| APRIL 2009 Pages - Page 8 |
| THIS IS PAGE 8 OF APRIL 2009 PAGES - APR0908 |
DRAPER FINALLY SPEAKS !!!
Peter Draper MP (Tamworth) has finally commented on revelations that the NSW government had omitted the Tamworth Hospital from its
application for funding to the federal government. However, rather than addressing the issues and questions raised by the revelation, his
response appears to be a broadside against everybody and anybody.
IN his letter to the Northern Daily Leader Mr Draper makes some peculiar claims:-
Presumably in response to calls from this website for Draper to report to the community on the meeting Premier Nathan Rees promised to hold
with him early in 2009, Draper says he intends meeting with Rees when the NSW Parliament resumes on 5 May 2009.
We simply ask - Will Draper keep the community informed of the date of the intended meeting and the outcome of it ?
The public servant who wrote to the Northern Daily Leader, and whose name has been with-held because he/she fears detrimental
repercussions, clearly indicates there has been a deliberate "go-slow" on the Tamworth Hospital, and that as a result it is "next to impossible" for
construction of the hospital to begin as promised in 2010.
Draper's task was to keep the pressure on the government, hold it to account and to ensure the government did not attempt to turn the Tamworth
Hospital into another Spit Bridge. He could have kept the pressure up had he joined with the community in its struggle - regularly reporting to the
community on what was happening (or not happening). Instead, Draper choose to deal with the government in secret meetings behind closed
doors, and deliberately refused to report to the community, saying that matters were "delicate". One has to wonder why Draper took this course.
Was it just plain incompetence on his part or was it more sinister - with Draper joining Labor in a conspiracy to string the Tamworth Hospital
promise out so it could serve as a Spit Bridge promise - to be recycled one election after another.
Earlier we had said that Peter Draper MP in 2009 had seemingly lost the plot. His accusation that the local newspaper is conducting a political
campaign to destabilise the Tamworth Hospital is preposterous.
Any observer and bystander would see that the Northern Daily Leader has reported facts and circumstances relating to the promised new
hospital as they came to light. Any community based newspaper would have done the same.
One has to wonder if the gripe that Draper really has against the newspaper is that it has kept the new hospital on the radar, whereas Draper
possibly hoped it would fall off the radar, so he could trot the unfulfilled promise out again in the 2011 elections, and that people would forget his
failure to deliver on the promise. The accusation Draper makes is one so blatantly political - it is laughable.
Finally, it is noted that the public servant letter writer states that the 12 month period during 2008 was vital to enable the Tamworth Hospital to be
planned so construction could begin by the end of 2010. Yet she/he states the process was moribund.
One has to ask what was Draper doing during 2008 ? Was he asleep at the wheel ?
This website constantly throughout 2008 encouraged him to concentrate his efforts on delivering the Tamworth Hospital on time - rather than
engaging in diversions. It seems he ignored our friendly advice.
SOURCES :
Letters, Northern Daily Leader, 28 April 2009 page 8.
Promises 'an impossibility, Northern Daily Leader, 28 April 2009 page 5
David Ellery, 'Conspiracy theory' in seeking answers, Northern Daily Leader, 28 April 2009, page 5
ART AUCTION - 5 MAY 2009
Sotheby's are holding an Australian Art auction in Melbourne on 5 May 2009.
Included in the sale as Lot 234 is an enamel and mixed media on board - "Pale Fire" by Leonard French.
It is part of French's Fire & Rain series of 15 paintings.
It measures 136 x 120 cm and was painted 1974-78.
Sotheby's have estimated the piece will be knocked down for $18,000 - 25,000.
A LONG GESTATION PERIOD FOR LITTLE OUTPUT
In 2006 the NSW government and the Queensland government established a Cross Border Transport Taskforce. On 27 April 2009 the report of
the taskforce was released. It is available ONLINE .
A glossy discussion paper had been released by the taskforce in 2007 - ONLINE .
Some reaction to the report:-
Karin Kolbe, President of TOOT (Trains On Our Tracks), has slammed the NSW Government’s Cross Border Transport Taskforce report, finally released
yesterday more than 18 months late, as an exercise in politics over good planning.
