding and budgetary processes, it is the very definition of dodgy governmental funding.

How is it not pork barrelling when it was used by the local ALP to wedge the Liberals and garner support from Gungahlin and North Canberra electorates and then more recently through to Woden?

You also present a false narrative in claiming the solution to transport problems must be light rail or nothing. No one is saying that.

There are multiple different options (as well as staging) that would deliver the same transport and overall benefits to meet the need that the government refuses to even consider in their analysis.

It isn’t “naysaying” it’s evidence based analysis of the issue.

No doubt you and the other government sycophants will keep ignoring that evidence because your political ideology is seen as more important.

It’s really very simple, the tram is a very expensive project that delivers slower public transport. I’m not sure what else there is to understand. People won’t catch the buses because they’re too slow, and their ‘solution’ is something even slower. It is not value for money, and covid lockdowns and working from home have blown assumptions about future work out of the water.

Jack D.
I think you might be believing the LR promotional material, as if it was gospel.

Light rail being integrated into the bus network and through it’s expansion, there will be an extension of routes adding significant capacity?

That’s not how it works. The Gungahlin to City LR shows the opposite. All bus services that ran down Northbourne ceased to operate.
Bus routes in the area were rerouted, to feed passengers to LR. In short, the success of LR, was dependent on passengers not being able to travel to their destination on the bus network, but having to get off the bus and onto LR.

It’s not even that LR is the best form of public transport. It’s not. Buses provide network flexibility. Their routes aren’t permanently fixed. LR, being limited to 70 kph, is 10 kph slower than a bus and that time disadvantage will see it a poor option for south-siders commuting into the City.

LR is not about public transport. It never has been. It’s about property development.

Thanks for that useful piece of input kenbehrens! No, rather than being light rail promotional material, the report I was referring to was prepared in 2019 for the Commonwealth Department of Infrastructure & Regional Development. The report provides transport modelling for the Australian transport audit and relates to the Canberra and Queanbeyan region. The report is wide-ranging and extremely in-depth. If you would care to inform yourself this is the link.
https://www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/sites/default/files/2019-08/Transport%20Modelling%20Report%20for%20ACT%20and%20Queanbeyan.pdf

Jack,
Thanks for providing the report showing that Canberra will face transport problems as the city grows that will need to work out what we can do to provide efficient solutions.

Not sure how you think that provides any evidence in support of the light rail proposals though.

Problem identification doesn’t equal options identification or analysis.

Well chewy14, at least the government has produced a transport plan to tackle the problems identified. This plan is is in progress and has been for 12 years. It has been designed to tackle Canberra’s future transport needs for an expanding city with a rapidly increasing population. I support the tram, its expansion and am a regular user. No matter what people think of light rail, and there are those for and against, we have no effective opposition to present an alternative plan. They have only had 12 years to do it in but have been too lazy to do so!! Maybe you should be directing your angst at them!!

JackD,
What a strange comment.

We should direct our anger at the opposition because they are to blame for the dysfunctional nature of our Labor/Greens government? They hold no power and have not made any of these decisions.

You can support the tram all you want, I’m sure there would be those who would support a government funded door to door limousine service if it was offered.

But that doesn’t change the fact that the project doesn’t stack up and is being funded well outside normal budgetary processes for an Infrastructure project. If any other political party was in power, you’d be calling for their sacking on corruption grounds.

What an even stranger comment from you chewy but expected! In one of your past posts in this thread you accuse me of presenting a false narrative that there must be light rail or nothing as there are many options (as well as staging) that would deliver the same transport benefits. I suggested in my last post that the government’s main opposition party, the Canberra Liberals do just that, present an alternative transport vision for ACT voters. They have failed to do this despite repeated requests and the government’s 12 years of light rail planning. Their opposition transport spokesperson, Mark Parton, continues to bluster and spin from the sidelines. The Canberra Liberals have been in opposition for over 20 years now. Do they want to win government or not?

