Bet your billion dollars...
Cash splash likely to sink not swim
THIS week the Prime Minister made more than six billion dollars in promises to build things that may save his job at the next election.
After suffering the humiliation of losing 30 Newspolls, he hit the road, dollars in hand.
First stop was the Gold Coast where he promised a billion dollars for a much-needed fix to the M1 motorway between the coast and Brisbane.
On Friday he was in Melbourne coming up with five billion dollars for a train between the airport and the city.
Both are much-needed, serious projects, but despite all the hoopla and billions of dollars on the table, neither are going to happen.
The problem with most significant projects these days is a Prime Minister needs the states to match him dollar for dollar, and the states need dollars from Canberra to make big things happen.
But the strange thing about both announcements was the Prime Minister didn’t tell the Premiers he was stumping up the cash.
You would think someone would have a meeting to see if everyone was on board before you invite cameras to see traffic jams you are promising to get rid of.
The truth is, governments have different priorities and think a billion may be better spent somewhere else.
The problem is the somewhere else may not have the political pay off the government in Canberra wants.
Hence projects like the M1 and the airport train are forever promised, but never delivered. Occasionally the planets align when governments are the same political party, but the moment that changes plans are abandoned.
Take the example of the East West link in Melbourne, signed off by the state Liberals, then trashed by Labor’s Daniel Andrews.
All power to Malcom Turnbull for throwing real money at the projects, but forgive locals for not cheering these latest announcements.
We’ve seen this game many, many times before.
Live export trade in for a surprise
Don’t be surprised if Agriculture Minister David Littleproud is a lot tougher on the live export industry than his predecessor Barnaby Joyce.
Littleproud was clearly shocked by the same footage we all saw on TV last week, but he’s been shown even more graphic footage.
This is not to say Joyce was unmoved when activists sent him footage, but he was never going to repeat the mistakes of the past and shut this industry down overnight.
While there is no indication this government will do anything as dumb as that, there is some serious pressure for change in Canberra.
Senator Derryn Hinch has been fighting against the live export trade for decades and is becoming a regular make or break vote for the government to get anything done in the upper house.
He wants a phase out over three years.
For my part I don’t think we need to ban the entire industry, but we clearly need to invest in technologies that would let us see inside the ships at all times and if needed, change laws to make individuals more accountable for animal cruelty.