Yep Rudd's addiction to grandiose announcements that go no where, while costing billions is still alive & well.

He's announced they will build a high speed rail link from Sydney to Melbourne. What's more they are going to do it for about the latest independent estimate of the cost on the NBN. I reckon this one must be his application as chief fool/clown at the UN after the election.

He must have had a bit of time to kill on that taxpayer funded flight to Brisbane & back for his cooking show, to have come up with this one.

These things are a massive drain on on taxpayer subsidies almost every where they're built. If they don't work in Europe, what chance do they have here.

What's more they are touting them to carry freight.

I wonder what world these fools inhabit? My company looked at rail freight, & found the labour costs of transshipping goods from truck to train at dispatch, & back to truck at destination was greater than shipping all the way by truck. That even went for Brisbane to Perth.

I must admit I was a little surprised until I realised it is bureaucrats that run the system, & union controlled government funded labour that does the actual lifting.

I don't suppose you'd be surprised to find that like most of Labors announcements, it is not actually funded until the second term of the Abbott government. It looks like KRudd is taking a leaf out of Julia's book, & trying to lay booby traps for Abbott. Think he might have left this one too late.

I think he is trying to 1 up Bob Hawke with his crap To plant 1 Billion trees.

Never did see any of those trees.

With increasing population, congestion and lack of infrastructure to cope, the fast train is a good idea. Other than freight, it means people can commute to where jobs are while living on the outer edges of cities or in semi-rural areas. It also reduces reliance on air travel, which also with rising populations, airports are finding it more difficult to control air space.

This is not a Rudd-owned policy but has been mooted by Liberal and Labor governments alike, both went back on their election promises. I hope this one survives.

Right it would be a good thing for transport, so would 1 billion trees.

His timing is strange why did he not propose this idea when he had a chance to actually do something.

Election promise that if elected will be broken.

He simply can't be trusted anymore.

Pelican a fast train is not a commuting means of transport. If they have to regularly stop at stations to pick up passengers, they are no longer a fast train.

They are not even meant to make more than a couple of stops between state capitals. Long distance train travel is a total failure always everywhere. By design they can't earn their running costs, & use more fuel per passenger mile than aircraft.

A much better use of funds would to build office accommodation dispersed through the suburbs, & country towns for the bureaucracy. Get the public servants out of city centers, & the rest will follow. The commute congestion would be eliminated that easily. Meanwhile leave long distance transport to the private sector, who can do it much better than governments.

Public transport in other than the oldest cities like Europe, is a total loss. It is so last century that it is time to drop the concept completely, & stop wasting the huge subsidies required to move a very small percentage of the population to very few destinations.

Yep Rudd’s going down, grandiose ideas and all!

Any more big ideas from him in this election campaign will only work against him!

Ah. But hold on…. there is one, which would be bound to receive a whole lot of support from voters across the country:

Rather than building, more and more infrastructure and services of all sorts, for ever and ever trying to catch up to the ever-increasing demand, if he was to curtail this contantly growing demand, he’d have a grandiose policy well worth supporting…. and which wouldn’t cost and arm and a leg for each taxpayer in the country!

Yes, you guessed it ……. A simple slashing of our huge and grossly inappropriate immigration rate!

What Rudd & his moronic followers need is a high speed getting out of our lives.

A simple slashing of our huge and grossly inappropriate immigration rate!
Ludwig,
I agree but to do that you need to abolish Labor's incompetence first.

It's only a good idea if one, it's affordable, and two, it will be self funding, otherwise it's simply yet another tax payer funded hand out.

<< What Rudd & his moronic followers need is a high speed getting out of our lives. >>

Actually, no. That is the LAST thing we need!

Indi, we really don’t want Abbott’s mob in power, and with control over the senate! Heaven forbid!

What Rudd needs to do is a high-speed getting of his brain into the right gear!

As he did with gay marriage, he should do an about-face from a ‘big Australia’ to a sustainable Australia.

If he started talking about the utter absurdity of having a rapidly increasing demand for infrastructure, services and everything else while we are struggling, and failing, to build ever-more infrastructure and improve services of all sorts, he would surely put himself in a very much better position to win the election.

THIS is the sort of philosophical change that our country so desperately needs.

And the really great things about it, which sit in stark contrast to most other long-term-planning policy changes that Labor has tried, is that it would not be at all difficult, would not be humungously expensive, would be a HUGE step in the right direction and would definitely receive a great deal of support from ordinary voters.