Jack,
As I’m not a political partisan, I don’t actually care what the Liberals do all that much, when it’s the actual government that should be held to account.

The problem with your statement is that the government itself with all the money and resources in the public service available to it, haven’t considered alternatives either.

There is literally no options report developed for Light Rail Stage 2 and beyond. Its just assumed that light rail is the only option available as you seem to be doing.

It isn’t up to the opposition to develop that type of plan because they would need significant resources that aren’t available to them to do so.

They have however called for the government to be far more transparent with the electorate around the business cases, costs and decision making. Calls that have so far been completely ignored by the government.

How could anyone possibly think that its acceptable for a project where each stage will have price tags of $2billion+ to not even consider alternatives?

From your comment you actually seem to agree with me that options and alternatives should be considered. Perhaps you should be directing your concerns at the ALP/Greens government who should be addressing them?

For someone claiming to be non-partisan chewy you are certainly doing a good job for the Liberals!! You claim that the opposition doesn’t need to develop a light rail plan because they would need significant resources that aren’t available to them to do so. To date they have been quite firm in their opposition to the light rail but have not suggested any alternative transport plans for this city. Mark Parton continues to bluster away in the background, sniping away from the sidelines. With a significantly increasing population the Canberra Liberals have to come up with some sort of plan to tackle the future transport needs of this city. The government has signed contracts to move ahead with integrating light rail and the buses and are currently negotiating LR’s expansion into Woden. It is going ahead!! What is the opposition going to do? Cancel the contracts and put the Territory into further debt like their past leader Alistair Coe suggested they would?

The various ACT government transport plans released over the years have been an unmitigated disaster (many TWU and Canberra transport staff will admit this publicly and privately). Even before Covid hit, a lower percentage of Canberrans were using public transport than back in the 70s, 80s and 90s. The ACT government’s 2012 commitment to hit 16% public transport use has seen actual public transport use go consistently backwards to under 5% not upwards. The 2019 new network redesign promise that 6 in 10 people will live within walking distance of a rapid stop proved to be a complete lie. I encourage you to read all the various ACT Government transport plans over the years to see the plans deviate from one methodology to another. They are full the of failed KPIs, unrealised implementation actions and strategic design shortfalls. I doubt the Libs would have a clue in developing a Transport Plan, but ACT Labor’s plans haven’t delivered for public transport users either.

When I moved here from Sydney, public transport was more frequent, more reliable and closer to my home and most destinations. It has gotten worse with huge gaps between services and is particularly bad when you have to walk a long way after dark along poorly lit streets. It still does not provide for hospitality, trades or care workers as it is designed around public service hours. We are not all public servants!

Transport out of hours and on weekends is woeful! It has deteriorated and not improved in anything I can see. It is still not servicing many locations, so Canberrans have to have access to a car to get to all the interesting, exciting and fun locations around the area. If you need a car anyway, why wouldn’t you use it, instead of slow public transport that is so inconvenient.

You’re correct Psycho. Remember when the Transport Ministers 2019 slogan “More Buses More Often” turned out to actually be…..
‘Less buses, less often, further from your house and slower to your destination’.

Jack D,
you seem not to have followed this issue too closely because the Liberals last election platform supported light rail as long as robust business cases were prepared for each stage of the project.

Do I need to remind you of your own first comment?
“Despite the need for these projects all were funded without a proper business case. Mostly in NSW. This funding will now go to projects that have applied and presented a proper business case.”

Light Rail doesn’t have a proper business case. You’ve agreed with the Liberals position that they took to the last election and are now prosecuting in holding the government to task. Why then would you want to hold them to account and not the ALP/Greens?

And no, the ACT Government has not signed contracts to get light rail to Woden, the only commitments are Stage 2A to Commonwealth Park.

Rethinking the project would actually save money for the territory rather than putting us in to more debt, which is entirely the point.

