#springst — Public Fediverse posts

Those in the know have said there was only $3.6m allocated to two small Strategic Cycling Corridors projects for the entire of Victoria.

We should expect an announcement about these projects next week.

Bicycle infrastructure is cheap, but it's not that cheap. This is fucked!

In other news, they allocated $5m to inspect and enforce petrol prices at petrol stations.

#SpringSt #Melbourne #bicycles

I only recently found out that the 2020 covid pop-up bike lane project was only $13 million for 100km of bicycle infrastructure. Only $130K per km.

For comparison this is about the same cost as 4 train stations car spaces for every km of bike lane (from the $610m Car Parks for Commuters program that delivered 21,000 car parks at train stations again Melbourne).

You could built 2km of bicycle infrastructure to get people to a train station and if 8 people used it then you're already ahead of building car parking.

Even barely used bicycle infrastructure is worth the cost because the alternatives are so expensive.

#bicycles #SpringSt

https://www.weride.org.au/announcement/victorian-government-announces-100km-of-pop-up-bikeways/

I guess some people's good fortune are others' misfortune...

#vicpol #SpringSt https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/melbourne-s-falling-house-prices-threaten-to-blow-billion-dollar-hole-in-state-budget-20260423-p5zqe0.html

That's appalling. With plenty of sane independents to choose from, they're going to preference the hard-right racists who want to destroy them? Great work, Liberal Party. #vicpol #SpringSt https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/victorian-liberals-to-preference-one-nation-at-state-election-20260426-p5zr5l.html

UNITED WORKERS UNION ELECTION

https://moraleconomy.au/2026/04/11/united-workers-union-election/

Councils seek road map for better transport
#ausnews #vicnews #Whittlesea #transport #NCA #SpringSt

https://www.victoriannews.com.au/local-council-news/councils-seek-road-map-for-better-transport/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

The most frustrating thing about bicycle advocacy in Australia is that all the data is there, we've got in principle support from local councils and the state governments, and government plans for handling future traffic congestion and emissions reductions are relying on significant number (25%) of trips to be via active transport in a relatively short time frame (2030) but getting infrastructure to support these clearly stated goals is like squeezing water from a stone.

It's not a money problem or a logistics problem but only a problem of political will to do the things they need to do to meet the targets they've set.

#SpringSt #bicycles #ActiveTransport

Fixed-wing ambulance fleet connecting regional Victorians
#AusNews #vicnews #ambulance #aviation #medical #rfds #vicgov #springst

https://www.victoriannews.com.au/news/fixed-wing-ambulance-fleet-connecting-regional-victorians/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Calls for a new Whittlesea police station
#AusNews #vicnews #police #vkc #whittlsea #development #AusPol #SpringSt

https://www.victoriannews.com.au/news/melbourne-news/calls-for-a-new-whittlesea-police-station/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

A sickness has taken hold of the Victorian Liberal Party. They've had ample time and attempts to find their way out of this mess of transphobia and white supremacy. Today's LibSpill makes it clear that any attempts to fix the problem were made by a minority in the party. Today, the majority voted to amplify the voices of TERFs and nazis.

This is the heart of the issue the Victorian Liberal Party party-room voted on today. They eagerly dived down that slippery slope to extremism. To them, it's the politically expedient path to power. They voted to normalise hate.

What's the role of politicians and leadership in a Representative Democracy? Some say it's the job of politicians to listen to and interpret the will of the people, then act as their voice in Parliament. Another view is that politicians are leaders and ideal thinkers, elected in recognition of their wisdom, and in the hope that they possess the insight to do what's morally best for the wellbeing of the people.
If you think what I said there is a massive simplification, you'd be right: real life is a lot more complicated. Regardless of which school of thought you follow — that politicians are a mere conduit to recite the voice of the plebs, or that politicians are great men who are born to rule with inscrutable paternalism — the Liberal Party of Victoria have lost sight of the party's very reason for existence.

Are they doing their job of representing the will of the people in their electorates? If they are, that says something absolutely sickening about Victorians. Or, are they trying to shepherd the citizens of Victoria by shifting the Overton Window to a new right-wing extreme?

When it's time to vote in the next state election, remember today, and remember this quote from Maya Angelou:
"When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time."

#Auspol #VicPol #SpringSt #BradBattin #JohnPesutto #MoiraDeeming #TERF #Transphobe #Transphobia #Nazi #NeoNazis #WhiteSupremacists #LibSpill #ItsOn

Victorian Liberals replace John Pesutto with Brad Battin as leader
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-27/vic-libs-john-pesutto-moira-deeming-brad-battin-jess-wilson/104764726

John Pesutto has paid the price for trying to stop the RWNJ Liberal Party of Victoria from overtly becoming a proverbial Nazi Bar.

