Can Candoo Do? (qld Thread)

[Bribie G]

Ok it's politics time.
Much as I hate the current Blie Blight B-liar government - and I've always voted Labor - I was driving into the Valley for the first time in ages and passed one of these:



Aha, thunk I, one of Candoo Campbell's bike hire stations. It was full of bikes, none hired that day. Then 200m further down Anne St there's another one. :blink: all full.
Then another 200m and there's another one. All full. Then when I get to Chinatown and park, I go round to the Brunswick Street Mall and..............

It occurred to me that this was a pet Candoo scheme he bulldozed through while he was Lord Mayor, but it could get more serious for the rest of us. If the guy gets elected into a parliamentary seat, he'll be the next premier. Sure he's got to be an improvement on Jean-Paul Labradoodle the dentist, but what actually awaits us? I don't live in Brisbane as such and thus know very little about the guy except that he looks a bit like Butters - vertically anyway - and I do hear that many Brisbanites are less than happy with him as Mayor with massive rate increases, the city ripped to bits for busways and tunnels.... The guy is an engineer by trade and it bloody well shows.

Any thoughts from those who are more familiar, and does anyone know about the rest of his team? - Can't say I've heard of any of them apart from Springboard.

 

[goomboogo]

I don't live in Brisbane as such and thus know very little about the guy except that he looks a bit like Butters - vertically anyway

So, in what context have you seen Butters horizontally?

 

[jlm]

Well, I personally think he's done an ok job as lord mayor, however I set my expectations pretty low for any elected official (I'll also state that I vote for neither of the majors). Despite both parties trying otherwise, I think our local council is a bit removed from the traditional left/right divide. I mean, he got rid of the bus lane on corro drive, well I guess you look at that as something the LNP would champion, but then he's spent all that money on those bikes in what I would assume is an attempt to have less traffic on the road, so is that the other side?
Anyway, what I think he had going for him was he spouted less bullshit than other politicians, still a fair bit mind you, but hearing him regularly on 612 I thought he did concentrate on getting the job done, which despite the fact he's running the country's biggest local council (I think thats still the case) means to a lot of people delivering some basic services.
Once he made the jump to head of the state opposition, it was a matter of days before he was somewhere west of the great dividing range, making what I saw as a pretty piss poor attempt to act interested in the affairs of the rural areas of QLD. The smell of bullshit wafted thickly through the TV. I have no idea as to whether people will fall for it.
I'll watch with interest from Cambell's homeland as long as the election is called next year. Anyway, the south east is fucked as far as I'm concerned. We've had 10 years of the goverment crowing about how 1000 people a week are moving here, but they did **** all to plan for the swell in population and they now have to play catch up. I'll close the gate behind me.

 

[fawnroux]

:icon_offtopic: Question about those bikes. Do you need a helmet to ride one? I remember when Melbourne City Council put them in everywhere around the city there last year, there was hoohar because people were getting fined by the police for not wearing helmets. So, the damn things were always full, just sitting there looking ugly. Why get a fine when you can jump on the tram for free? Waste of time and money. Probably why the Brissy ones are full too.

 

[thelastspud]

There are a couple of cities over here with that sort of bike system, its very extensive in Barcelona and people ride them everywhere.
Maybe the helmet thing has something to do with it you don't have to wear one until you are out of the city here.
I think they're a great idea no worries about someone pinching your bike, ride one to work in the morning then it starts raining/you get drunk so you take the bus home.

 

[bconnery]

I read somewhere that Adelaide has a spot for helmets, or you can grab a helmet with the bike, and it is the only city where the system has worked.
I hardly ever see people on those bikes, and I think the helmet thing is a huge part of it.

As for the rest of Candoo? That is just one example of ridiculous spending on things that any idiot could have told you would fail.
Millions on a bike system where people have to bring their own helmet? Billions on a tunnel when there are plenty of alternatives and it shaves maybe 10-15 minutes tops of your journey and still isn't getting anywhere near the predicted numbers even thought the tolls are still discounted?

I do agree he has done a lot for Brisbane, but so did Jim Sorley...

I feel he will be a shoe in merely because people are so anti labour and Anna Bligh (and not without justification, even from a long term labour person) but that's what sucks. I see it as political opportunism at its worst. It is a joke to me that the leader of a party isn't even someone who's been elected, and isnt' even certain to win his chosen seat.

I hardly agree with anything major political parties do these days. All politicians and not a statesman to be seen. No one is willing to make hard decisions because they aren't vote winners.