You’re picking at straws now chewy. No the Canberra Liberals have never supported light rail in Canberra. In my comment I said “The government has signed contracts to move ahead with integrating light rail and the buses and are currently negotiating LR’s expansion into Woden”. And once those contracts have been signed and their details revealed I look forward to the Canberra Liberals bringing their vision for the future of transport in the ACT, prior to and well before the next election.

JackD,
Are you seriously trying to claim that an election policy platform is “picking at straws”? It must be tough getting around unable to open both eyes ever.

Although I must congratulate you in rocketing to the top echelon of partisan commentators here, you are amongst a notorious bunch.

As for contracts, they have not been signed for anything beyond Stage2A, so your claims around the Liberals cancelling contracts and putting us into more debt are patently and objectively false. There are no commerical negotiations currently occurring for future stages.

Grasping at straws chewy!! Yes the Liberals threatened to cancel the light rail contract going into the 2016 election. Contracts on Gungahlin to City had already been signed. This policy position threatened to put the territory government and taxpayers into further and extreme debt. It was a major policy position. If the Liberals had won we would not have an expansion of the project, it would have been cancelled. The government is now negotiating the second stage. It hasn’t been signed. No matter what people think of light rail, the Canberra Liberals have always rejected light rail and have never had a policy position on Canberra’s future transport needs. It is why they continue to remain in opposition. You are twisting the argument and defending their position!!

Jack,
You do realise we are in 2022 right?
The ACT Liberals policy position at the 2020 election was the support of light rail as long as robust business cases were prepared.

Their position has not changed. If it has, provide a link.

It is a position you have already agreed with, yet the cognitive dissonance created by your partisanship won’t let you admit it.

“The government is now negotiating the second stage. It hasn’t been signed”

And no, once again this is completely incorrect.

Who exactly do you think they would be negotiating with?

Are you suggesting that the government is taking a multi billion dollar infrastructure project and not putting it out for tender? That they are sole sourcing the Canberra Metro conglomerate to complete the work?

If so, you’d be able to provide a link for such.

And you’ve uncovered a corruption scandal worthy of extreme scrutiny by the Auditor General and other independent authorities that the ACT Government has breached their own procurement guidelines. I suggest you provide that evidence so we can alert the appropriate bodies to investigate this scandal.

You look like a fish flailing on the deck of a boat Jack. Suggest you either front up some evidence or give it up while you’re way behind.

You are starting to screech chewy!! You sound a bit sensitive to anyone disagreeing with you. The Canberra Liberals have never supported light rail. They currently do not have a policy position on public transport in the ACT or light rail. We are only two years out from the election. Demanding greater transparency does not mean they support light rail. This article says it all though. Just a few quotes from the article. Mark Parton “was about to make a major announcement on the issue when the Queen’s death intervened…We will know more in coming weeks…the Liberals may be ready to dump light rail, although it is more likely that they will straddle the fence and attempt to attract votes from both sides”.
“https://the-riotact.com/hang-on-canberra-we-could-be-headed-for-another-light-rail-election/595989

Jack D,
That tail is really flapping now, those gills are beginning to struggle for oxygen.

Your quote is an opinion article from a left leaning light rail supporter and even he admits that it’s more likely the Liberals will not oppose light rail at the next election. Thanks for providing further evidence for my point. We’ve now confirmed that the Liberals supported Light Rail at the last election and are unlikely to change for the next election. Well done.

And I’m still waiting on details of those negotiations. The anti corruption bodies are poised to act.

Flap, flap.

“… Kings Highway upgrades to Pialligo Avenue …” – But the Kings highway does not meet Pialligo Avenue – so what upgrades is Ian Bushnell thinking about here?

I don’t think people should be forced to move to the other side of town to get basic government services.
This isn’t the first time from Barr this happens all the time but hardly noticed.

All the government spending on the southside is just the slush fund. It gets put on the books, yet is not spent and just squandered.

How many investment properties do the Members have in the city?

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