The primary paradox of the shredding of the Labor brand at the weekend's NSW state election is that it will enhance Julia Gillard position as party leader and Prime Minister.

The secondary paradox is that the Greens failure in NSW will do exactly the same for the leadership of Bob Brown but for entirely different reasons.

First to Gillard, then to Brown. And in between the fate of the Independents, Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott.

The "catastrophic" defeat in NSW - to quote NSW Right Labor scion and Federal Minister Chris Bowen - will have many impacts at a national level. But first amongst them is that it will put paid to what Queensland Labor Premier and Party President, Anna Bligh, called "the NSW disease". Ms Bligh made the acid remark at the time in late 2007 when the Federal caucus - led by the NSW Right - assassinated Kevin Rudd in the middle of the night to replace him with Gillard.

By the "NSW disease" MS Bligh meant the increasing tendency of the Labor Party to panic and ditch leaders at the first whiff of electoral grapeshot. Another NSW Right favorite, Federal Sustainability Minister, Tony Burke was explicit on this point the day after the NSW massacre, which saw Labor's primary vote go down the drain to an appalling 25.5 per cent. That is, only one in four people cast their first preference for the ALP.

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/45656.html

----------------------------

The quote of the night has to go to all the annons who would have reportedly said something like : "That's the only election victory that Tony Abbott will ever be associalted with..."

One of the obvious things that the Federal Liberals (conservatives) have decided to do is that everytime they open their traps to mention the government in Canberra they add the word BAD in front ot it... Whether it's the Little Shit Abbott or Painful Pyne, Jaundiced Joe or Untrustworthy Truss, the Bad Twins Bishop or Robber Robb, Rubber Ruddock or Turnstile Turnbull... they all do it as per the script...

BAD opposition... Bad, bad, bad... opposition... actually worse than bad: DISMAL and dangerous for this country and the world...

Former premier Morris Iemma says John Robertson should not become the next leader of the New South Wales Labor Party.

John Robertson, who narrowly won the western Sydney seat of Blacktown, is the front runner to take over from Kristina Keneally who resigned after Saturday's historic defeat.

But Morris Iemma has questioned whether Mr Robertson should automatically take the leadership, describing him as one of the "key architects of what went wrong".

Mr Iemma says Mr Robertson's decision - while he was secretary of Unions New South Wales - to oppose the privatisation of the electricity sector played a key part in the election loss.

"In terms of intelligence, capacity and ability there's four people who are streets ahead of what John Robertson has to offer," Mr Iemma said.

"Having said that, I understand the reality is that if Robertson wants it, then clearly he'll get it."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/03/28/3175315.htm?section=justin

------------------------

Robertson is a protege of Eddie Obeid — the real architect/engineer of Labor's massive defeat. As I mentioned earlier — that if it had not been for him having forced his son's lampposts onto the New South Wales public road system, Labor would have won by a landslide, by keeping people in the dark a bit longer.

What I mean when I say the Federal Liberal (conservative) opposition is bad or worse, I mean... atrocious, abominable, awful, dreadful, painful, terrible, unspeakable, corked, corky, deplorable, distressing, lamentable, pitiful, sad, sorry, fearful, frightful, hard, hopeless, horrid, icky, crappy, lousy, rotten, shitty, stinking, stinky, ill, incompetent, unskilled, mediocre, naughty, negative, poor and of all things DANGEROUS and sneaky.

That will do for today...

THE Premier, Barry O'Farrell, has announced the discovery of a $4.5 billion hole in the budget hours after taking office, and accused Labor of ''cooking the books like never before'' to hide the true financial position of the state.

http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/state-election-2011/labor-cooked-the-books-20110328-1cdjl.html

------------

Gus: Oh Barrie, oh Barrie.... you know well that finances are always elastic and I believe that you knew or should have known the elasticity between projected revenues and expenditure... I didn't expect anything less from you within 48 hours of becoming legendary: A Labor black hole that will stop you doing what you promised and forcing you to lie in bed with the developers...

Meanwhile the architect/engineer of Labor's defeat, Obeid, is making sure there are no decent people left in the party so his protegé gets the gig at running the mafia — by blaming Morris Iemma... The gall of the man....

My opinion for what it's worth..

 

 

 

At stake is more than $6 million worth of revenue from the sale of the high-tech poles.

The saga began in 1996, when an industrial designer at the council designed a pole to ''consolidate and refine'' the hodge-podge of poles in Sydney's streets - used for street and traffic lights, and to hang signs and banners - into a single pole.