Ms Kolbe said: “The five-page Cross Border report released yesterday doesn’t even address its own terms of reference.
“It doesn’t ‘investigate potential rail links’ nor does it look at any costs.
“This report was politically motivated and shows no evidence of any planning for the needs of residents or tourists.
“It understates the population growth figures, and it completely ignores the tourism figures. Over three million tourists visit here annually, yet they aren’t even
mentioned in the report.
“Tourism is to our region what coal is to the Hunter Valley, yet there is no interest in developing transport infrastructure to support our major industry.
“86% of residents in the Lismore and Byron shires live within 5km of the Casino- Murwillumbah line (ABS, 2006), and the Lismore, Byron and Tweed shires all
have higher population densities than over areas with regular rail services, such as the Southern Highlands and the Hunter Valley.
“This was a flawed process all along, as there was no serious analysis of the actual transport issues within the region, no proper community consultation
process, and the public submissions totally ignored.
“The Minister even admitted on ABC radio this morning that he’d never visited the area to look at our transport needs.
“Perhaps he should come and have a look around for himself, and talk to the local community about the transport issues they confront, then he might at least be
able to credibly claim to be making informed decisions on these matters.”
“Our population increased in the last year by 3727 yet the Report mentioned only 2500.”
TOOT, Page hit out at rail report, Far North Coaster, 28 April 2009
A STATE government report stating that the re-introduction of trains on the Murwil- lumbah-to-Casino rail line is not viable, and spending money on planning a rail
link into Queensland would be ill-conceived has been slammed by National Party MP for Lismore Thomas George.
Mr George said the report gave insufficient information explaining the recommendations.
After months of pressure from the Liberal, National and Greens parties, NSW Transport Minister Ian Campbell on Monday finally released the five-page Cross
Border Transport Taskforce Report which took three years to prepare.
It concluded additional work to re-introduce commuter trains on the line was not recommended, and buses could best suit local public transport needs. But
according to Mr George it is short on information.
“We haven't been able to access any of the information that led the Government to coming to this decision,” he said.
“When this area is facing the biggest popu- lation increase of any part of the state, to come out with such a negative report is just treat- ing the people of the
Northern Rivers with contempt.”
Mr George questioned why the Queensland Government would spend a huge amount of money bringing its rail line down to the border at Coolangatta when the
NSW Government was concluding a rail line was not needed “a kilometre away”.
Rail report 'lacks facts' , Tweed Daily News, 29 April 2009
Will Jeffery from the group RAIL2TRIAL said that the report released on Monday and a discussion paper on the Cross Border Transport Taskforce released by
the the Queensland Government in 2007 boosted their case for having the Casino to Murwillumbah line converted into a multi-use track for cyclists, pedestrians
and horse riders.
“The old corridor cannot serve the two highest population growth areas of the Tweed Coast and Ballina. A new train, and it might be a generation away, would
proceed south from Coolangatta, starting sometime around 2018 to 2026, to coincide with Coolangatta coming on line from the Queensland side to serve the
current and future population demographic along an entirely new corridor,” Mr Jeffery said. “When it eventually does get here, most likely beside the Pacific
Highway, it will be a modern twin track system allowing full integration with the Queensland rail network... This is what we should throw our support behind.”
Final nail for rail service? , Northern Rivers Echo
Greens' MP Lee Rhiannon says to produce a five-page document over three years is a joke.
She says the Commonwealth should step in to provide the infrastructure funding.
"The NSW Government has turned its back on rail in northern NSW and we don't have an election until 2011 and there is a role for the Federal Government here
because transport is a key issue at the moment," she said.
"It's a way to actually revive flagging economies during the recession. It's clearly needed to respond to climate change and that's where we should be putting our
money and our effort."
Meanwhile, the federal Member for Page, Janelle Saffin, says she is not giving up hope of getting a rail network operating on the north coast.
She says business and community groups must join forces to come up with a comprehensive transport plan for the region.
"Look, nothing is dead and buried because we don't have an integrated transport plan for the Northern Rivers and that's what I'm on about and getting that
prepared. We need a proper plan," she said.
