30 March 2010

Immigration Bridge proposal fails

| niftydog
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Finally the folk behind this have come to their senses and will now be pushing instead for a monument within the Parliamentary Triangle. I wonder if the next proposal will be as ambitious as this was.

While immigration is certainly something to be celebrated, I’m not sure that a static monument is going to encourage people to recognise it any more than we already do. If anything it seems to condense 220+ years of successful immigration down to some kind of transient event in the countries history. It also seems single out immigrants, which is rather odd in a country where 25% of us are immigrants, and nearly all the rest are relatively recent descendants thereof.

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Harley. The “lefty” comment was a dig at “Noisey Noise…”. If Senator Humphries was supporting it it was obviously not just a “lefty group” pushing for it.

Using the lake doesn’t just mean doing things on it (sailing, swimming, windsurfing, boating, etc), it also means just looking at it and enjoying the view, the tranquility, and the lack of a monstrosity impeding your views across an expanse of water.

Commonsense has prevailed.

troll-sniffer11:46 am 01 Apr 10

niftydog said :

luther_bendross said :

The place is extensively utilised every single day, year round.

And in reasonable peace and quiet for those who avail themselves of its beauty. No bogan powerboats and jetskis ruining the ambience for the majority by the self-centred minority.

NickD said :

Since when is a monumental bridge commemorating immigrants a ‘lefty’ idea? It seems like a rather conservative concept to me, particularly given that there’s a been long-running bipartisan support for mass immigration since the 1940s.

mass european immigration.

luther_bendross said :

Yes yes perhaps you misunderstood my cynicism: it’s a massive lake that is underused by the majority because of the views of the minority.

You’re right – I don’t understand; I don’t think it’s underused at all. Nor do I think there’s a minority out there trying to keep the lake for themselves. If you want to use it all you have to do is go and use it.

Perhaps if you did you would see cyclists, runners, walkers, rowers, sailers, dragon-boaters, kayakers, fishers, pedal-boaters, kite flyers, BBQ’ers, lunchers, residents, golfers and just people sitting down enjoying the view are out there every week. Weddings, music festivals, Floriade, new years eve, skyfire, Anzac Day, concerts, tropfest, marathons and triathlons, and regattas are just some of the events staged around the lake. It also has a good percentage of the big-ticket tourist attractions in town as well as a bunch of restaraunts and it makes a lovely place for the hospice.

Every been to Weston Park on a long weekend?
Try booking Aspen Island for a wedding and see how you go.

The place is extensively utilised every single day, year round.

I agree that the lake could do with some sprucing up, for instance, how about a Darling harbour like complex at Kingston with a floating restaurant, docks, water taxis, and other tourist craft leaving from there to the NMA, etc.

And submarine tours to look at the algae and carp?

luther_bendross said :

Yes yes perhaps you misunderstood my cynicism: it’s a massive lake that is underused by the majority because of the views of the minority. You may enjoy the lake, but not too quickly and not all at once. And you talk about “the warmer months”. What about the other nine?

So how would the ‘majority’ of Canberrans use the lake? Are the ‘majority’ of Canberra backyards dry docks for V8 powerboats, just for a random example?

luther_bendross12:19 am 01 Apr 10

niftydog said :

luther_bendross said :

Yeah. Bridges are always getting in the way of a good view. What a load of codswallop.

Yes, such an attractive thing it was with those graceful buttresses and the cleverly concealed disabled access, and not in the way of the lovely view of the hills at all!

This view of these hills? http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c5/Lake_Burley_Griffin,_Molonglo_Reach.JPG Lovely.

luther_bendross said :

I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen what looks like the Sydney to Hobart in LBG on a Saturday morning, so many yachts.

Perhaps that’s because races take place on Wednesdays and Sundays. There’s also school groups and beginners out there practically every day in the warmer months. Just because you don’t see them doesn’t mean anything.

Yes yes perhaps you misunderstood my cynicism: it’s a massive lake that is underused by the majority because of the views of the minority. You may enjoy the lake, but not too quickly and not all at once. And you talk about “the warmer months”. What about the other nine?

Common sense finally succeeds.

I’m just glad it’s not going ahead. IMO it would have really been a bridge to nowhere on the lake. Or possibly a great way to see the algae blooms up close.