The solution was an aluminium structure known as a ''smartpole'' that uses a special track at its top to hold lights, signs and banners.

The pole went into production just before the Sydney Olympics in 2000 and was used to spruce up the city for the Games.

The poles can be seen in Martin Place and Taylor Square, and in Macquarie, George and Oxford streets.

But a decade on from their development the rights to the proceeds of their commercialisation - through sales to other councils in NSW, interstate and overseas - are in dispute.

The council alleges the highly entrepreneurial Mr Obeid and Streetscape breached their licence to make the smartpoles by selling a large number of them in Dubai and Singapore without payment of any royalties.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/obeids-6-million-pole-dance-ends-up-in-supreme-court-20110415-1dhwb.html#ixzz1JgdgMQ98

Now you may understand why I mentioned the lampposts here and here as well

TREASURY'S report into the NSW government's purported ''black hole'' reveals what a hamfisted job Barry O'Farrell is doing at informing the NSW public about the true position of the state's finances. Of the original claim of a $4.5 billion hole, Treasury finds only $1.9 billion could credibly be claimed as a discrepancy between the midyear budget review and Treasury's incoming brief to the government, and even this discrepancy ''accurately reflected available information at the time'' and was ''consistent with a robust approach to budgeting adopted by the NSW Treasury''.

And yet, despite this virtual absolution by the acting Treasury Secretary, Michael Lambert, of the Treasury head, Michael Schur - who is on ''gardening leave'' - it emerges O'Farrell intends to advertise the position, in effect ousting Schur. This is worrying indeed.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/editorial/its-the-vision-thing-barry-20110427-1dwob.html#ixzz1Kmubkzbm
see toon at top...

That didn't take long. After just two months as Premier, Barry O'Farrell has shown that he is entirely capable of the shameless political trickery he denounced so piously in opposition.

We're talking the Solar Bonus Scheme and the decision to cut the household tariff rebate from 60¢ to 40¢ per kilowatt. In one stroke, O'Farrell has dudded about 100,000 punters who stuck solar panels on their roofs in the belief they had a solid contract with government, any government.

It is a grubby stunt worthy of his Labor predecessors, and if he is taking political pain for it, then good. He deserves to. Panicky fiddling at the edges with hardship compensation is lipstick on the pig.

In his new book Sideshow, the former federal Labor minister Lindsay Tanner argues that the media have dumbed-down the high art of politics to jokey entertainment.

Serious politicians are treated with suspicion and derision, and nobody gives a stuff about policy any more, Tanner says. We are all more interested in Julia's boyfriend and Tony's Speedos.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/barrys-no-longer-the-golden-boy-20110527-1f8fn.html#ixzz1NatvPApm

Gus: see Bazza at top and also at warmish in the belly and flapflapflap... And seriously, I think Tanner was good but Tony thinks with his speedos...

THE state government's whip in the upper house, Peter Phelps, has been accused of likening scientists to Nazis in a speech to Parliament.

In an address attacking global warming, Dr Phelps said it should not be forgotten that ''some of the strongest supporters of totalitarian regimes in the last century have been scientists''.

''We should not be so surprised that the contemporary science debate has become so debased,'' Dr Phelps, pictured, said. ''At the heart of many scientists - but not all scientists - lies the heart of a totalitarian planner.''

He once compared the former army officer and federal Labor MP Mike Kelly to the guards at a concentration camp. Dr Phelps was chief-of-staff to the then special minister of state Gary Nairn in 2007 when he accused Mr Kelly of using the Nuremberg defence, like the guards at the Belsen concentration camp.

Speaking in Parliament on Monday, Dr Phelps quoted an unidentified writer whom he described as ''speaking about the rise of Nazism'' and its similarity to ''scientists agitating for a scientific organisation of society''.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/upper-house-whip-under-fire-for-nazi-slur-on-scientists-20110601-1fgq0.html#ixzz1O4KYKArh

see toon at top...

The NSW government's contentious changes to public sector employment conditions are likely to be passed in the upper house before midnight, the opposition says.

Labor leader John Robertson said the passage of the industrial relations bill will mean more than 300,000 public government workers shall lose out on wages and conditions.

The government earlier today shut down the upper house debate on its bill after prolonged filibustering by Labor and Greens MPs.

It used a standing order, which has not been invoked since 1906, to force the bill to the committee stage.

"The premier has then gone a step further and prevented discussion on any proposed amendments - locking parliamentarians into the chamber until the bill is passed," Mr Robertson said in a statement.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/government-set-to-pass-ir-bill-labor-20110604-1flwm.html#ixzz1OI9kZZb4
see toon at top...

