The Debaser [Online]

With not enough Ambulance staff keeping us alive, a public transport system that just does not seem to work, and traffic crippling our roads daily, Adriana Gajin has a deeper look into the NSW Labor party and those responsible for leading us down this path. 
A little bit of History….

The current NSW state government is a Labor one, and it has been this way for the past 14 years. The Labor government has seen the people of NSW through three premiers, each with their own agendas and policies. Bob Carr, Morris Iemma and now Nathan Rees.

A brief overview of the “Carr Dynasty”

Bob Carr was the first of the three Labor premiers. Carr introduced numerous policies and was extremely popular with voters, winning all three of the elections comfortably. Known as the “cautious” Premier, Carr was tough on crime and dedicated to helping the environmental cause. Carr actually created numerous National Parks in NSW and dabbled into Federal policies concerning the environment. Carr was Premier when Sydney hosted the Olympic Games in 2000 and saw through the infrastructure and facilities built for the games. As a Premier, Carr was praised for the flawless running of the games.

However, Carr’s administration did face some hurdles, closer to the end of his reign as Premier. In 2004, the Orange Grove incident put strain on the Labor party.

PLEASE EXPLAIN!

In December 2002 Sydney Businessman Nabil Gazal received Liverpool City Council approval for the development of a designer factory outlet, named Orange Grove, in the southwest Sydney suburb of Warwick Farm. The site had previously been zoned as an industrial area, which stopped any retailing, with the exception of ‘bulky goods'.

However the Council determined that as Orange Grove was to be a factory outlet rather than your average retail centre, Gazal's development met the Local Environment Plan. Orange Grove opened successfully, with local Labor member Craig Knowles in attendance on its first day of trade.

In June 2003, the Westfield Group, who operates a large shopping centre in the same district, commenced legal proceedings in the Land and Environment Court, arguing that Orange Grove was in contradiction with the Council's Local Environment Plan. In January 2004 the court found in Westfield's favour and ordered Orange Grove to be closed down.

SOURCE: NSW Nationals Leader Andrew Stoner’s Website: Scandals, “The Orange Grove Affair”

Subsequently the scandal continued as Carr sacked the entire Liverpool council and appointed an administrator. In addition, two of Bob Carr’s Ministers were embroiled in the scandal during the legal proceedings.

These were the then Minister Assisting the Minister for Infrastructure and Planning, Dianne Beamer and Minister for Housing and local member of Fairfield Joe Tripodi, with Mr Tripodi alleging Ms Beamer had received instructions from Premier Carr to deny the application for the rezoning of the Orange Grove complex.

Orange Grove's architect signed a declaration alleging that Tripodi had said, in relation to the rezoning, "Carr rang Beamer and asked her to screw it over".

SOURCE: NSW Nationals Leader Andrew Stoner’s Website: Scandals, “The Orange Grove Affair”

The “Iemma dilemma”

Former Premier Morris Iemma had a dream run in his short term as leader of the State Government.  Iemma was appointed Premier after Bob Carr resigned in 2005, with no contest- he was the only candidate at the Labor caucus meeting. After Iemma’s appointment, although popular with the public (evident through opinion polls and his 2007 election win), he still battled with numerous skeletons in his political closet. Iemma’s dilemmas included significant service delivery problems in transport, health care and future water supplies. A noteworthy mention is the Cross City tunnel debacle.

PLEASE EXPLAIN!

The Cross City Tunnel (CCT) was the jumbo of Iemma Government white elephants. It was a case of gross managerial incompetence. It was poorly planned, tolls were set at excessive levels and traffic forecasts were grossly exaggerated. The public perception was that the Government was seeking to funnel traffic into the new tunnel. The traffic forecasts were unrealistically optimistic estimating 85,000 vehicles would use the tunnel a day. The real figure turned out to be closer to 20,000.