Maybe if they built immigration bridge into our gaol, as a representation of the warm fair-go dinky-di Aussie welcome of asylum seekers.

Since when is a monumental bridge commemorating immigrants a ‘lefty’ idea? It seems like a rather conservative concept to me, particularly given that there’s a been long-running bipartisan support for mass immigration since the 1940s.

The immigration bridge would have opened up that side of the lake to people that want to walk/run/ride – an extension to the popular central basin “Menzies walk” route. I can’t see why so many people are opposed to it.

I noticed that well-known “Leftie”, Liberal Senator Garry Humphries was a great proponent of this useless bridge. Just shows how out of contact he is with his constituents; like all the other ACT Government representatives (McMullan, Ellis, Lundy).

A Noisy Noise Annoys An Oyster1:04 pm 31 Mar 10

What a stupid idea it was. It seems that every so often we have lefty groups pushing for monuments in this city for causes dear to their bleeding hearts. Who can forget that ridiculous proposal for the giant red fan smack dab in front of Old Parliament House to commemorate 100 years of womens’ sufferage. It almost got up, too. The frightening thing is that if the Howard Government hadn’t been in office at the time and instead Keating or Rudd had been PM we would now be forced to suffer that ugly gargantuan monstrosity.

la mente torbida12:52 pm 31 Mar 10

well said niftydog…let’s not forget the evening lessons and weeknight racing as well…if you want a bridge, it’s already there..called Commonwealth Ave (just add plaques)

While the Griffin Plan had a bridge there, it called for a vehicle bridge similar to the one that was there as late as the 1940s, but bigger.
But an Immigration Bridge was a shit idea.

By the way, they’re busily trying to mask the fact the project took a major hit, over on their website:

What is the meaning behind the name Immigration Bridge Australia?

The name Immigration Bridge Australia refers to the metaphorical bridge that all immigrants have crossed in coming to Australia to start their new lives here. By coming to Australia, immigrants have crossed from one life to another, in the process creating strong links between Australia and the rest of the world. It is these links and this important journey that we celebrate through the name Immigration Bridge Australia….

(Not at all a “Because we registered a dozen different entities with the ATO and ASIC and can’t change them now…”)

luther_bendross said :

Yeah. Bridges are always getting in the way of a good view. What a load of codswallop.

Yes, such an attractive thing it was with those graceful buttresses and the cleverly concealed disabled access, and not in the way of the lovely view of the hills at all!

luther_bendross said :

I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen what looks like the Sydney to Hobart in LBG on a Saturday morning, so many yachts.

Perhaps that’s because races take place on Wednesdays and Sundays. There’s also school groups and beginners out there practically every day in the warmer months. Just because you don’t see them doesn’t mean anything.

troll-sniffer11:00 am 31 Mar 10

Despite the dogged determination of those who support an immigration memorial of some sort I have serious reservations about its appropriateness overall.

The original immigrants don’t seem to be getting any kudos from this campaign. And yet their journeys would have been vastly more difficult than the ones endured by the ten pound poms and the like.

Given that Australia has the worst record in the world of species decimation (the original inhabitants of 40,000+ years ago don’t get off lightly either according to recent research) should we be erecting a memorial with a one-sided agenda?

The great news is that this un-necessary eyesore and hazard will not now be foisted on our lake by this group of self-promotionists. Perhaps they could go and talk to the aboriginal embassy folk and combine to produce something of true value?

I think that an immigration tunnel under the lake would be cooler. Plus, we could ignore it most of the time, thus adding to the symbolism.

luther_bendross9:21 am 31 Mar 10

Immigration bridge proposal fails

Good. What an eyesore it would have been.

Yeah. Bridges are always getting in the way of a good view. What a load of codswallop.

And as for the poor people from the yacht club who were worried about their yachting space being limited: good point. I can’t count the number of times I’ve seen what looks like the Sydney to Hobart in LBG on a Saturday morning, so many yachts. Wait no. I can count it, and it’s zero.

This seems like another instance where Canberra = Shelbyville.

Excellent. What a stupid idea.

I still think an immigration bridge would be useful between Indonesia and Australia. I’ve never been inclined to migrate from the southside to the northside, but Indonesia is a little more enticing than Belconnen.

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