NSW Roads Minister Gets a Shaking

[RED_EL_XR8]

In the long honoured tradition of parliamentary bad behavior, a NSW styate opposition member grabbed by the neck and shook the NSW roads minister, in an attempt to express his feeling on the actions being taken by Government to improve the Pacific Highway. (You know roads one of the thinks they take the taxes for..)

Bad behavior yes, but mild in comparison with what most of the general public would wish to do to those responsible!!

[paulvdb]

He should get a medal but instead has lost his front bench position - damn!!

[deesun]

Every state politician says he was forced to sign the deal with the Federal government but just once I would like them to come up with the figures to prove their point and say NO to signing and let the wrath of the electorate come down on the Feds. Irrespective of that the Federal,no matter which party, government only gives back 1% of your petrol taxes for road funding.

[Lukeyson]

GO SON !
Hes the minister for Coffs Harbour !
He is emotional i guess, because the PACIFIC HWY is the most dangerous road consideering the traffic it gets. And pretty much theres a fatal accident every week around our area and nothing happens, govt promises all this $$$ and none of it comes to light.
Im on his side, as 2 months ago i was involved in an accident where the other driver at fault died, on another notoriously bad coffs harbour road.

[bindi]

Hey, at least someone's getting emotional about the state of our roads

There is word going round that Joe Tripodi baited him into a fit of anger, purposely pushing his buttons. Wouldn't surprise me, that Tripodi bloke is a big wuss. Did you see the way he ran away???!!!

Baits him then runs :

[gtfpv]

Its Good To See They Have Put Themselves Into Thier Own Demise . Constantly Taking All The Rights Off Voters .( Both Sides Of Politics ) And Leaving Each Other To Live With Thier Mistakes And Giult Cop That Politicians You Cant Blame The People Anymore Muahahahaha!!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by bindi

Hey, at least someone's getting emotional about the state of our roads

There is word going round that Joe Tripodi baited him into a fit of anger, purposely pushing his buttons. Wouldn't surprise me, that Tripodi bloke is a big wuss. Did you see the way he ran away???!!!

Baits him then runs :

Lol, Merrick and Rosso were commenting on this, they said Joe Tripodi was like a little fat italian kid who was on his way to a lasagne eating competition. I was sitting there chuckling on the train and everyone though i was :

[turboute]

Originally Posted by bindi

Hey, at least someone's getting emotional about the state of our roads

There is word going round that Joe Tripodi baited him into a fit of anger, purposely pushing his buttons. Wouldn't surprise me, that Tripodi bloke is a big wuss. Did you see the way he ran away???!!!

Baits him then runs :

Does this mean there is a video of it going around? does anyone have it?

Originally Posted by turboute

Does this mean there is a video of it going around? does anyone have it?

Just check out nineMSN.com.au/news and news.com.au websites. You'll need IE to watch the vids on ninemsn.

He said something about how he was visiting coffs harbour and the MP was no where to be seen in his own electorate.

[Fairlane]

Damn it good on him, I dont normally stand up for Nationals, but this Tripodi is a idiot. He needs a good throttling, if the road isnt in Sydney or doesnt have a toll on it he doesn't care.

[XLS99 Ute man]

thats also cause a close friend of his died 3 weeks ago on that road

[TURBOTAXI]

Check out the hansard (transcript) its a good read - and yes Tripodi was baiting him.

[RegSpec]

Tripodi stands up in parliament and says that when he went up to check for himself on the state of the road, the local member was "swanning" around in Sydney.
The guy was actually in Sydney attending the funeral of a close personal friend. :yeees:
Personally I dont blame him for grabbing Tripodi by the throat, I would have smacked him in the mouth instead :jab:

[Lukeyson]

Originally Posted by TURBOTAXI

Check out the hansard (transcript) its a good read - and yes Tripodi was baiting him.

where do i find that dude ? be interesting read

EDIT : Nevermind, i googled it and found it
http://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/pro.../LA20051018027

[Keepleft]

This NSW Labour government remains on the nose since Carr's departure, which increasingly understanding the dumbarse electorate surrounding me, will probably mean they get re-elected.

The reality is that the Pacific Highway IS NOT a federal responsibility and never has been. NSW can be thankful for the federal funding received to date. Over the last decades each government bears responsibility, they could have built the carriageways 10 - 20 kilometers ever few years after the war, certainly at known blackspots.