• The RTA and NSW Maritime cease to exist in their current form. A new agency, Roads and Maritime Services, will be created in their place.
• The Transport Construction Authority (TCA) – its functions will move into the Transport Projects Division.
• The Country Rail Infrastructure Authority – its functions move into Transport Services Division.
• All functions of the Centre for Road Safety (CRS) from the RTA – move into Transport for NSW except the operational aspects from CRS, such as Crashlab, which will remain with Roads and Maritime Services.
• The Public Transport Ticketing Corporation, which is responsible for managing the integrated ticketing project – reports into the Transport Services Division, as it moves into the delivery phase of the project.
• The Transport Management Centre (TMC) – remains a separate operating function, under a service agreement administered by Transport Services Division.
• http://smh.drive.com.au/rta-to-be-killed-off-20110715-1hh3r.html
• see toon at top...

THE Shooters and Fishers Party has won the support of the O'Farrell Government to increase shooting as a sport in schools.

The gun control lobby and even some in the Coalition see the minor party's long-held ambition to get more guns into the hands of children as the price the government must pay for the support of Shooters MPs, Robert Borsak and Robert Brown. It relies on the pair to get its legislation through a hostile upper house.

At the top of their wish list is the relaxation of the tight system for registering firearms and an end to the ban on hunting in national parks. But the Shooters also want to remove red tape so NSW's 650 public and independent high schools are free to choose shooting as a sport.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/shoottoskill-lessons-20110716-1hj5q.html#ixzz1SJfJr73k

Sad days ahead...

 

The only Australian factory which manufactures solar cells and panels is closing down.

Silex Solar has blamed a "very tough market" for its decision to close its western Sydney facility, with 30 jobs to be lost.

But the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union is blaming the [Liberal (conservative)] New South Wales Government.

Union state secretary Tim Ayres is specifically pointing the finger at the Government's decision to cut the state's Solar Bonus Scheme.

"We warned that there would be a possibility of job losses in manufacturing and that is exactly what has happened," Mr Ayres said.

"The decision can be blamed on the roll-back of the Solar Bonus Scheme by the O'Farrell Government, and the Government's failure to implement any sort of framework for the clean technology industry.

"We really need urgent Government action to make sure there is a viable clean technology industry in NSW."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-17/sun-sets-on-australia27s-last-solar-factory/2842902

see toon at top...

 

New South Wales Nationals MP Steve Cansdell has resigned from State Parliament after revelations he faked a statutory declaration about a speeding fine.

The MP for the northern electorate of Clarence has admitting falsified a statutory declaration in relation to a speeding fine in 2005.

Police are now investigating.

Mr Cansdell says another person offered to take the blame because otherwise he would have lost his licence.

Today he admitted it was a stupid thing to do.

"To be quite honest I didn't realise the gravity of that decision then and it wasn't until it was raised recently, in fact yesterday, that somebody told me that it has been around that that is what happened and I found out the gravity of it and I thought it is time to put you hand up," Mr Cansdell said.

He has been an MP since 2003, and was also parliamentary secretary for police.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-16/cansdell-to-resign-from-nsw-parliament/2902512

Former NSW premier Kristina Keneally has hit back at Premier Barry O'Farrell for being "inconsistent" in his treatment of her by denying her the use of a state car.

An email leaked to The Sun-Herald showed Ms Keneally was denied the use of a state car and driver to charity events, becoming the first premier since 1965 to be stripped of entitlements. 

Use of the car would have been in addition to her electorate allowance of just over $30,000.

Mr O'Farrell has said premiers should serve a minimum of five years before receiving state-funded entitlements, but did not apply this to John Fahey, Nick Greiner or Nathan Rees - who all served less than five years in the top job.

"As a principle, and no matter [what] your view is on entitlements for former office holders, it is reasonable to expect that all former premiers are treated consistently," Ms Keneally told smh.com.au today.

Ms Keneally said that it was wrong of Mr O'Farrell to suggest to Sky's Agenda program that she should use her electorate allowance to attend charity events.

Mr O'Farrell told Sky yesterday: "Ms Keneally is asking for more than the $30,000 in allowances that she's been provided for these sorts of things already."

The 2011 determination from the NSW Parliamentary Remuneration Tribunal states: "A Member may use any form of transport within Australia subject to the requirement that the transport was used for Parliamentary or electorate duties."

Ms Keneally told smh.com.au she would abide by the ruling of the tribunal, and would continue to meet her appointments with charities such as the Stillbirth Foundation.

