> It's been a long time since any of our leaders have shown this vision.<

Correction Patrick, but our leaders after Curtain and Chiefly, have arguably never ever demonstrated this or any level of vision? It's all about just winning!

And anyway, to replicate that vision you'd need to have a single socialistic and iron willed visionary in charge, and given a mandate to peruse that same vision all the way through to a successful conclusion!

Our so called leaders claim to fame seems to be how to waste Gazillions, and or, endlessly blame shift or pass the buck!

And if we would end that, then the ethnic in the woodpile, state governments/road blocks firmly wedged in the path of virtually any progress, have to go!

I mean, if we were lucky enough to find a similar visionary; and indeed give him or her a fair go and time to complete the mission?

Would we with our propensity to tear down the tall poppy actually give him or her a fair go, let alone the actual time to complete the modernization mission? [Rapid rail, an inland canal, a nuclear powered, (carbon free) national fleet taking care of all our bulk freight forwarding?]

One notes just how differently Singapore was run, where just the very opposite of privatization was the essence and embodiment of the huge, resource poor Singaporean success story!

And thankfully, they didn't have a Martin Ferguson, in there trying to tear down what it took generations and huge sacrifice to build!

Sediment Patrick? Is that what you think that Shiite is?

And here I am worrying about farts with few lumps in them!
Rhrosty.

It is not only Brisbane, most other Capital Cities are in the same boat with their rivers.
The River Torrens in Adelaide many years ago you could swim in the water, now it is a place where a mouthful of water would probably kill you.
Rundle Mall has just been repaved at great expense but the chewing gum brigade have within two or three months started to turn into a place of ugliness with lumps all over the place.
Having seen Singapore in the 1970's when it was derelict he did a magnificent job of turning the place around into what it is today.
Until people stop being lazy with rubbish, and their attitude is that it is some one else's problem to fix up the mess I have created, nothing will happen
Playing golf this morning on a beautiful golf course people drop litter and bottles where they stand, even if the rubbish bin is two metres away.
Unfortunately people of today all over the world do not seem to understand they are destroying both land and sea with plastics and rubbish, it will come to the point of no return in the coming future, only then they will realise perhaps that the world was destroyed through their behaviour with their rubbish, or will they?
Until the behaviour of people change then your Brisbane River will once again be pristine, but pigs might fly before then.

Maybe it wasn't LKY but the citizens of Singapore ? Maybe the Brisbane Rv is a reflection of the citizens of Brisbane ?

The strategies adopted by the Lee government were sometimes bizarre but they also worked.

When I was living in Singapore there was a clamp down on littering : a wealthy and influential business man was caught throwing a cigarette end out of his Mercedes window - he was required to do several days community service in a high-viz jacket picking up litter in the Orchard Road area. The media got the word out and it certainly seems to have helped to focus the community and maintain the clean and green image that Singapore projects .

Whatever it takes !

With respect I think you have this the wrong way round. No clean up is required you just stop people from throwing dirt into the river. My home town in England had a stream running through the centre of the town. In the 1950's there were signs warning of Polio in the water. I was there two years ago and now there is clean, clear water, water weed and lots of fish. This is not to take anything away from LKY but Brisbane can do this with current legislation.