The New England Highway is the National route and this is where the Fed's must spend over the long term greater amount.

Further, my beloved RTA would do well to be somewhat more accountable as to the hideous cost of road building in this State, and in particular that route, AND take a good hard look as to the 'standards' in it's Road Design Guidelines' as applicable to the project.

Every 'community' group' from leftist frog shaggers to otherwise 'concerned citizens of the heart', private 'consultants' and 'matey' construction companies - all have their finger in the slush pie.

Christ, the Bulahdelah-Cooloolongook section alone for 22 kilometres cost $197 million for a dual carriageway bearing a standard freeway cross-section, AND for this the backward designer AND RTA as Project Manager didn't create a left handed exit flyover OR underpass to serve Myall Lakes traffic, meaning naturally, you have to stay in the right lane to exit. I mean the one chance they had to 'get it right' and....

AND the legal-liable idiots did not install median barrier where the median widens from 4.0m width at it's beginning south - where it is barriered, to 8.0m where it is not! (From memory two fatal cross-overs I've investigated, I've stopped worrying about this stuff on that length, ANYONE stupid NOT to sue the State is just that). The RTA Road Design Guideline of the time stipulated that 10m or less must have barrier installed. AND we are 'toughening' this parameter further, thankfully.

I had to have RTA safety folk increase the 'rest area' exit lane at one point from its existing 20 metre drop & lane!!! YES 20, (in a 110km/h zone) to 80 metres, to go a greater length, as was and is my desire, would have incurred major cost's at that point and along the whole route.

My advocacy here resulted in a 'global' change to the overall design parameters for the Pacific Highway upgrade insofar as rest-area exists. But I remain incredulous as to the absolute stupidity of Australian designers involved, and is one reason why I keep a very close personal eye on Australian companies tendering for overseas expressway projects like those in China and India. I don't want this stupidity in design, and other criteria used domestically, exported to foreign technically vulnerable countries. It's the German engineering stance in me I guess.

Hell, further up the coast the northern exit onto the highway from Tuncurry was a seagull type intersection. If going north. folk turning right from Tunc/Forster would move across two 110km/h lanes into the middle median and then into small slip lane, used to then pick up speed, uphill, to then join the right lane traffic.

Now, it was a busy intersection and we have fatal's after the Pacific Highway at that point was upgraded to its dual carriageway status.

Owing the fatal's RTA have designed and opened a new northbound flyover, making the spot a part freeway interchange.

REM - Intersections are deadly, interchanges are far safer.

And of course this Labour GovCo via support from some of its ignorant women North coast MP's, have had success in having RTA begin the project to install new point to point camera's. THIS on a bloody new road bearing mostly dual carriageway's AND some full freeway lengths!

Maybe if the bloody things are sooo dangerous, we should simply stop further construction! I swear this place!

TRIPODI says this: "The crash rate has decreased from 30 crashes per 100 million vehicle kilometres travelled to 15 crashes per 100 million vehicle kilometres travelled".

The IMPROVEMENT is a shocker, In Germany, the unrestricted autobahn sits at 4.1million VKT overall!!

Hell, the F3 typically (A commonwealth road) sits at 23million VKT and some of our hopless advocates are satsfied with this??? NRMA??

Will the opposition change things? I would like to think so, but if they are anything like the culpable bastards I've dealt with in the public service agencies, then I hold little hope of any 'progressive' moves.

Well, they have been mildly vocal about speed cameras, but the leaders speaking so keep getting dumped (KC).

http://starbulletin.com/2004/04/06/e...ommentary.html

[gtfpv]

thanks for the facts keepleft . good to have someone on here who knows about this stuff . but very frustrating to hear about the incompetence of our governments.

[RED_EL_XR8]

I don't know if it's still up but watching the video off the NineNSN site shows both parlimenterians for who they truely are.

Our National remourseful for his overexuberance and once calm worried about the ramifications of his actions. And all must be mindful of his los of a friend on the roadway in question.

tripodi whilst running like a schoolgirl in the video is brave as in the mornings video spread. he has played the man rather than the issue and I'll leave everyone to draw their own conclusion to this.

I'd like to make this apolitical and take the parties out, but to be honest I dont know how. But given the situation I know who carried off the most integrity despite his obvious lapse of stupidity.

Keepleft had a lot to offer and as you soon realise its goes way beyond banging on about triangles. for those personally affected i can understand some lapses of behavior.