ABC News, Greens attack cross-border transport report, 29 April 2009
Peter Draper MP (Tamworth) has finally commented on revelations that the NSW government had omitted the Tamworth Hospital from its
application for funding to the federal government. However, rather than addressing the issues and questions raised by the revelation, his
response appears to be a broadside against everybody and anybody.
IN his letter to the Northern Daily Leader Mr Draper makes some peculiar claims:-
- When he was first elected in 2003, construction of a new Tamworth Hospital was scheduled to begin in 2025.
- The construction of a new Tamworth Hospital will now begin 2015-16 (by inference from his claim listed below).
- His efforts resulted in construction beginning "10 years ahead of its original schedule".
Presumably in response to calls from this website for Draper to report to the community on the meeting Premier Nathan Rees promised to hold
with him early in 2009, Draper says he intends meeting with Rees when the NSW Parliament resumes on 5 May 2009.
We simply ask - Will Draper keep the community informed of the date of the intended meeting and the outcome of it ?
The public servant who wrote to the Northern Daily Leader, and whose name has been with-held because he/she fears detrimental
repercussions, clearly indicates there has been a deliberate "go-slow" on the Tamworth Hospital, and that as a result it is "next to impossible" for
construction of the hospital to begin as promised in 2010.
Draper's task was to keep the pressure on the government, hold it to account and to ensure the government did not attempt to turn the Tamworth
Hospital into another Spit Bridge. He could have kept the pressure up had he joined with the community in its struggle - regularly reporting to the
community on what was happening (or not happening). Instead, Draper choose to deal with the government in secret meetings behind closed
doors, and deliberately refused to report to the community, saying that matters were "delicate". One has to wonder why Draper took this course.
Was it just plain incompetence on his part or was it more sinister - with Draper joining Labor in a conspiracy to string the Tamworth Hospital
promise out so it could serve as a Spit Bridge promise - to be recycled one election after another.
Earlier we had said that Peter Draper MP in 2009 had seemingly lost the plot. His accusation that the local newspaper is conducting a political
campaign to destabilise the Tamworth Hospital is preposterous.
Any observer and bystander would see that the Northern Daily Leader has reported facts and circumstances relating to the promised new
hospital as they came to light. Any community based newspaper would have done the same.
One has to wonder if the gripe that Draper really has against the newspaper is that it has kept the new hospital on the radar, whereas Draper
possibly hoped it would fall off the radar, so he could trot the unfulfilled promise out again in the 2011 elections, and that people would forget his
failure to deliver on the promise. The accusation Draper makes is one so blatantly political - it is laughable.
Finally, it is noted that the public servant letter writer states that the 12 month period during 2008 was vital to enable the Tamworth Hospital to be
planned so construction could begin by the end of 2010. Yet she/he states the process was moribund.
One has to ask what was Draper doing during 2008 ? Was he asleep at the wheel ?
This website constantly throughout 2008 encouraged him to concentrate his efforts on delivering the Tamworth Hospital on time - rather than
engaging in diversions. It seems he ignored our friendly advice.
SOURCES :
Letters, Northern Daily Leader, 28 April 2009 page 8.
Promises 'an impossibility, Northern Daily Leader, 28 April 2009 page 5
David Ellery, 'Conspiracy theory' in seeking answers, Northern Daily Leader, 28 April 2009, page 5
ART AUCTION - 5 MAY 2009
Sotheby's are holding an Australian Art auction in Melbourne on 5 May 2009.
Included in the sale as Lot 234 is an enamel and mixed media on board - "Pale Fire" by Leonard French.
It is part of French's Fire & Rain series of 15 paintings.
It measures 136 x 120 cm and was painted 1974-78.
Sotheby's have estimated the piece will be knocked down for $18,000 - 25,000.
A LONG GESTATION PERIOD FOR LITTLE OUTPUT
In 2006 the NSW government and the Queensland government established a Cross Border Transport Taskforce. On 27 April 2009 the report of
the taskforce was released. It is available ONLINE .
A glossy discussion paper had been released by the taskforce in 2007 - ONLINE .
Some reaction to the report:-
Karin Kolbe, President of TOOT (Trains On Our Tracks), has slammed the NSW Government’s Cross Border Transport Taskforce report, finally released
yesterday more than 18 months late, as an exercise in politics over good planning.