"I abide by the ruling of the Parliamentary Remuneration Tribunal, and use the allowances it provides for the running of the Heffron electorate office for just that: for the benefit of the people of Heffron," Ms Keneally said.

"I'm surprised the Premier is suggesting that I should contravene the PRT and use this allowance for purposes for which it is not provided.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/keneally-hits-back-at-ofarrell-over-car-ban-20111017-1lsg9.html#ixzz1b4p3RCnW

Barry O'farrell, as I understand it, wants to demolish (he'd get "developers" to do the demolition) perfectly good amenities to make them "bigger"... Sydney on Viagra, I feel... The convention centre, the exhibition hall are to Barry's mind too small at 20,000 square metres. He wants to outdo Melbourne 30,000 square metres convention space by at least 10,000 sqm... Thus demolish, take over great open public spaces (I suppose) unless one goes up in altitude.

 

WHY DEMOLISH good stuff when there a large empty space called Barangaroo...?

Though there is no official open surface area given for Barangaroo, the hungry mile, one could guess there is in excess of 500,000 square metres available there for showing up the rest of the world how petty it is...

Of course Barry said he would have an inquiry into the development of Barangaroo devised by the "corrupt" plans of the previous government but after the "inquiry" he has decided to go ahead with the grandiose overbig plan of the previous government... Possibly with a small modification — called the "Barry O'Farrell Modification Street"...

NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell's decision to dump the ban on regular unleaded petrol from July 1 has no doubt won him plenty of goodwill from the 750,000 NSW motorists who faced paying an extra $150 a year each for more expensive premium fuel as a result.

But there is also a definite and dangerous downside for the Premier — the impression that if he is put under enough pressure he will fold on difficult issues, regardless of whether he believes in the policy being attacked.

The question being asked today is: are we witnessing the emergence of Backdown Barry?

When O'Farrell spectacularly capitulated on his government's plan to slash the rebate paid to existing customers of the troubled solar bonus scheme last year to address a cost blow out, the decision was in large part put down to the inexperience and nervousness of a new government.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/are-we-seeing-the-emergence-of-backdown-barry-20120131-1qqoq.html#ixzz1l0pnEPsx
Inexperience? Nervousness? Are these elegant excuses for being flipfloppy and weak in the caboose...? Bazza has been in politics long enough to know what's what. Running a state like New South Wales is a bit more complicated than having lunch and a glass of white at the canteen of the NSW parliament...
For example, delaying the Sydney transport bizzo by "a" year for more study is crook. There has been RTA studies galore and mountains of proposals. It's now a matter of which toes one is going to walk upon to implement sumpthin' like a tunnel that may work for a few or may not work for all. Baza should know that most of the Liberal North Shore electorates are living in a constant traffic jam since there is no trains and a few buses... But the major problem there is that most people are eager to drive their Mercs to go and have a blue rinse hair-do all at the same time, just when the Spit Bridge is about to go up to let more rich geezers go through on their megayachts — probably their neighbours... Now they cannot blame Labor for the traffic though some still try hard.
Sme thing about letting the developers call the shot on where to pitch a few concrete tents...

The implementation of the "Metro Bus" by the previous government is an unsung winner. But one does not often take the bus when one has a Merc and a motor cruiser the size of a house... Most media have not mentioned the "Metro Buses" because the media were so intent to demolish Labor, they did not want to show an ounce of praise towards it.
Did I mention Bazza knee-jerks and the ethic classes?
See toon at top...

 

THE architect who designed the award-winning exhibition centre at Darling Harbour has attacked new government plans to redevelop the site as ''horrendous vandalism''.

Philip Cox, whose firm won the Sulman Medal for architecture for the centre built for the 1988 Bicentennial, said it was ''insane'' for the government to ask developers to come up with plans for the convention and entertainment precinct without a government masterplan.

Mr Cox put his views to the Herald after the Premier, Barry O'Farrell, revealed the government had asked two developer groups to prepare plans to replace or modify all the major buildings and public areas in 20 hectares of the site.

 

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/architect-blasts-vandalism-of-harbour-precinct-20120418-1x7pk.html#ixzz1sQXX8mWD

The horror of having elected a team of Liberals (conservatives) without bridle in charge of New South Wales was apparent way back... Yes, I warned you before about Bazza's idiotic views... And in order to achieve these grandiose stupidity, there is a good chance that he has to bed in bed with some "developers" who are presently frothing at the mouth like cats waiting for their cream. He himself may not be corrupt — that is to say getting moneybags for being a philistine — but sure as can be, Bazza will always be Bazza... an idiot pointing Percy at the porcelain.

