axver: Well, for the first time in my entire li

Axver (

axver) wrote,
@ 2007-12-04 23:58:00

Current mood:	good
Current music:	'Summer's Envy' by Woods Of Ypres
Entry tags:	australian politics, climate change, internet, kevin rudd, livejournal, new zealand politics, politics

Well, for the first time in my entire life, I'm proud of the government of the country in which I live. Kevin Rudd was sworn in as Australian Prime Minister yesterday. His first action? Ratification of the Kyoto Protocol.

As I was born in 1987, I was far too young to remember the Labour government of David Lange (and in its dying year, Geoffrey Palmer and Mike Moore). In my youth, New Zealand was led by Jim Bolger and the Nationals, who in my youthful political awareness did not appeal to me, and I left New Zealand months before Jenny Shipley took over from Bulger (a woman who repulses me) and over two years before Helen Clark became PM for Labour. While I've been in Australia, the Prime Minister has always been John Howard. Words cannot express my delight to finally have a Prime Minister I actually like. It's going to be interesting to see how Rudd's wave of support lasts. Given the absolute disarray within the Liberal Party, I think it's safe to say we've got a two-term Labour government on our hands. Here's hoping this means more funding for education and public transport. Maybe that Inland Australia Railway will finally happen.

In other news, I've noticed my friends list has been rather silent on the matter of LiveJournal's ownership passing from Six Apart to SUP. Meanwhile, the drama on the two news posts (1 and 2) has been beyond hilarious. Watch out, everybody! Dodgy Russian politicians are coming to read your friends-locked entries and use your credit card to buy vodka and AK-47 Kalashnikovs. People, calm down. It's an online blogging service. You might want to consider putting the energy of your righteous indignation and wild paranoia towards a good cause. Or, you know, you could continue to whine incessantly and create all kinds of conspiracy theories about the Russian mafia, Vladimir Putin, and LJ while the genocide in Darfur goes on, Burma remains thoroughly repressed, and millions live in such poverty that they could not even imagine a website like LJ. Now, I'm not going to present myself as a paragon of virtue, someone whose priorities are perfectly straight, but for goodness' sakes, there are bigger things to worry about. I can't say I've noticed much in the way of tangible change since I began using LJ 4.5 years ago, and none of it negative. Ah well, I suppose all this drama provides me with a handy source of amusement. The news posts contain page after page of comedic gold!

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	tinandcopper 2007-12-05 04:20 am UTC (link)
	I'm intensely curious to see what sort of enviro policies he gets passed. I wonder if corporations will be pissed at him and run slander campaigns... (Reply to this)(Thread)

axver
2007-12-05 04:26 am UTC (link)

The slander campaign during the election funded by businesses were hilarious. They basically just went after the unions. The best part? The new leader of the Liberal Party is Brendan Nelson, a former unionist, while our new Labour Prime Minister was never a union member.

Considering that Peter Garrett of Midnight Oil fame is now our Environment Minister, things are now going to be quite interesting. I wonder if, with the election over, Garrett will feel more free to speak his mind and push his own issues.

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	screendoor3 2007-12-05 06:02 am UTC (link)
	Inland Australia Railway? Isn't LJ synonymous with drama? (Reply to this)(Thread)

axver
2007-12-05 06:47 am UTC (link)

There's a plan to build a line from Melbourne through regional New South Wales (i.e. on the western side of the Great Dividing Range) up to southern Queensland, and then across the Range via Toowoomba to Brisbane, mainly for heavy bulk freight as the route via Sydney is both circuitous and increasingly reaching capacity. The proposal also includes possibly continuing the line up through Outback Queensland to Mount Isa and then across to Darwin. Various sections of the line actually already exist as other lines; the route from Melbourne to Brisbane requires remarkably little construction compared to what you'd expect. My hope is that they'll institute a Melbourne-Brisbane passenger train if it's built! At the moment, if I want to travel by train from Melbourne to Queensland, I have to change trains in Sydney.

And yes, it seems like practically anything on LJ can be turned into some kind of overhyped, mindless drama.