Today's LibSpill sees John Pesutto exit the revolving door and Brad Battin getting the role of Leader of the Opposition. In a follow-up vote, Moira Deeming has been readmitted to the party-room because I guess they want voters to know their political party is a safe space for a transphobe who hangs out with neonazis.

Brad Battin's bio shows he failed a brief stint as a baker, and then joined the police, then got into politics. You can expect him to push the usual RWNJ "Tough on Crime" bullshit.

This is Brad Battin's third attempt to become leader of the Victorian Liberal Party. Previously, he tried to beat Michael O'Brien ("Who?") in a spill. Then, he tried again when Matthew "Lobster with a Mobster" Guy resigned following yet another catastrophic loss in the 2022 state election.

#Auspol #VicPol #SpringSt #MoiraDeeming #TERF #Transphobe #Transphobia #Nazi #NeoNazis #WhiteSupremacists #JohnPesutto #LibSpill #ItsOn #BradBattin #MatthewGuy #LobsterWithAMobster

Victorian opposition to vote on John Pesutto's future as leader after four MPs seek special meeting
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-12-22/john-pesutto-calls-meeting/104755834

The headline on this article used to say: "Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto apologises to Moira Deeming, calls new vote" but it appears there have been further developments overnight. If John Pesutto had a backbone and a shred of integrity, he'd know one does not apologise for calling-out a white-supremacist TERF.

My impression is that John Pesutto made a high-risk powerplay and called for another party vote to give certainty to the result — he knows he can call in some allies who didn't vote last time because they were on holiday at the time. It could have been a decisive result and quelled arguments about it being a close result or using his deciding vote to make a "captain's call". But, it appears the move has backfired, he looks indecisive and weak, the rightwing media smell blood, and his enemies have had time to organise.

John Pesutto had a golden opportunity to show strength of character and strength of leadership. He should have said: "For the good of the party, and for the good of all Victorians, we're telling Moira Deeming to fuck off and die because she's a nazi and transphobe."

However this matter resolves, this will be awful for his political career. Worse, it has the potential to change the official policy of the Liberal Party of Victoria to overtly include white supremacy and transphobia. His internal party squabbles risk changing the political nature of the party and affecting how minorities live in Victoria. RWNJs have been handed another incremental victory in the sense that they have succeeded again in their ongoing mission to Shift the Overton Window.

John Pesutto has brought this on himself.
He failed to avert a LibSpill.
It's on.

#Auspol #VicPol #SpringSt #MoiraDeeming #TERF #Transphobe #Transphobia #Nazi #NeoNazis #WhiteSupremacists #JohnPesutto #LibSpill #ItsOn

Victorian MP Moira Deeming won’t return to Liberal party room after motion fails
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/dec/20/moira-deeming-victoria-mp-crossbench-liberal-party-room-john-pesutto-ntwnfb

Moira Deeming has narrowly missed-out on returning to Liberal party room after a party vote.

As a public figure who espouses transphobia and attended events with nazis and white supremacists, Moira Deeming fits-in well with a certain segment of her RWNJ political party. Recently, she successfully sued the leader of the party, John Pesutto, for stating that she's a neonazi.

If the party had voted to let her back into the partyroom, it would have signalled extreme shift in the party itself. The close result in the vote looks bad for John Pesutto's leadership. He's dodged a LibSpill, and we can't say "It's on" for now, but don't rule it out some time in 2025 in the lead-up to the next state election.

#Auspol #VicPol #SpringSt #MoiraDeeming #TERF #Transphobe #Transphobia #Nazi #NeoNazis #WhiteSupremacists #JohnPesutto #LibSpill #ItsOn

Moira Deeming wins defamation case against John Pesutto, judge orders $300k in damages
https://live-production.wcms.abc-cdn.net.au/b25cf4de0583bfa3203db6ac3be34dcb

It is a matter of fact that Moira Deeming is a transphobe and attends events with Nazis. That she has a reputation worth defending is highly debatable. The courts have found that although she has associated with Neo Nazis and White Supremacists on a multitude of occasions...somehow we shouldn't call her a Neo Nazi or White Supremacist? I don't understand that part.

I think it's unfortunate that Moira Deeming has joined the ranks of RWNJs abusing Australia's Defamation laws and wasting time of our courts/legal system for the purpose of what appears to be a personal vendetta against people who call her out for being a hateful human being.

Some extremists in the RWNJ media are saying John Pesutto has put his job on the line and failed, so one can only assume that a LibSpill is in motion for party leadership and, as they say, "It's on".

