The Minister for Transport today survived a No Confidence Motion moved by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Nationals Leader, Andrew Stoner. There was never any doubt of the outcome, the Government always going to exercise it’s substantial majority in the Legislative Assembly.
David Campbell used his full allocation of twenty minutes to put the case why such a censure shouldn’t succeed. I listened to both his speech and that of Andrew Stoner. A normally effusive speaker, the Minister this time was flat and seemed tired. I’m sure that he believes what he said but you wouldn’t have known it from his delivery.
David Campbell no doubt has many things that he can rightly claim as positive outcomes of his tenure as Minister for Transport but the severity of recent failures deserves a much higher level of scrutiny and contrition than the public has seen.
Supporting the motion was not an easy decision however the appalling situation with the F3 debacle on 12 May and the subsequent limp response demands higher accountability. Thousands of people trapped in their vehicles for in the order of 10 hours without any effort to the implement contra-flow exposed many travellers to very real risks. Diabetics, asthmatics or persons with other medical conditions were surely involved. The fact is, those responsible for managing the crisis would have had no answer to any medical emergency that may have occurred. The fact that this didn’t happen was by good luck and nothing to do with good management.
The Minister carries the ultimate responsibility for this fiasco and his protestation and apologies have been as flat as his defence on the No Confidence Motion. The fact is that David Campbell enjoys executive power and he should have used it. Residents of Lake Macquarie that have been speaking to me and who were caught in this traffic jam would want me to support this motion. They want their anger expressed. More than that, they want answers to how it happened and they want changes that will ensure that it never happens again!
David Campbell used his full allocation of twenty minutes to put the case why such a censure shouldn’t succeed. I listened to both his speech and that of Andrew Stoner. A normally effusive speaker, the Minister this time was flat and seemed tired. I’m sure that he believes what he said but you wouldn’t have known it from his delivery.
David Campbell no doubt has many things that he can rightly claim as positive outcomes of his tenure as Minister for Transport but the severity of recent failures deserves a much higher level of scrutiny and contrition than the public has seen.
Supporting the motion was not an easy decision however the appalling situation with the F3 debacle on 12 May and the subsequent limp response demands higher accountability. Thousands of people trapped in their vehicles for in the order of 10 hours without any effort to the implement contra-flow exposed many travellers to very real risks. Diabetics, asthmatics or persons with other medical conditions were surely involved. The fact is, those responsible for managing the crisis would have had no answer to any medical emergency that may have occurred. The fact that this didn’t happen was by good luck and nothing to do with good management.
The Minister carries the ultimate responsibility for this fiasco and his protestation and apologies have been as flat as his defence on the No Confidence Motion. The fact is that David Campbell enjoys executive power and he should have used it. Residents of Lake Macquarie that have been speaking to me and who were caught in this traffic jam would want me to support this motion. They want their anger expressed. More than that, they want answers to how it happened and they want changes that will ensure that it never happens again!
Greg Combet, non-resident Labor Member for Charlton, needs a lesson in geography.
ReplyDelete"New partnership improves youth attainment and transitions in Newcastle Region"
http://www.gregcombet.com.au/file.php?file=/news/HHOEHVRGRLDNNEDLSCRTNKWU/index.html
There is NO Newcastle region, only a Hunter region.
This slight on Lake Macquarie is inexcusable from somebody who is supposed to represent Western Lake Macquarie people in the Federal parliament. Newcastle has two resident Federal Members, while we have none.
Greg Combet is obviously not interested in the views of local people, as there is no way for Charlton constituents to make comments on his website.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.vexnews.com/news/9311/we-are-not-worthy-greg-combets-poorly-timed-self-promotion/
ReplyDeleteEschewing his right to a driver – “what sort of wanker would I look like, being driven around Newcastle?” – he has instead arranged to pick me up himself, before heading out to Williamtown RAAF base for a briefing in his role as Minister for Defence Materiel and Science. [VEXNEWS: Good move]
You look like a wanker who lives in Newcastle and keeps promoting it despite the fact that most of your constituents live in Lake Macquarie.
If Greg Combet lived in Lake Macquarie, instead of a flat near Newcastle Beach, this story and future stories could have been used to promote Lake Macquarie to a national audience. It is typical of Labor Party people to promote themselves rather than the people they represent.
ReplyDelete