More money for public transport
Not more roads!
State governments all over Australia are under the spell of the powerful road lobby. At a time when the public is demanding an expanded and cheaper public transport system, governments are handing over billions of dollars of taxpayers’ money to build environmentally-disastrous tolled roads.
By Stephen Jolly, Socialist Party Melbourne
Experts explain that more roads create more traffic, quickly evaporating any initial reduction in traffic queues. But this is about dollars for investors not improving the lives of commuters or protecting the environment.
In NSW, Green Upper House leader Lee Rhiannon has pointed out that: “In the past decade, over $10 billion has been spent on motorways in NSW. Each year, air pollution from cars accounts for more than 500 early deaths in Sydney and costs the health system up to $8 billion per year.†This is on top of the contribution car emissions are making to global warming.
In Victoria, the Brumby government is looking favourably at a tunnel linking the Eastern Freeway in the inner northern suburbs with the Western Ring Road. This $10 billion+ project will be a boon for private investors like the Macquarie Bank, but will be a disaster for inner city residents. It will also mean increased transport costs for Melbourne commuters.
The trend of financing roads over public transport is just as common in other states as well as federally. For example the recent federal budget allocated 75 per cent of the transport budget to roads and only 25 per cent to rail and public transport.
This money would be better spent on expanding the public transport system. By doing this it would not only create more long term jobs but it would be much better for the environment. With the money in the budget surpluses public transport could also be made free.
Most people want to see urgent action on climate change. Building more roads while the public transport system is so poor is not going anywhere towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
It is for these reasons that the Socialist Party is working with local residents in Melbourne to establish a community campaign of opposition to the proposed tunnel linking Melbourne’s east to the west. We are also working with groups to campaign for better public transport.
The love affair between the State and Federal ALP governments and roads is because of their close relationship with big business. For example the man who was paid to report on Melbourne’s transport problems, Sir Rod Eddington, is a board member of both News Ltd and JP Morgan. He represents his big business allies and is hardly an advocate for ordinary people.
To get public transport expanded and made free we will need to take mass action. In the long run, we will also need a new workers’ party that will represent working people as opposed to the ALP which is a mere political agency for the big business elite.