Luddy why on earth would you want change a fool, then elect him, when you have a smart bloke to elect instead? Doesn't make much sense to me. I think you may be suffering a bit of "rusted on " syndrome old mate. Besides, nothing could change Rudd for the better, & leave him standing anyway.

I agree completely we must reduce immigration to population maintenance level as soon as possible. That will however have to be done over a wide time span. We have trained industry & the workforce to operate in a high growth environment. The building industry, & its suppliers are one of the few areas still mostly immune from cheap imports. This is probably why governments still use this strategy to maintain employment.

Any sudden big reduction would see thousands of high skilled building workers unemployed. Most of these would have trouble retraining, & to what?

I saw the dislocation of the sudden closure of the timber industry on Frazer island. We left tens of thousands of exotic plantation trees on the island, & many hundreds out of work, for nothing but a feel good moment for a few greenies. We must be careful not to do such stupid things again, particularly with so many peoples employment at risk.

So I reckon it would have to be a generational thing, with a long lead time, but still it is critical it must be done, starting as soon as yesterday.

Saw on another blog,

Rudd needs to stop going to pre-schools as he got this idea from playing with Thomas the Tank Engine. Looks like he costed it on a VIP serviette as well.

Another grandiose scheme from labor, all uncosted and no funds to implement. So where are we now with such schemes? NBN, NDIS, Gonski and now VFT. Don't forget we have a $250 billion debt as well.

Labor does like spending our money!

The Rudd fast train is another back of envelope on a flight NBN.
Very Fast Trains would be very expensive considering the distances and
population. They are virtually line of sight construction.

What we need is fast enough trains.
We need to get to UK standards and speeds before we attempt VFTs.
The XPTs are the same design as the UKs 125s which run at 125 MPH speeds
over most of the UK.
That would mean a big project of track straightening.
Remember our main lines were built before earth moving machines were so
readily available. They were built with horses and scoops.
They went around hills rather than through them.

If we could update to UK standards we could use the same trains we
have now and cut the Sydney to Melbourne time in half.
However that would not give the show pony such a good skiting feeling.

Stop Press! He's done it again. Now we're going to move the navy to Brisbane.

That shouldn't cost much more than a few tens of billions, as a quick back of the envelop costing favored by our KRuddy.

Do any of you get the feeling I'm getting? It seems to me that he has decided he's going down, so is going to take as many of the others with him as possible. Why else would he be talking such nonsense?

Hasbeen,
If Rudd got his idea of the VFT from playing with Thomas the Tank Engine while visiting a pre-school, then he probably got the idea of moving the navy to Brisbane while he was in the bath. After all what is a promise of many billions if it helps Beattie in Forde. It does not matter that a special committee thought Brisbane was not suitable.

The current PM is a fraud. He told journalists he was suspending campaigning for the day because of the Syria situation, then promptly flew to Brisbane to record a cooking show. Since then he arranged to talk to some parents at a pre-school whose kids did not attend the school. Everything is a set up with spin.

<< I think you may be suffering a bit of "rusted on " syndrome old mate >>

Remind me never to be drinking a coffee again while reading your posts Hazza. A mouthful of the good brew ended up all over my laptop screen and keyboard!¡!¡!

Sheesh, I am the most unrustedon person in the whole wide world!! (( :> /

As you should be well aware; both major parties, which are highly antisustainable in their basic modus operandi, are totally not going to be voted for by this little black duck! And that’s the way it has been for at least twenty years!

Unless of course Rudd was to do something like I suggested, and actually move towards a sustainable future!

Now, I detect a contradiction in your post of 27 August 2013 12:13:58 PM….

You say:

<< …nothing could change Rudd for the better… >>

And

<< I agree completely we must reduce immigration to population maintenance level as soon as possible >>

Well… if Rudd was to do this, he’d be implementing a very significant change for the better, yes?

Sure it would take time to pull the immigration rate down to net zero. As with anything, there will be some negative consequences. But it damn well should be started forthwith…. and I don’t think it would be anywhere near as long-term as you suggest.

If we weighed up the advantages of stabilising our population compared to the loss of some of the jobs that are geared to the continuous-rapid-population-growth paradigm, the former would come out miles ahead.

Hey, Rudd is DESPERATE for something decisive to get him back in the race. So surely he should embrace Gillard’s widely applauded ‘sustainable Australia’, with the assistance of one of his most senior ministers: Bob Carr, who has been very vocally in favour of this for decades.

Luddy there is one thing Gillard has taught us. Don't believe what they say, get inside their heads, their history, to see what they mean.