This plan to turn Darling Harbour into a super-convention centre to beat Melbourne's own is ludicrous. Darling Harbour was designed mostly to be a "people's place" for all people to enjoy a sense of space through carefully planned vista under the complex of roads above... As soon as one encroach on the public space, one destroys this concept and the public will be stuffed for conventions of people who more often than not are already on high perks — and might still go to Melbourne, unless some incentives are thrown at them, making the whole operation a loss making venture..

It's a bit like the "rationalisation" of Bazza's plan to remove access to the Newtown High School of the Performing Arts, for some of the neighbouring areas... What is the real plan behind this change? Slowly kill off the Newtown school and sell the real estate to "developers" by 2016?... I've seen it before... I know how it's done... The number of enrolments decline, funding is cut accordingly and the school of performing under-performs to the point it becomes a ghost and is shut down... Wake up and tell Bazza to buzz-off...

See toon at top...

 

 

 

 

 

New laws proposed in New South Wales are set to allow children as young as 12, armed with bows and arrows, dogs, and knives, to hunt feral animals without adult supervision.

The new guidelines have been drawn up by the NSW Game Council, the State Government body which regulates hunting.

Children are already allowed to hunt feral animals; they just cannot do it alone.

The head of the NSW Game Council, Brian Boyle, says the age limits are being lowered to encourage families to get involved.

Mr Boyle told local ABC radio the proposed changes to the Game and Feral Animal Control Act put more control in the hands of parents.

"The child could still be supervised, they still have to have their parents' permission to be able to do that, and their parents are the best people placed to make that decision, not people outside," he said.

He says the changes are also about also ensuring cleaner, more humane, kills.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-05/young-hunters-allowed-more-freedom/3993180

 

THE head of the state's peak history body has warned that an entire chapter of NSW history is at risk of being lost due to budget cuts and a lack of secure funding for the archiving of emails and other digital documents.

The president of the History Council of NSW, Professor Richard Waterhouse, has taken aim at the Premier, Barry O'Farrell, over cuts worth $1.8 million over four years, which he believes are impeding the council's ability to record the history of the state.

''We are seeing the history of today slipping through our fingers and into the dustbin of a digital graveyard,'' Professor Waterhouse said. ''It does seem ironic that a government, whose Premier has indicated a keen interest in promoting the history of NSW has acted to ensure that the opposite is likely to happen''.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/archives-at-risk-as-state-cuts-back-20120504-1y486.html#ixzz1tzhmFb1D

A STATE Government minister, Anthony Roberts, hosted lunches at Parliament House with prominent western Sydney property developers who had each bid $2000 for access to him.

Property developers have been banned from making political donations in NSW since 2010. The businessmen who wrote cheques at a Liberal Party fund-raiser in April include Vic Cavasinni, the multi-millionaire owner of Cavasinni Constructions and Beechwood Homes, David Masterton of Masterton Homes and Peter Fowler of Fowler Homes, based at Wetherill Park.

The Liberal Party insisted yesterday that the cheques paid had not been cashed after suspicion that laws around property developer donations would be breached. Nevertheless, the party confirmed that the lunches with Mr Roberts, the Fair Trading Minister, had been auctioned at a fund-raiser, that cheques were accepted and the meetings went ahead.

Details of the lunches will be an embarrassment for the Premier, Barry O'Farrell, who has tried to distance his government from the era of commercial sleaze associated with Labor and the property developer fraternity. It will also heap more pressure on Mr Roberts, who was recently rebuked by the Premier who said ''wannabe Joe Tripodis'' had no place in his government.

Mr Roberts is also embroiled in claims he verbally assaulted a female staff member, causing her ''severe psychological trauma''.

His lunches took place at State Parliament in the months before Mr Roberts released a discussion paper in July on the upcoming overhaul of the Home Building Act. Its main recommendation was the winding back of warranty insurance which currently protects home owners from shoddy builders. The reform is seen as a potential boon for the struggling home-construction sector and is supported by builders.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/developers-buy-access-to-minister-20120901-2578v.html#ixzz25G4wa89t
see toon at top

 