Who will be the new Leader of the Opposition in Victoria? That's hardly relevant to politics-watchers and citizens of Victoria because the Victorian Liberal Party have embarrassingly small numbers in Parliament and couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery.

#Auspol #VicPol #SpringSt #MoiraDeeming #TERF #Transphobe #Transphobia #Nazi #NeoNazis #WhiteSupremacists #JohnPesutto #LibSpill #ItsOn

8 animals & 5 plants added to Australia's Threatened Species List this month.

Fauna: 3 freshwater fish, 3 lizards, a frog & turtle.
Flora: 1 rainforest tree, 2 flowering shrubs, a daisy & orchid species

#auspol #NSWpol #Qldpol #ausag #agchatoz #SpringSt
https://1earthmedia.com/8-animals-5-plants-added-to-threatened-species-this-month/

Welcome to the 23 June 2024 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues.

#AusPol #NSWPol #SpringSt #WAPol #SAParli #QLDPol #PoliTas #ACTPol #NTPol #ChurchState #Secularism

https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-23-june-2024/

Welcome to the 16 June 2024 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues.

#AusPol #NSWPol #SpringSt #WAPol #SAParli #QLDPol #PoliTas #ACTPol #NTPol #ChurchState #Secularism

https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-16-june-2024/

Welcome to the 9 June 2024 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues.

#AusPol #NSWPol #SpringSt #WAPol #SAParli #QLDPol #PoliTas #ACTPol #NTPol #ChurchState #Secularism

https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-9-june-2024/

Welcome to the 2 June 2024 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues.

#AusPol #NSWPol #SpringSt #WAPol #SAParli #QLDPol #PoliTas #ACTPol #NTPol #ChurchState #Secularism

https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-2-june-2024/

Welcome to the 26 May 2024 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues.

Apologies for the outage!

#AusPol #NSWPol #SpringSt #WAPol #SAParli #QLDPol #TasPol #ACTPol #NTPol #ChurchState #Secularism

https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-26-may-2024/

I get the feeling Jesus wouldn't look to kindly at the #Catholic church extracting money for a site for a public hospital.

#springst #auspol #ChristianValues

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-04-24/catholic-church-melton-hospital-dispute/103733530

Welcome to the 3 March 2024 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues.

#AusPol #NSWPol #SpringSt #WAPol #SAParli #QLDPol #TasPol #ACTPol #NTPol #ChurchState #Secularism

https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-3-march-2024/

Welcome to the 25 February 2024 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues.

#AusPol #NSWPol #SpringSt #WAPol #SAParli #QLDPol #TasPol #ACTPol #NTPol #ChurchState #Secularism

https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-25-february-2024/

Welcome to the 17 December 2023 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues.

#AusPol #NSWPol #SpringSt #WAPol #SAParli #QLDPol #TasPol #ACTPol #NTPol #ChurchState #Secularism

https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-17-december-2023/

Welcome to the 10 December 2023 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues.

#AusPol #NSWPol #SpringSt #WAPol #SAParli #QLDPol #TasPol #ACTPol #NTPol #ChurchState #Secularism

https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-10-december-2023/

Welcome to the 3 December 2023 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues.

#AusPol #NSWPol #SpringSt #WAPol #SAParli #QLDPol #TasPol #ACTPol #NTPol #ChurchState #Secularism

https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-3-december-2023/

Welcome to the 26 November 2023 edition of the NSL Weekend Wrap, your weekly round-up of news and views on Australian #secular issues.

#AusPol #NSWPol #SpringSt #WAPol #SAParli #QLDPol #TasPol #ACTPol #NTPol #ChurchState #Secularism

https://www.nsl.org.au/columns/weekend-wrap-for-26-november-2023/

"On Thursday afternoon, Inspector Scott Dwyer said police arrested a 14-year-old boy who was a "known youth gang member who we believe is the principal offender from this incident"."

What a way to describe a child?

#VicPol #SpringSt #VictoriaPolice

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-07/glen-huntly-incident-arrest-youth-gang-glen-eira-college/102825028

What a mess. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-08-19/victoria-commonwealth-games-compensation-settlement/102750854 #CommonwealthGames #SpringSt

So political. Basically the original hosting decision was thinly-disguised pork-barrelling.
---
Commonwealth Games 2026: How Victoria’s regional Games met their demise

#VicPol #SpringSt #CommonwealthGames https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/how-victoria-s-commonwealth-games-ended-up-the-creek-20230721-p5dq4h.html

I wonder if it might make sense to rotate them on schedule through, say, six cities with good sporting facilities? Make the hosting predictable, to be planned for.
---
Is this the death of the Commonwealth Games after Victoria cancellation?