I would never believe a single word Rudd said. He is a construct, not a man, & I don't think he believes in anything except buying votes, & what that can do for him personally. I think this is a fact with the entire party. What they tell you before a vote has no meaning to them after, unless it suits them.

If he announced he would personally turn every boat around, you could bet your boots, he'd be having a quiet word around the Bellmore & Lakemba mosque telling them it was only an election ploy.

We are seeing the true Rudd all right. The ratbag who will do or say anything, without even think of the consequences, let alone thinking the thing right through.

I can't understand how any thinking person could even consider voting Labor with him as leader.

Ludwig,
This should explain it all to you.

http://www.2gb.com/audioplayer/10457

What Rudd needs to do is a high-speed getting of his brain into the right gear!
Ludwig,
Abbott's already done that so he's one up on Rudd already. You constantly offer advise on what Rudd should be doing, does that not clearly show he can't think for himself ? Give me Abbott any day as a manager of this country. You people must have thought the ALP Government was going to be like an investment company but it has failed everyone miserably.

Ludwig, have you forgotten Rudd's pledge of a 45 million population target ?

He is out of control, as can be seen by his latest off the cuff schemes.
He will next suggest chartering the Queen Mary 2 to bring documentless
asylum seekers from the Middle East and so put the smugglers out of business.

What a hero !

Gee thanks Indi! I agree, KRudd’s a thumping great pretender!

So he’s got to change! And I’m suggesting the way that he could actually do it, win great support for it, and start to actually do the right thing for the country, without it costing the earth, all at the same time!

<< You constantly offer advise on what Rudd should be doing >>

Yeah, coz he’s the one who needs to change if he’s gunna win!

Abbott doesn’t have to change. He’s got it in the bag if he just stay the same.

Hey, the current situation really does present us with one of the best ever opportunities for a huge change in the right direction.

Everyone who wants to see us head towards a sustainable Australia should be putting massive effort into this right now!

Sustainable Population Australia, the Stable Population Party, Dick Smith and many others should be hounding Rudd at the this critical moment.

And I hope to goodness that Bob Carr is doing as much as he can behind the scenes!

We so totally to NOT need an Abbott business-as-usual pro-massive-growth style government at this point in time! And we don’t need what Labor is offering either.

I’ve outlined what we do need…and the motivation for Labor to embrace it is absolutely huge right now.

You are right, Indi, Bazz and Hazz – KRudd’s out of control, can’t think clearly for himself and can’t see the bleedingly obvious. So he’s not going to do this….. which really is a crying shame of enormous proportions. ( :> (

Ludwig,
I'm trying to comprehend how people can still promote the ALP despite an overdose of evidence of it's incompetence. Is it because their parents voted Labor ? I mean how about a little exercise in thinking rather than just blind allegiance. I leave that to the boat people.

Once more individual gives evidence comments need not be based on truth/great deal of thought/and some times are evidence thought is not a capability held by the author.
I have noted Labors troubles, more than any conservative has done with their side here.
But lets look deeper, while pre polling, [in two different electorates] my car Has been vandalized.
Not by passing young fools but two Wasp workers, one each sex in the other sides polling booth!
Worth noting I did not retaliate, we should ALL UNDER STAND, *THIS IS Australia*
Those old fools need to understand their views are not the only ones.
I understand Labor is unlikely to win.
That it digs in part its own hole.
*BUT consider this, if I acted as shear bloody minded and retaliated? how would it end?
One thing, we are better than that, or we are no longer Australians.
A man who is in trouble all over the world for criminal activities of his news papers.
Who gave up his citizenship in our country for profit has lowered the standard, his crime in doing that introduces a hatred we do not need.
Watch and remember Abbott,s promises, because he will forget them after he wins.
Watch too his false face go once he wins, and watch the ALP grow as reform takes us higher than ever before.
And?
Leave the hate to the party of red necks and uneducated Angus and Brangus crowd.
Indy pack it in bloke no group on any side is all good or all bad, hope you are a better man than your post history suggests.
PS both seats including the Oakshot one, will be Nats.
No small party,s pre polling there.
Greens worth noting are voting ALP because they tell us this is a focused two party poll, that at least I like.
Pre polling is going to be about 30% of total in both electorates.

Yes, individual, it's truly dreadful that Australia's economic performance is currently rated about third best in the world.

I'm sure it would please you much more if we hadn't gone into debt and had our well deserved recession, skyrocketing unemployment, businesses closing their doors left, right and centre.

Just think we could be debt-free and wallowing in a dead economic outlook.....wonderful!

