The people of Sydney are over it.Over taxed,over regulated,poor transport,health,expensive incompetent Govt,road tolls...The list goes on.Nobody is surprised by Govt stuff ups or complains.It is now considered to be the norm. Even if we get good Govt under Barry O'Farrell,it will take at least a decade to turn things around.Can people afford to wait?John Howard recently described the Iemma/Carr Govt as, "The most conscientiouslly incompetent Govt he had ever known."

They have no choice but to sell off our power assets and Barry O'Farrell will have to do likewise if he wins the next election.

This has serious ramifications for future investment since many are already moving to QLD WA and even Vict.If this trend continues to gather momentum,then investors will desert this State in droves.As the baby boomers retire, this will be the last State they will stay just to see their nest eggs gobbled up by bloated bureaucracies.

The quality of life in Sydney also has taken serious nose dive.There is a lot of anger and frustration.People are rude and inconsiderate since it not only takes hours for many to commute to work,it costs a fortune just to surivive.

Can our NSW Public Service undergo a serious rationalisation in time to overt total decay?

And now is the time for all those folk who whinned on and on about not being able to afford a 'shoe-box-in-middle-of-road' to live in and how houses were no longer 'affordable' to jump in and make a 'killing'.

But I doubt they will, they will be off finding some new blight on their existence to complain about....

Col,sell up your NSW assets now and invest in QLD or WA.Property in NSW will see no growth [if all goes well],until next Spring.China will probably suffer post Olympic Blues.

Unless we spell it out to the fat cats of NSW,nothing will change,even if Barry gets into power.You have to put the fear of Yahweh in them before they even reach some semblance of consciousness.

I'm with Col on this.

The potential exodus (in whose dreams, by the way?) of 50% of "Sydney Siders" can only be wonderful news for those of us who thoroughly enjoy the city, its good bits and bad bits, but above all its "cool" factor.

Especially on a magical spring morning like today, when the sun is shining and the harbour is picture-perfect...

That isn't to say that the State isn't being managed appallingly by the present government. It is as corrupt and as incompetent as any I have known in twenty-odd years - and that includes the unbelievable Wran... the things that government got away with still boggle the mind.

There will always be the moaners and whingers, basically because we have become accustomed to the idea that it is the job of everyone else to provide for our own particular comfort. The permanent moans from the apartments behind Luna Park about "noise pollution" are a classic example - as if they didn't notice that their apartment backed onto a funfair when they bought it.

The rail system is an utter disgrace, and no-one has a clue how to fix it. The planning process is a joke, with constant battles between local councils and the State government - most of which, strangely, seem to be resolved in favour of the developers.

All this is fundamentally irrelevant, however, when it comes to choosing a place to live and work.

I have lived in other capital cities in Australia, and as far as I can recall, the quality of State government didn't once feature on my checklist. I'm fairly certain that when I make my next move, it will again come stone dead last.

When will people realise that nearly every problem is caused by too much congestion caused by too many people demanding too many services and always expecting someone else to pay.

"I want hospitals, public transport, cheap water cheap energy, schools, social security, police, roads, clean air and pollution control, subsidised health, defence, border security, baby bonus, subsidised housing, unemployment benefit and a bureaucracy to run it all...........but my taxes are too high and I want someone else to give it to me"

If you want efficient government with lower taxes, be more self sufficient.

Really ArJay ?
Do you really think it is like that ?
I presume you don't live in Sydney.

The only problem I see is the massive number of interstate trucks on
Pennant Hills Rd. Picking up delivering to/from interstate.

Mind you I have to say I am no fan of the Iemma Government.

The constant knocking of the railway system is overdone.
It is reasonably reliable in timing.
However when I travel by air I always go to the airport by train.
I think that speaks for itself.
Being on the east coast we are in an ideal location for climate.
Much better weather than all other capitals. Not too far North and
not too far south. I have just spent a week in Bleak City so I know
which is better.

Housing prices are the only disadvantage that I see and don't start me on that.
The feminists don't like my opinion on that.
Our problem is not people leaving it is numbers that want to come and live here.
Some advocate stopping any further development applications being approved.
It would kill the building industry but might be needed.

I suspect it's a comparison thing, Bazz.

>>The constant knocking of the railway system is overdone. It is reasonably reliable in timing<<

Only if you are accustomed to island time.

On any given day, either or both of my inbound or outbound peak hour trains will be either late or cancelled. This is a classic case where anecdotal evidence from passengers is at odds with the official figures from the City Rail Central Soviet.

Compare us with, say, Hong Kong. They carry over four times as many passengers every day, but run trains regularly and without fuss.

City Rail also has an extremely annoying habit.