#CommonwealthGames #VicPol #SpringSt https://www.smh.com.au/sport/is-this-the-finish-line-for-the-commonwealth-games-20230719-p5dpia.html

I have just launched a new campaign and would love your support 🙏💗

We need to ensure all people can live a participatory life in their communities & the time to act is NOW!

Sign the petition here 👇

https://me.getup.org.au/petitions/legislate-online-inclusion?source=rawlink&utm_source=rawlink&share=c7f952b9-bda1-42d7-a8f5-838f20dffbf4

#CovidIsNotOver #disability #autism #vulnerable #online #springst #auspol #aslongasittakes #inclusion #isolated #petition #covidisntover #aslongasittakes #maskup #wearamask #stayathome #disabilityinclusion #adhd #anxiety #depression #support #wematter

Yesterday's headline, "Former Liberal MP Tim Smith considering return to Spring Street," has created such a storm that the headline has changed to: "Pesutto faces fresh leadership test after being blindsided by MP’s resignation."
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/he-s-back-former-liberal-mp-tim-smith-considering-return-to-spring-street-20230531-p5dcrv.html

tl;dr: Tim Smith is a self-serving fool, and he can't see that he's being used as a pawn in a leadership spill.

Tim Smith has ambitions to return to politics. A few months after drink-driving his car into the side of a house, he feels he's spent his time in the wilderness and wants to get back into Parliament.

Meanwhile, the RWNJ faction of the Victorian Liberal Party are as keen as ever to nudge the Overton Window further to the right. Nowadays, this faction is frothing for Moira Deeming because they're mostly TERFs and Neo-Nazis -- I say "and" here, not "or" because there's such an ideological overlap that they're basically the same type of person.

Seems they see this bye-election as a win-win scenario: if they win the election then the party gains a seat in Parliament, and if they lose the election then the extreme-right faction will use the loss as a pretext to spill John Pesutto and install an even more extreme leader.

All the need is a candidate who's highly visible, can appeal to rusted-on conservative voters, but can also rile-up the extremists.
Tim Smith is the perfect tool for this job.

#AusPol #VicPol #SpringSt #TimSmith #TERF #MoiraDeeming #JohnPesutto #LibSpill

Victorian government to provide hundreds of millions in support for workers leaving embattled logging industry
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-23/victoria-native-timber-logging-industry-budget/102379388
- The government will provide more than $200 million that will help transition workers out of the native timber industry
- Workers will be given opportunities to retrain for other sectors
- VicForests stopped harvesting in November last year after the Supreme Court ruled it had broken the law

I think timber is a great natural and renewable resource, but we should have changed over to 100% plantation timber many, many years ago. Why were they logging old growth forests? Mountain Ash is a great hardwood and grows extremely well in plantations. But, successive state governments have been propping-up this environmental vandalism. Enough is enough!

It's a good move to offer assistance to workers to retrain — preferably in related areas such as environmental management, bushfire management, habitat restoration, and programmes to help endangered species that have been threatened by the destruction of native forests.

#AusPol #VicPol #SpringSt #Logging #Environment #EndangeredSpecies #VicForests

Exiled MP Moira Deeming delivers ultimatum to Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-04/john-pesutto-moira-deeming-liberal-party-internal-warfare/102301226

My opinion is that John Pesutto is a gutless fool, and Moira Deeming should have been kicked-out of the Liberal Party for being a TERF and neo-nazi. Matthew "Lobster With A Mobster" Guy has always lacked the nouse to read the room, so it's no surprise at all that he's calling for "party unity" to defend a colleague who's a TERF and neo-nazi. Right now, Moira Deeming is doing what Moira Deeming does: having a tantrum to get noticed because she's an attention-starved egomaniac.

#Auspol #VicPol #SpringSt #TERF #MoiraDeeming #Deeming #JohnPesutto #Pesutto #MatthewGuy #LobsterWithAMobster

Victoria's benchmark for coastal planning is 0.8 metres sea level rise by 2100. This is based on science over 15 years old (IPCC AR4, 2007) that does not incorporate ice sheet melt. The most recent IPCC report (AR6) estimates 1.2 metres of sea level rise by 2100.

State Government has been sitting on scientific reports on coastal erosion and coastal planning and climate risks to property, businesses and infrastructure. This is creating difficulties for developers, and local councils in the planning process.

Great article in The Age: Coastal communities cry out for state government action as sea levels rise
https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/coastal-communities-cry-out-for-state-government-action-as-sea-levels-rise-20230112-p5cc6s.html
#climateChange #CoastalErosion #SeaLevelRise #Victoria #ClimateCrisis #CoastalPlanning #Springst