bcworld

Labor ahead in Brighton...unreal.

GarryP

A last minute, not expected to do anything, 19 year old candidate too.

People have been pointing out, Frydenberg looks dodgy on these numbers.

Beoz

I am doing a lot of work in Melbourne at the moment and what I see is below where a city like Melbourne should and could be. I suppose you have to be a little conservative when you are running a 25 billion dollar debt.

I don't know a lot about the policies from all sides in Vic, it doesn't rate much on the news here, however I saw Andrew's talking about his great victory coming from the shenanigans in the Federal Liberal party. Little odd to credit your victory on that however I totally agree with him. Does he have any policies other than free TAFE?

Will you make use of free TAFE? After all, you are paying for it.

ozzieeagle

My son will be and possibly so will my wife,

Looking forwards to the local level crossing removals as well, we have 4 going from around here, that will be a god send in travel times.

As per the ABC news, Victorians are waiting for Scott Morrison with baseball bats for next years election.

the troubadour

Good on Victorians. A progressive populist victory. A vote against hatred, division and ever more loss of freedoms. Onwards to Canberra and a complete change of direction from present self serving, anti workers, pro Big End of town , to a return to politics where people again matter .

Beoz

I have a lot of guys working on the Level Crossing Removal. I send a lot of in from all over the place. It's a bit of a laughing stock project. Why was this not done 30 years ago.

The Melbourne Metro is the only other biggie. What is quite odd is the lack of good people around for only 2 projects. A lot of FIFO engineers for these. Would be a lot easier and more efficient if they could turn the 457 tap back on. Its costing Victorians a lot of money not having access to the best. It's certainly not going to help the 25 billion debt figure.

Melbourne needs to get serious about public transport to the airport. The sky bus and uber are certainly risky options given the nature of the freeway. It's very backward not having a train to the airport. Suburban Loop Project looks good however you would need to go via Sunshine to get to the airport.

GarryP

Interestingly the later counts of the pre-polls and postals has tended to not have the swing of the votes on the day - saving one or two liberal skins.

Seems as if those getting the voting over early are the rusted on types that just vote by rote - which I guess makes some sense. So Brighton doesn't get the 19 year old placeholder in the end, and the current result is 56 seats to Labor and 28 to the coalition, with the probability of 3 more each. 57.3% : 42.7% 2 party preferred - which is significantly more than the polls suggested.

Also, when you look at the swathe of the big rural seats that have been won by the nationals, with only 5% of the vote, you do have to feel for the Greens, who have twice the vote, but maybe 2 seats in total.

And if this were replicated at the forthcoming federal election, then there's no way bending over for the Banana benders will save the coalition from defeat. According to the latest poll, they are even behind there.

ozzieeagle

It is ridiculous that it wasn't done years ago, in fact we had manned level crossings right up to 20 years ago on our line, the Upfield, which the Libs wanted to close instead of automating. Thats what you get for living in the safest labour seat in the Country, in fact I live within 500 meters of it's namesake Batman station.

People were really angry around here about the fear campaign, and the misrepresentation in the media about safety in Melbourne. Most of those views seem to come from at least 1000k's or more North of here.

Beoz

From what I read there was some real lack of policy from the Libs in Victoria, coupled with the brand decline from federal shenanigans, and Victoria's love affair with all things union, it was no surprise no Libs from further afield bothered turned up to help. Victoria wasn't worth the effort.

The real sad part for the tax payer is the lack of competition and opposition. Victoria and especially Melbourne could be doing a lot better in these boom times.

Anyway, just waited for half and hour again for the Uber at Melbourne airport. It's either that or a smelly cab. I now book the Uber as soon as the plane lands.

ozzieeagle

Skybus is almost certainly your best option...... Every ten minutes....Then Didi to your final destination in the City..... Didi is far cheaper than Uber. Just move to your left at Southern cross, up to around the Remand centre and they will be there in no time, Seconds usually.

That is if you have the guts to walk on the streets with all those marauding African gangs we have down here....LOL.

GarryP

Well, there's a lack of real policy from the entirity of the liberal party. All they seem to do is try to give their mates a back hander. When you stand for nothing but re-election, you tend to suffer when placed up against an opponent that's obviously delivering, and also have a big, positive, forward looking, aspirational plan. Whatever you may think of Vic Labor, their circular rail tunnel idea caught the imagination.

If the federal libs (or NSW for that matter) are actually to learn something from this debacle, it's that vacuous three word slogans that you then forget after the election are not going to cut it going forward.

the troubadour

Lib's equate a full load of dirty washing in a laundry mat . Going round and round. Full of soap and bubbles without any substance. The telling factor of course being that the washing comes out dirtier than when it went in.

ozzieeagle

I'm actually slightly concerned we may be seeing two Australias emerging out of this. The country seems to be splitting quite dramatically politically and seemingly down geographical lines. Left and Right have never been further apart in this country at present. What I dont understand is why people away from Victoria and Melbourne seem hell bent on believing the negativity spewed out in the media about the place.

We're doing great down here, dont believe what you read.. I think the polls underline this.

I've heard so many stories from Melburnians travelling interstate, being told things about Melbourne by Cabbies and Barman in quite dramatic fashion that just aren't true, or so overstated that it's laughable. Do people really actually believe the crap.



.

Beoz

No way. Run the gauntlet of the Sky Bus hitting traffic on the freeway then again in the CBD. That is backward I am afraid. I am not worried about the costs of a cab, I just want it there within at least 10 minutes of calling it.

I had dinner with a few mates from Sydney in Melb last night. It seems Melbourne is a bit under nourished for people with ability and Melbourne is raiding Sydney for the good people. Thankfully Sydney is well ahead on the boom time infrastructure development, we can spare a few people. We all have a bit of a laugh at Melbourne's approach to politics and unionism. Unionism is a completely foreign ideal to those from Sydney - its just not needed, and the stranglehold it puts on a city is clearly evident in Melbourne.

Anyway, good luck to you in Melbourne - we are here to help. As I said, from a number of outsiders looking in, its a real shame you don't have any decent opposition and you are stuck with a government not really giving its best shot.

Beoz

And the Labor party stands for unionism.

There's a return soundbite for you.

I think you know very well that Victoria has been living off all the good economical management from Federal levels yet somehow can't get themselves out of some serious debt.

This is good but its not enough. Melbourne is a big city and projected to become bigger, perhaps the biggest in Australia. Very very under nourished and very late in the planning given these booming times.

Its pretty simple. The Libs are on the nose because of the ousting of Turnbull. He was popular across the board and was going to nail the election. He had policies that appealed to a very broad range. The main worry the Libs had was the hard core right wingers in QLD turning to One Nation. Even today Morrison is preferred Prime Minister over Shorten.