NSW has moved from deficit to surplus due to "totally unacceptable" errors in its accounts, the Auditor-General says.
The government had allowed the budget deficit to bounce around "like a pinball machine", said Peter Achterstraat as he announced a budget result that was $1 billion better than predicted in the 2012-13 budget papers published in June 2012.
An expected deficit of $337 million in the middle of June became a surplus of $680 million by the end of June.The total revenue was $6 million over budget.
Mr Achterstraat was critical of government departments, saying they needed to tighten up their budget predictions and financial reporting. He said he was not satisfied with the quality of financial accounts, saying they were "all over the shop".
There were 37 errors of over $20 million each in accounts the Auditor-General's office identified and corrected.
"I would say that a $1 million error is unfortunate, a $10 million error is undesirable but a $100 million error is totally unacceptable," he said."This is not acceptable for an entity the size of NSW that manages billions of dollars of assets and public funds.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/1b-error-nsw-swings-from-deficit-to-surplus-20121031-28j8s.html#ixzz2AqLBjwoS

see toon and stories from top... No black holes but plenty of arseholes in the NSW Liberal government... WE KNEW THERE WAS NO BLACK HOLE...  

 

From Miranda...

It takes a lot to make NSW look to the Carr era with nostalgia.

But the O'Farrell government's judgment over helicopters on Sydney Harbour has been such a bumbling joke that Bob Carr is starting to look good.

At a time when ICAC is seeing a parade of former Carr ministers allegedly exposed as charlatans, that's saying something.

Luckily for Sydney, the new North Sydney mayor, Jilly Gibson, had her wits about her as the silly season approached and the plan for installing a floating helipad in the middle of the harbour was slipping through the system with little fanfare and even less due process.

Roads and Maritime Services, the old RTA, had actually granted a licence to Newcastle Helicopters to run unlimited flights from a pontoon moored 500m east of Fort Denison.

The agency, which is the most punitive and restrictive of all our bloated bureaucracies, somehow managed to wave through the application within two months.

 There was no consultation with the community and no environmental impact assessment _ this in a city where it can take six months to get a car port approved.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/miranda-devine-chopper-plan-snuck-under-the-radar/story-e6frezz0-1226545044129

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OMG!!!... Miranda Devine is waking up... She seems to see clearly through the O'Feral brown haze... unless she's having a dig at Bob at the same time... Yes, nostalgia can fill your eyes with the wrong feelings, but Bob was not that bad... Many (nasty) people in the media says "he did not do anything"... So why was he called Bob the Builder...?

----------------------------------------

HELEN DALLEY: Carr's reign as Premier pushed his obsessions — the environment and improved literacy in schools. Dubbed Bob the Builder, he pumped millions into roads. But even then, western Sydney drivers still struggled through potholed rabbit warrens. He got tough on police corruption and crime. The 2000 Olympics were a stand-out success, boosting Carr's popularity. 

DAVID PENBERTHY: He's been lucky in that he's had the luxury for a very long time of having no viable opposition whatsoever. 

HELEN DALLEY: But in recent years, public unhappiness grew with the noticeable failures — State taxes, transport and hospitals. 

NICK GREINER: If you take the rest of it — if you take water, if you take the rail system, if you take the underinvestment in electricity generation and electricity maintenance, if you look at the waiting lists, you look at the movement from state schools to private schools. I think the scoreboard on any criteria other than winning elections, is very low. 

BRUCE HAWKER: He introduced legislation to establish 350 national parks over the term of his government. He increased funding for education and health. 

NICK GREINER: It's been a triumph of perception over performance, a triumph of spin over substance. I think it happened on a daily basis. 

HELEN DALLEY: At this point in time, though, you're going to be stuck with the tag that the trains don't run on time. 

BOB CARR: Yeah. 

HELEN DALLEY: Will it peeve you if you're remembered as the guy who buggered up the trains? 

BOB CARR: I don't think I will be. I don't think there's the remotest chance of that. I think, first of all, because the trains will be fixed. There will be a return to good levels of on-time running.

http://sgp1.paddington.ninemsn.com.au/sunday/cover_stories/article_1838.asp?s=1

-------------------------

Gus: Compare this with O"Feral: destruction of education in NSW, destruction of TAFE, promotion of James Packer as Sydney Casinoman, Hell-port on water (now canned due to public outrage), the desire to lift the curfew off Sydney airport, shooters in National Parks, killing off the Cronulla fishery department, rehashing old and tired road network plans, including a stupid "development" of Parramatta Road, the desire to destroy the bike-lanes network, removing by stealth councils rights to building approval... The list of crap from O'Feral is long long long... The vision is narrow narrow narrow... 

Actually, O'Feral is starting to make Joe Tripody and Obeid look like angels... Carr was a million times better than O'Feral...

See toon at top...