Belly & Poirot,
The impending federal election is not about you nor is it about Rudd & Abbott, it's about getting this country back on the rails. Labor has pulled the rails apart inside the tunnel & the train has derailed. A Coalition Government will at least put a dim light at the end of the tunnel rather than just black holes.
poirot, third best economy in world ? Who told you that ? Wayne Swan ? Or was it some other hangers-on outfit theta relies heavily on handouts. The people I work with don't appear to think they're that well off. We're not producing anything anymore in Australia so it beats me where your figures come from. Ah, let me guess from asian sweatshop imports. Or are you in the public service where everyone is oblivious to the economy ?

individual,

You well know that I'm not a fan of Western rabid consumerism...nevertheless, "all" Western economies are based to a certain extent on consuming cheap Chinese/Asian goods.

The overwhelming majority of economists will tell you that Australia weathered the GFC very well and has continued to sustain itself, unlike most other countries, and in particular, other Western economies.

What I'm saying is that you have a dodgy partisan recording which you insist on playing ad nauseam, regardless of whether it has any veracity or not.

Most economists would set you straight in the blink of an eye.

Australia weathered the GFC very well
Poirot,
My guess is that this weathering was due to those incentive packages which only lasted as long as the GFC. Now how did Labor get the funds for these incentive packages ? These funds wouldn't by any chance have come from our futures fund & the full coffers would they. Well, there's no more futures fund & no money in the coffers either. So, Poirot, where to from here ? If Labor gets in again where will they get their funding from ? definitely not from empty coffers.
I don't know how your mind ticks but I'm $hit-scared for Labor to get in again & ruin my life even more. What would stop them from knocking off our Super funds if they need money ? Think about that.

Most economists would set you straight in the blink of an eye.
Poirot,
Show one economist who doesn't pi$$ in the Government's pockets.

in 16 minutes
rudd will take on..all comers

Ask Prime Minister Kevin Rudd Anything On Reddit From 6pm

http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2013/08/ask-prime-minister-kevin-rudd-anything-on-reddit-from-6pm/

Recently PM Rudd, treasurer Bowed and finance Minister Wong stood before the gathered media and announced that treasury had identified a $10 billion 'black hole' in the Coalitions financial savings figures.

Since then this claim has been refuted as a blatant lie.

The most senior public servants have, in an unprecedented press release, have out rightly contradicted this labor lie.

This is a blatant example of just how far Labor will go to hoodwink the public.

After all the lies and failures over the past 6 years the Australian public deserve better than this.

Good day all, sadly Labor has lost the election.
And even more so Australia has lost much more.I am not saying do not waste your vote, in fact the opposite, vote ALP and say no to negativity.
But the fair go mate is dead.
History, not long in our future, will mark the death as partly a Murdock murder, in part an ALP assisted death.
And we all, both sides will look back at the birth of true HATE in our elections.
My car was vandalized again.
Today at a market day I have spent cash at every month.
A red neck, gutless and old bigoted fool, ripped my stickers off kicked my car and scurried off like a rat.
We, on both sides, are better than that, or we are nothing, I never saw him, only found out when police called by others told me and showed the phone photo.
Not worth returning serve.
Those like me, about to feel the pain?
Possible the weirdest thing is in a so called bankrupt country both sides are promising to spend up big!
Post election lets not be haters, lets be better than that but never forget or forgive those who planted hate , who blindly swallowed the lies.
And? both branches of the ALP in two different electorates have gained more new members just during this campaign than in any previous year!
Mr Murdock? bloke I am proud you gave up your citizenship in this land, crawl back in to your hole until British Police drag you from it!

But the fair go mate is dead.
Belly,
you're right on that one. That Goaf, Whitlam & his senseless followers killed off the fair go. And now they still urging us to vote for them ? I can't think of anything more audacious.

http://www.theage.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2013/abbott-faces-chaos-in-senate-20130831-2sxqz.html?google_editors_picks=true
No joy for me in any thing said in this link.
And no surprises *in anything reported either.
But a warning can be seen in every word, for us all.
The Hatred that has emerged will not die after this election.
The vote wasting small party,s will hold far too much power.
Those gloating at Labors need to link its self with the greens will suffer at the hands of what in fact should be called the uninformed voters of Australia alliance, all the smaller party,s and the greens.
Any elected government should not have to water down its and the country,s expected policy,s, at the request of? minority views.
I would be lieing to say other than I will be cringe at the decay of democracy the senate threatens us with.
And? yes the joy of seeing Abbott held tightly in the squirrel grip by those same wasters of air.
Without change only the removal of all upper houses can keep Australian Democracy alive.