2022 Victorian State Election

[facthunter]

100% of the media heaped on Andrews. You call him "despicable", The Libs campaign was personal and NASTY and did not work, so neither the media or the libs campaign was on the mark. Kroger  says crime ad policing and personal attack is the way to go. Thats why they are in deep $#1t and their own people know they need reform. The ones that think and don't live in their own "Echo Chamber". Nev

[old man emu]

Again, the Nationals triumphed in the seats they contested. But that is more likely to be the traditional rejection of the Labor Party and recently of the Independents who are seen as pandering to Change. Change being something country people seem to abhor.

[facthunter]

Victorian Nats want to separate from the Vic . Libs.  Rats deserting the sinking ship?  Nev

[old man emu]

May be like the Ancient Mariner, the Nats are ridding themselves of an albatross around their necks.

 

An albatross around your neck causes you great problems from which you cannot escape, or the albatross prevents you from doing what you want to do.

[facthunter]

They must imagine they can go it alone whereas before they had a secret deal between them and the Libs no one was allowed to see. How is THAT democracy? In addition they probably cost the LIBS the last election with their hard line on climate change.. Not that the LNP deserved to win but the NP lost no seats so at the moment they are euphoric over nothing really. I can't see them (or the greens) EVER governing in their own right.  Nev

[kgwilson]

I don't live in Victoria so i don't know much of the history of Dan Andrew. One thing I remember from the decisions made during the Covid pandemic is that he worked himself to the bone & had to make decisions that were immensely unpopular with large sections of the population. There were the cat calls of Dictator Dan & Chairman Dan that got the right wing media going and they never stopped.

 

The ridiculous stories about him falling down stairs and a car crash he was in when he wasn't even driving were just so far off and utterly pathetic, and they kept on right up to the election pushing the line the Lib bloke was neck and neck. All total fabrication with not an ounce of reasonable research to justify any of it.

 

Well Victorians obviously saw right through the BS. He did say that he does not always do what is popular, he believes he does what is right. No one is perfect & Dan Andrews is no exception but he is obviously better than anything else on offer, so congratulations from me.

[Jerry_Atrick]

9 hours ago, facthunter said:

Victorian Nats want to separate from the Vic . Libs.  Rats deserting the sinking ship?  Nev

Rats, or Nats deserting the sinking ship?

[Jerry_Atrick]

3 hours ago, kgwilson said:

he worked himself to the bone & had to make decisions that were immensely unpopular with large sections of the population.

Indeed he did, and but while the press portrayed his decisions as unpopular, as well as McGowan and virtually every other state leader except Berajiklian (sp?), I am not so sure the deccisions DA took were tat unpopular, at least in the long run, as the press made out them to be. The press latched onto what looked like a vocal minority and whipped it up. On the other hand, in NSW, when Berejiklian finally announced a lockdown proper (or was it a second one.. can't quite recall), the press were "Hand in there, Sydney.." etc. It was shamefully unashamed bias.

 

My family and friends in Vic were not happy about the lockdowns, but accepted the need for them.  The low point for them was the fact the virus spread and what was portrayed as a cover up; and what appeared to be a draconian response to the housing commission flats that were locked down as hard as a Chinese apartment block.

 

In The Age online editorial yesterday (can't find it today), the writer honed in on how the Libs and the MSM - especially the Murdoch press - got it so wrong and were so out of touch with their electorate/readership. The comments to that peice were just as scathing of the Fairfax press as well... including some who had claimed to hand in their subscriptions at how biased the publication was.

 

A half-decent Menzies inspireed party would probably have romped it in yesterday; the Vic Libs have leaned too far right and while Australia is culturally similar to the US, it isn't ready for the right wing nut jobs just yet.

 

 

[red750]

Andrews went on and on about the Libs plan to shelve the suburban rail loop, which won't be ready in our lifetime, and spreading infrastructure around like confetti, when HE spent more than $1 billion buying his way out of a contract to build the East - West Link tunnel because it was funded by the federal LNP, and not a monument to the great DA. I think you all know what I and a lot of my friends think of him.

[facthunter]

C'mon He's been bullied by the Fed Libs and the papers mercilessly for years including Friedhamburger and where is HE now? Fairfax is now Nine "Entertainment" Run by Peter Costello who did not sign the "Fairness" section of the acquired Fair fax show. so there's nothing FAIR about their "FACTS". The decision to make Andrews character the centre of their attack was deliberate policy and soundly FAILED and because it was NASTY It was rejected by the electorate. LABOR has  a comfortable win in it's own right and putting Labor last helped a few votes go to the Greens. A hopeless performance by Matthew Guy and his advisers.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Everyone's entitled to their opinion, Red.. But maybe facts should be looked at first. Obviously, Wikipedia is not the definitive, but this article may shed some light on the demise of the East-West link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_West_Link_(Melbourne)#:~:text=After the Coalition lost the,previous Government did not exist.

 

Including:

• The author of the  East-West Link Needs Assessment report, which propelled the East-West link was a prominent businessman, Rod Eddington, who sat on the board of Newscorp as well as some financial services companies that may have gained from issuing bonds to pay for it.. Fuunny that..
• The project was criticised over its effectiveness (or lack thereof) of achieving its outcome of reducing congestions.. as well as those pesky people who want more and better public transport.. Forgetting the latter, there was a huge question on whether the 5bn or so would even
• Dan Andrews, in his first campaign to be premier, campainged that he would stop it.. He was elected, so I guess, unusually for a pollie, he was true to his word. It should not have been a surprise to anyone.
• He did go for something ambitious - the west gate tunnel project - which may be better at releivieng congestion when it finally opens
• Morrisong offered to pay for it, but it looks like, the money wasn't there.. Albaense confirmed it wasn't there.. and has not since offered to pay for it.

