Back in February Minister for Transport Not-My-Department Lynne Kosky said Do I want to run a train system? I don't think so.
And now it appears she's taking action to make sure she doesn't even appear to run it: she will no longer accept enquiries and complaints about the public transport system, telling other MPs
not to bother her with complaints from commuters about trains and trams.
In an unprecedented order, Ms Kosky told colleagues to take their problems about fines or heavy-handed ticket inspectors to the private operators instead.
She has sent an email which reportedly instructs MPs
to complain to the private operators and the Public Transport Ombudsman, and to check old media releases or the Department of Infrastructure website before going to her.
While it's true that it would be an unreasonable political intrusion for her to get involved in matters like disputes over infringement notices, she is absolutely bonkers to try to cut off such a valuable source of market intelligence. Surely all MPs consider correspondence from constituents to be one of the most important sources of information and opinion that they can get—each one of those large volumes
of letters should be treated like gold, rather than the inconvenience they appear to be to the Minister and her department of 300-odd people.
It looks like she's just trying to wriggle out of her ministerial responsibilities:
…a minister must never attempt to avoid problems within their own portfolio.
Ms Kosky is handsomely paid to deal with issues.
By the way, whatever happened to ministerial responsibility? Remember that quaint, old-fashioned notion?
Anyway, it's obvious that Kosky's not interested in the portfolio she's got, and the Premier should replace her—preferably with someone who does want to run the public transport system.
Well, I'm not quite so optimistic. I don't think it's a pendulum as much as a lead balloon.
However there is ongoing and strident pressure to fix things, not least from Dr Paul Mees of Melbourne Uni (your own academic stomping ground I believe Lis?)—indeed around this time last year I mentioned a report that he authored with a few other boffins about the failure of privatised public transport in Melbourne. And he regularly gets column inches in the papers, but he does seem to be a pretty lonely voice.
My hope is that Kosky's disinterest and ineptitude will bring some of these issues into focus and some real public debate about ongoing private ownership of public transport will take place. Given the parlous state of the current operations it would be an absolute disgrace if the existing contracts were renewed without adequate review.
Comments
Yeah, well, this kind of thing will happen when public infrastructure is sold off to profit making multi-nationals. There was a time when "capitalism" included Government management of such things as utilities, telecoms and public transport in order to provide a stable base from which the community and business could operate. These days such things are demonised as "communism" in the face of bloodthirsty free-market economics. I derive some consolation from the suggestion that the pendulum will inevitably swing back to some semblance of rationality at some stage.