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	screendoor3 2007-12-05 06:50 am UTC (link)
	That's cool, but do you guys use passenger trains much? I know we don't. The government owns Amtrak I think, because it's a failing business and nobody wants to take the risk. What's wrong with transferring in Sydney? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

axver
2007-12-05 08:49 am UTC (link)

The five major cities have commuter rail networks with patronage rising and the infrastructure unable to keep up with demand. The availability of regional passenger services and its patronage varies from state to state. Queensland has the (relatively speaking) high speed Tilt Train and Victoria's network of regional trains is fairly extensive. NSW's is not bad either. Elsewhere, you're not exactly spoilt for choice. Tassie has nothing, not even in Hobart. I don't expect the Inland Australia Railway to initially carry passengers, but I live in hope. The problem with changing in Sydney, apart from the fact I dislike Sydney, is that the Melbourne-Sydney and Sydney-Brisbane trains don't connect well at all. Plus it's effectively a 2 day journey in comparison to a 2 hour flight. A through train up the west of the Great Dividing Range could do it in a day.

As far as Amtrak goes, if your government weren't issuing subsidies and chose to privatise it, basically everything outside of the northeast and some of the west coast routes would disappear overnight. That said, I understand patronage levels are rising, and the more the cost of fuel rises and the more people wake up to global warming, the more success Amtrak is likely to have. After being on the edge of oblivion in 1971, I think the US rail passenger network has hope for the future.

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screendoor3
2007-12-05 10:04 pm UTC (link)

A train would be cool for a shorter trip, but the longer trips are what make trains enjoyable. Still, I know what you mean by convenience. There used the be a passenger train that went from St. Paul to Seattle through Morris. That would have been nice to take while I was at university, but they stopped running it in like the 60's or something.

So there is hope for American passenger rails? I still think people will take what's faster over what's green.

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axver
2007-12-06 11:39 am UTC (link)

I'm quite happy to do a long train trip if, you know, it takes me where I want to go directly. I think it's the nicest and most leisurely way to travel, and as long as it's a direct service, it tends to be competitive pricewise with the airlines. But if I have to take multiple services and stay a night in another city, it becomes an overly time consuming and excessively expensive proposition. Next time I go to Sydney though, I'll probably do it by train.

And while people may in general take what's faster now, there's this small matter of US$100 a barrel and rising fast. Trains have the best fuel economy of any mode of transport as long as you get a decent passenger loading, and are probably the most comfortable way to travel as long as the carriages aren't clapped out. Give it twenty years, and I wouldn't be surprised to see some substantial improvement in US long distance trains as people become unwilling to burn heaps of money on petrol (not to mention how much driving, say, 10 hours a day sucks) and airlines crank up fares much higher than trains due to their higher fuel use. Electric trains powered by hydroelectricity would be in a particularly winning position in terms of how much fuel costs, but I don't think many examples exist anywhere in the world, and the capital costs of electrification are huge.

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screendoor3
2007-12-06 11:46 pm UTC (link)

I missed a transfer in Chicago once. I liked the wait. I got to explore that city a bit. But I guess Sydney isn't Chicago.

That is a good theory, but I think many people will just stick to what is faster, even if it costs $200-$400 more. I would probably take a train or bus, because they're cheaper, but I don't think most people would, especially cross-country. You probably know more about it than me though.

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axver
2007-12-07 12:46 pm UTC (link)

Well, me personally, I hate being stranded somewhere I don't know, with nobody. But you already know how I feel about needing a purpose.

Oh, as far as long-haul transport goes, air is always going to have an advantage. The only way rail can compete is by offering a higher standard that is part of the holiday rather than mere transportation. But for short-haul stuff, say the Bosnywash corridor or Chicago-Detroit or whatever, rail is going to be quicker than air and, as fuel prices rise, much cheaper than car. One innovation that I think will really win passengers if employed on a broad scale are the autotrains - I understand they currently run DC to Florida or something of the sort. Basically, the train has wagons attached to carry the passengers' cars. So not only do you not have to drive, and not only do you pay less in train fare than petrol prices, but you also get the freedom of your own car when you arrive. That kind of thing is, I think, the way of the future as long as the decisionmakers are forwardthinking and perhaps willing to take a few risks and market the daylights out of it.

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	ikobob 2007-12-05 06:32 am UTC (link)
	Hey! It just occurred to me that I just disappeared this evening. I got sidetracked and forgot. Sorry about that! Hope your day was better than expected :) (Reply to this)(Thread)

	axver 2007-12-05 06:48 am UTC (link)
	Haha, that's OK, I figured something of the sort had happened. Hope you had a good evening! :) My day was fairly mundane and slow. Not bad really. (Reply to this)(Parent)

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