 

So, while it is tantalising to listen to the MSM and them claiming the East West road link was cancelled because it wasn't going to be his legacy. I guess the facts don't quite point to that. You may not like him - I can't say he is the type I would have more than a passing conversation if I met him at the pub. But given the challenges he is up against daily with a hostile MSM, including the ABC at times, he still seems to have commanded enough respect to win the election outright - and it is true, there was a swing against him - he has made mistkes and people to tire of pollies.

 

But before you wrankle on Dan.. ask yourself this.. Say Matty Guy  got in.. How better off do you think Victoria would be under him and his motley crew? Do you really think there was anywhere near the talent that Labor has? David Davis, the right wing christian group, etc.. Lord help us if Guy had of gotten in. This was one where I would prefer the Nats!

 

Dan may not be the sort I would have a beer with (or maybe he would!), but as a pollie he has far more of my respect, confidence, and support than the LNP.

 

Lucky, I guess, I am still in the UK!

 

Edited November 29, 2022 by Jerry_Atrick

[nomadpete]

Thanks for the background Jerry. I was too lazy to go down that rabbithole. (I'm a proudly lazy retiree, and proudly Tazwegian now) .

 

BTW, 'Morrisong' ??

Love that one ... Mind if I use it?

[Jerry_Atrick]

15 minutes ago, nomadpete said:

BTW, 'Morrisong' ??

Although unintentional, I'll claim it... 😉

[Jerry_Atrick]

15 minutes ago, nomadpete said:

and proudly Tazwegian now

You could do a lot worse.. much, much worse...

 

[old man emu]

3 hours ago, Jerry_Atrick said:

Morrisong

I'll be a Happy Clapper with that.

[old man emu]

If all the trees in Tazwegia were cut down, would we have to call it Brazegia?

[red750]

I guess i'll pull my head in and shut up. Obviously in the wrong camp.

[facthunter]

That's where I usually live. I'll make space for you.  Nev

[nomadpete]

51 minutes ago, old man emu said:

If all the trees in Tazwegia were cut down, would we have to call it Brazegia?

Tazforestry (real name for government appointed environmental vandals),

is working toward that goal as we speak. But not as efficiently as the Victorian government.

 

 

Edited November 29, 2022 by nomadpete
Added sarky

[red750]

Maybe not related to the election, but after losing many taffic lanes to bicycle lanes that are rarely used, and a lot of city street parking removed for bike lanes making deliveries to shops near impossible, now they want to replace parking spaces with trees to attract more people into the city. (Lord Mayor Sally Capp no doubt.) "Come on everyone, back to the city. Just walk 5 km to get there."

[willedoo]

18 minutes ago, red750 said:

Maybe not related to the election, but after losing many taffic lanes to bicycle lanes that are rarely used, and a lot of city street parking removed for bike lanes making deliveries to shops near impossible, now they want to replace parking spaces with trees to attract more people into the city. (Lord Mayor Sally Capp no doubt.) "Come on everyone, back to the city. Just walk 5 km to get there."

They did that to a section of the main street in Toowoomba. In an area with a lot of shops, it used to have angle parking where heaps of cars could park in front of the shops. The council got rid of them and put in a small handful of parallel parking spaces to build a bicycle lane. The businesses suffered a downturn from the lack of parking and one shop worker I talked to said an average of six bicycles go past each day.

[octave]

I am one of those horrid cyclists who appreciates bike lanes. The alternative where bike lanes do not exist is to take up our legal entitlement to a whole traffic lane.  If all of those cyclist were in their cars traffic would be a lot more congested.   As a driver I would much rather pass a cyclist who is  a bike lane rather than in a traffic lane.  Some other cities around the world are way ahead with facilitating a range of transport options. 

Well planned bike lanes add to the livability of a city.

Here in Geelong we have well a planned and growing network of bike lanes and paths. One road that goes through the city has the traffic lane then angle parking for cars and then between the cars and the pavement there is a bike lane. This cleverly planned system preserves parking and separates cars pedestrians and bikes.  

[nomadpete]

When the price of ULP goes up to $5 /litre, you'll be hapily riding your pushy 5k to buy a loaf of bread and a pint o milk.

 

Waiton ..... I used to do that for mum when I was a kid.

[Old Koreelah]

4 minutes ago, octave said:

I am one of those horrid cyclists who appreciates bike lanes. The alternative where bike lanes do not exist is to take up our legal entitlement to a whole traffic lane.  If all of those cyclist were in their cars traffic would be a lot more congested…

I’m with Octave on this one…in principle. Unfortunately for many businesses and their traditional car-driving customers, Australians have not switched to pedalling in the numbers urban planners would like. We’re more like Yanks than Europeans.

 

Sales of bicycles has boomed in Australia, but most of them are rarely used.

I have quite a collection of bikes. I’d love to cycle the bike tracks in our little town every day, but pedalling to town past heavy highway traffic is too dangerous, so we have to fold them and load them in the car.

 

It’s probably a case of “Build it and they will come”. When the cycle network reaches enough people, they will use it.

[nomadpete]

Safety is the cyclist's biggest problem.

Our council 'improved' the local highway to make cycling safer.

We have narrow bitumen frequented by B double logging trucks and semis, 100kph limit, double lines all the way to town, and a couple of narrow bridges that have no room for pedestrians nor cycles. But they added a foot of tar to the edge in a couple of places, mostly covered with chunky gravel, roadkill and broken glass.

 

It's only 8k to town and I'd gladly ride it just to get fit. But I'm too old to live that dangerously.