Ms Kolbe said: “The five-page Cross Border report released yesterday doesn’t even address its own terms of reference.
“It doesn’t ‘investigate potential rail links’ nor does it look at any costs.
“This report was politically motivated and shows no evidence of any planning for the needs of residents or tourists.
“It understates the population growth figures, and it completely ignores the tourism figures. Over three million tourists visit here annually, yet they aren’t even
mentioned in the report.
“Tourism is to our region what coal is to the Hunter Valley, yet there is no interest in developing transport infrastructure to support our major industry.
“86% of residents in the Lismore and Byron shires live within 5km of the Casino- Murwillumbah line (ABS, 2006), and the Lismore, Byron and Tweed shires all
have higher population densities than over areas with regular rail services, such as the Southern Highlands and the Hunter Valley.
“This was a flawed process all along, as there was no serious analysis of the actual transport issues within the region, no proper community consultation
process, and the public submissions totally ignored.
“The Minister even admitted on ABC radio this morning that he’d never visited the area to look at our transport needs.
“Perhaps he should come and have a look around for himself, and talk to the local community about the transport issues they confront, then he might at least be
able to credibly claim to be making informed decisions on these matters.”
“Our population increased in the last year by 3727 yet the Report mentioned only 2500.”
TOOT, Page hit out at rail report, Far North Coaster, 28 April 2009
A STATE government report stating that the re-introduction of trains on the Murwil- lumbah-to-Casino rail line is not viable, and spending money on planning a rail
link into Queensland would be ill-conceived has been slammed by National Party MP for Lismore Thomas George.
Mr George said the report gave insufficient information explaining the recommendations.
After months of pressure from the Liberal, National and Greens parties, NSW Transport Minister Ian Campbell on Monday finally released the five-page Cross
Border Transport Taskforce Report which took three years to prepare.
It concluded additional work to re-introduce commuter trains on the line was not recommended, and buses could best suit local public transport needs. But
according to Mr George it is short on information.
“We haven't been able to access any of the information that led the Government to coming to this decision,” he said.
“When this area is facing the biggest popu- lation increase of any part of the state, to come out with such a negative report is just treat- ing the people of the
Northern Rivers with contempt.”
Mr George questioned why the Queensland Government would spend a huge amount of money bringing its rail line down to the border at Coolangatta when the
NSW Government was concluding a rail line was not needed “a kilometre away”.
Rail report 'lacks facts' , Tweed Daily News, 29 April 2009
Will Jeffery from the group RAIL2TRIAL said that the report released on Monday and a discussion paper on the Cross Border Transport Taskforce released by
the the Queensland Government in 2007 boosted their case for having the Casino to Murwillumbah line converted into a multi-use track for cyclists, pedestrians
and horse riders.
“The old corridor cannot serve the two highest population growth areas of the Tweed Coast and Ballina. A new train, and it might be a generation away, would
proceed south from Coolangatta, starting sometime around 2018 to 2026, to coincide with Coolangatta coming on line from the Queensland side to serve the
current and future population demographic along an entirely new corridor,” Mr Jeffery said. “When it eventually does get here, most likely beside the Pacific
Highway, it will be a modern twin track system allowing full integration with the Queensland rail network... This is what we should throw our support behind.”
Final nail for rail service? , Northern Rivers Echo
Greens' MP Lee Rhiannon says to produce a five-page document over three years is a joke.
She says the Commonwealth should step in to provide the infrastructure funding.
"The NSW Government has turned its back on rail in northern NSW and we don't have an election until 2011 and there is a role for the Federal Government here
because transport is a key issue at the moment," she said.
"It's a way to actually revive flagging economies during the recession. It's clearly needed to respond to climate change and that's where we should be putting our
money and our effort."
Meanwhile, the federal Member for Page, Janelle Saffin, says she is not giving up hope of getting a rail network operating on the north coast.
She says business and community groups must join forces to come up with a comprehensive transport plan for the region.
"Look, nothing is dead and buried because we don't have an integrated transport plan for the Northern Rivers and that's what I'm on about and getting that
prepared. We need a proper plan," she said.
ABC News, Greens attack cross-border transport report, 29 April 2009