Former Roads Minister Joe Tripodi even admitted in October 2006 that "too many compromises" had been made when the contract was signed. It lost $60 million on the project. The CCT went into receivership in December 2006, less than 18 months after its opening. The CCT was later sold to ABN Amro in June 2007 for $700 million.
(NSW Nationals Leader Andrew Stoner’s Website: Scandals, “The Cross City Tunnel: Iemma’s Tunnel Vision”)

While the Iemma government dealt with its fair share of political predicaments, their main downfall was Iemma’s plan to privatise the state’s electricity system. The former Premier’s proposal ultimately lead to in-party disputes, a division in the party and ultimately the resignation of Deputy Premier John Watkins, Treasurer Michael Costa, Health Minister Reba Meagher and Morris Iemma himself.

“Labor had finally got rid of their own Premier - a first in the 117-year history of State politics in NSW. A week sure is a long time in politics.”

SOURCE: NSW Nationals leader Andrew Stoner’s site:
“Scandals: The fall and fall of Morris Iemma”


So where we are now?

Now we have Premier Nathan Rees taking the reins, the Labor Party seems to have put all the in-fighting and factional divisions behind them to try and win the upcoming 2011 election. Recent polls suggesting that Labor is not so secure anymore.  The Rees government acted extremely quickly to ensure that the public felt safe and secure with their brand new government “makeover”.  A younger, fresher approach was taken.  However, this did not come without a price.  Some of the many criticisms of the Rees government include the move to privatise state prisons, cutbacks made on the scheme providing free travel on public transport for all students going to and from school and the increase of certain taxes.  Since the uproar from the public, the Rees government has reformed the cutbacks made to the school transport scheme:

“Following the announcement by the Premier on 21 December 2008, School Student Transport Scheme arrangements for 2009 will remain consistent with those that applied in 2008. The one exception is that eligible travel from school to home will be extended to 7:00 p.m., using the regular scheduled transport services provided by the student's approved transport operator. The New South Wales Government will fund 100 per cent of eligible student travel, investing more than $465 million every year to get students to and from school.”

SOURCE: Ministry of Transport
http://www.transport.nsw.gov.au/news/ssts-update.html

A scandal that rocked the foundations of the newly formed Rees Government was Police Minister Matt Brown’s lewd behaviour towards another Labor colleague in his office, after Budget night.

PLEASE EXPLAIN!

Three days into his new job, Nathan Rees was struck by a Labor scandal that rocked this early stability as Premier. Matt Brown, the newly promoted Police Minister, was forced to resign in disgrace after it was revealed that he allegedly danced half-naked on a couch, simulated sex acts on fellow Labor MP Noreen Hay, and used offensive language in the presence of Hay's daughter.

The incident had occurred months earlier, back when Morris was still Premier and Brown was Housing Minister. Three months later, Brown was forced to resign after he continued to lie to the new Premier after repeated questioning about the event. Later, Brown was held a press conference, where he denied the simulated sex act and lewd language, but admitted that by dancing on the couch he acted "in a manner not befitting a Minister."

For more information, see NSW Nationals leader Andrew Stoner’s site:
“Scandals: Matt ‘Pants Down’ Brown”
http://www.andrewstoner.com.au/features/scandals/matt-pants-down-brown.aspx


The biggest downfall of the Rees Government so far has been the axing of the North-West Metro Link due to “budgetary constraints”. With a flailing and inadequate public transport system, residents of the Hills District were relying on the Metro-Link (as promised by both Premiers Carr and Iemma) as a primary transportation system, due to the build up of the Hills as a residential haven.  Premier Rees announced when the mini-budget was released that the North-West metro link was postponed indefinitely.

Where to from here?

Premier Rees’ government is slipping in the approval ratings with each move. Due to the announcements made when the mini-budget was released, opinion polls showed Labor fall to 26% support among New South Wales voters. Nathan Rees blamed it on mini-budget bad news and misbehaving ministers. Under the leadership of Barry O’Farrell, the NSW Liberal party is gaining ground on Rees everyday. The weekend of by-elections held for the seats of Morris Iemma, John Watkins, Michael Costa and Reba Meagher resulted in a massive swing against Labor, with the seat of Ryde being won by the Liberal candidate Victor Dominello. If a Nathan Rees lead Labor Party has any chance of gaining another spell in charge in Macquarie street, swift steps must be taken, and taken very soon.