When they do actually manage to get the train to the station on time, they are officially allowed to send it out earlier than the published departure time.

True.

You arrive at the station on time, to be faced every day with the lottery of a) an already departed train, b) a five minute wait for a delayed train (that incidentally, is not considered "late" by the City Rail Central Soviet), c) a ten minute delay for a train that they grudgingly admit is actually late or d) a twenty minute wait to the train that follows the one that has been cancelled.

It may be your definition of "reasonably reliable", but it ain't mine.

Incidentally...

>>However when I travel by air I always go to the airport by train.
I think that speaks for itself.<<

It is still only four quid to take the London Underground from Mansion House to Heathrow. No-one in their right mind would take a cab.

Here, if there's more than one travelling, it is cheaper, and just as quick, to cab it from the CBD.

And did you know, that even today, in 2008, less than 70% of trains are air-conditioned. And that one in seventy employees is tested positive for drugs...?

Hey, I love the place. It would take skillful application of a crowbar, or the brute force of lotsa money, to get me to move.

But I cannot pretend we have a halfway decent mass transit system.

Pericles,
Well being retired I do not travel by train every day or every
week for that matter. So perhaps my perception is somewhat lacking in
sampling data.
On the Northern line and the North shore line it is mostly the older
rolling stock, being liberal voter areas, that we get but even so I
can't say I have noticed such a large percentage of non-airconditioned
trains. We almost never see the Millennium and later models.
We do see some Tangaras, but not many as those are on the North Shore
line only as they have come from Penrith.

Being only a couple of stations from Hornsby they are usually on time.
The big problem looming in the future is as freight shifts to rail
and Central Coast commuters get out of their cars it will be difficult
to slot the local services into the timetable because of increased traffic.
There seems to be problems already.

Snake and others ,you miss the point.It is not a matter of demanding too many services but a matter of too many bureaucrats as Michael Coster stated some 2 yrs ago.We have the most expensive Govt in the whole of Australia.This survey was done by Roy Morgan and the results published in the Tele.Many people in the West are copping a hiding and are rightfully angry.

You won't get results from the fat cats unless they are confronted with the reality.Unless the PS undergoes serious reform like Jeff Kennett instigated in Victoria,NSW is headed for disaster!

Bazz ,"Some advocate stopping further development.It would kill the building industry,but it might be needed."Have you noticed Bazz,that the building industry in NSW has been in the doldrums for at least 5 yrs? There is a shortage of housing;the Iemma Govt has taken all the fun out of life.They are punishing the very people whom they propose to represent.Typical Labor!

Actually the the most revealing statement by Morris Iemma totally by passed the media.Morris was asked during the papal visit what he yearned most from the pope.Morris answered that he wished for his family to be blessed.There was no mention of blessings for good judgement so NSW might prosper.Morris like most of Labor,are consumed with their own well being!Enough said.

Arjay
The whole thing needs a complete rethink.
Rail housing and electricity.
Both parties should stop, step back and examine all these major
infrastructure in light of energy depletion.
That applies especially to electricity generation.
First with the Feds thinking up ways to punish generators, who would want to buy them.
The government has said that they have falling value, and they are
wanting to sell them !
A salesman Ilemma is not !

He seems particularly stupid to me.

I met with Barry O'Farrell and we talked about peak oil and its
effects but I think like all politicians he is frightened to bring the subject up publically.
So from that conversation I know he is aware of it, and I think he
believes it is real, yet I have never seen a public reference by him
to energy depletion.

Electricity generation is so central to mitigation of energy depletion
that alone is reason enough not to sell the power stations.
Absolute control over the stations may be necessary to sustain the state.

Bazz,forget about Peak oil.We have plenty of energy in the form of coal,gas and solar if we develop the technology.

We cannot afford a single extra power station,yet China brings on line a new coal powered station every month.It begs the question"Why are we so impotent?"

We are too eager to find excuses not to achieve,rather than confronting the reality at hand.

The power will be sold off.It is just a matter of time.The Chinese Govt is interested.How can a communist Govt turn a profit when our Govts cannot.The Chinese will buy our coal at basement prices and sell it back to us a a premium.How stupid are we?

Arjay;
We can't forget peak oil. The coal and solar are no help.
Even to crank up the coal to liquid processes at the needed scale will
take many many years with the Topisch Fisher process.
Gas is our one backup for liquid fuels.

It will take years and years to change the car fleet to electric and
there is a possibility that it may never happen. Even to change the
fleet to gas will take years to convert to natural gas rather than LPG.

We are in a bind, we only produce about 55% of our own oil and we will
be in a scramble to purchase imports as time goes by.
Looks like the power station sale will be stopped today.

Cheers