Many people just don't like Baird's vibe

Here in New South Wales we find ourselves with a government under Mike Baird. He came in as a virtual cleanskin. Rather like a fresh young chardonnay, really. There had been some minor scandal after Barry O'Farrell accepted an expensive bottle of Grange Hermitage and resigned in some haste. Little was known about Baird. A short election campaign was held soon after his accession to power, mainly focused on selling electrical poles and wires. The News Limited press eagerly endorsed him. Baird had a solid win and seemed like a very popular Premier who was always pictured smiling and looked for a time like a nice change after the stink of corruption that had followed Labor.

It's the vibe man

But slowly, there's been a realisation in many parts of the community that Baird all the time has had an agenda many don't like. He has made enemies with the removal of ancient trees along a corridor marked for light rail. If a group of 'Knitting Nannas' oppose coal seam gas, laws are passed to make sure they don't interfere with the construction of mines. Potentially, they will be jailed. And there are many other examples of ordinary people sidelined and private interests being favoured. In sum, a meeting outside Sydney Town Hall a week ago emphasised that the whole of 'Baird's vibe' was hostile to ordinary people and in favour of property developers and wealthy businessmen.

The end of councils

Take local council amalgamations, for example. Some councils are –at least in part- corrupt; and some councillors have been involved in shady dealings of questionable legality. There are inefficiencies, but there wasn't much justification for sweeping all councils aside. The Baird Government seems to have decided to run local government with some 'sound' administrators ( as Sir Humphrey Appleby used to use the term in Yes, Minister). And then start again with some elections late next year. A lot of important decisions can be made quickly in the interim.

Legal challenges to these amalgamations have been mounted (for example in Woollahra). The legal challenges seem to be increasing; and the question of adequate consultation has been raised. This may have legal ramifications. And there could possibly be some negative effects for the Liberals in the Federal election.

Mock consultations

In his social media and public declarations, Baird uses many popular phrases, consultation, efficiency, progress, and so on. But too often there has been a kind of mock consultation in which the conclusions were already determined.

If a few people moan about all this, and bring the city to a standstill, the Daily Telegraph said, then clearly they are ill-advised, left-wing types and similar. The paper made front-page headlines of the woman who spat at a meeting on amalgamations. This is an old tactic – called, I think, the 'straw man' trick: pick on the most extreme view and lambast all people opposing similar views. But many of those opposed to the amalgamations seem like normally quiet, middle-aged people, and many are probably habitual Liberal voters.

Tree-felling

Then there is the matter of the light rail. Clearly a big city like Sydney needs more public transport. The heavy rail we have is essentially the same as it was in the 1930s, plus a couple of spur lines like the one to Olympic Park and an expensive link to the airport. A good tram track might prove useful in helping people move about. But was it really necessary to clear away hundreds of ancient trees to make way for the light rail? Ah, it seems that a hotel will also be built, just handy to the racecourse. We were told a story that was only half true.

Why didn't the managers of Centennial Park protest? There lies a tale. Centennial Park is under the care of the Centennial and Moore Park Trust. That was virtually privatised a couple of years ago. There are no trade unionists, social workers, schoolteachers, or similar on the Trust. They all have business experience of one kind or another. The Trust was not apparently upset by the clearing-away of the trees, despite much noise in local papers and a number of public demonstrations. The Trust's publicity talks of consultation and community opinion and so on. But we are familiar with this trick: put out lots of spin, pretend to listen, and then do what you want.

The placards erected over the mounds of mulch near Randwick Racecourse tell the story of all the forward thinking that has gone into these measures, and how much this city will be on the move. The effect is unfortunate: for instead of the well-established trees, only a mess remains, wrapped in a multitude of high blue signs whhich attempt to hide the damage. The term "Chopper Baird" has been seen once or twice in the Sydney Morning Herald Letters pages. Environmentalists called it a war on trees, pointing to many other examples of tree-felling. In sum: "We make a wilderness and call it progress".

Overpasses and underpasses

Then there's WestConnex. Unfortunately, land for just such a freeway was foolishly sold off by the Wran Labor Government some years ago, perhaps after the urging of inner-city branches of the party. A large freeway will now be built, and people are being told to move house. Those who objected were denounced as inner-city latte-sippers. Such people are not living in the real world in which most of us need freeways to get to work, Duncan Gay said.

Duncan Gay has already helped pedestrians move around with his Tibby Cotter Bridge over Anzac Parade, in south Sydney. At the cost of thirty eight million, a skimpy prefab pedestrian bridge appeared, and it looks like poor value for money. The bridge might be useful for people walking to the cricket. Or people who might be walking their dog or having a bit of a run. But otherwise it seems useless, unless it might lead to a large apartment block which might be built nearby. The bridge could have been bigger, but it seems you don't get very much for thirty eight million dollars these days, especially after a few million dollars' blow-out. There have been embarrassing comparisons of much more difficult constructions and more practical bridges built for much the same amount. The Auditor-General made a scathing report on the weak justification for the bridge, the unnecessary haste, and the poor value for money paid.

Newcastle: the city of tomorrow?

And then there is Newcastle. This city has been stagnating for years. The inner-city part of the line was under-used, and probably used in the main by unemployed people, pensioners and similar; people who wouldn't make too much fuss. A few kilometres of track were sold, and then land was freed up for private enterprise to develop. Business groups hailed the decision; a 'Save Our Rail' group did not. There will be a light rail; but no date has been set nor plans unveiled. The Government said it hoped to have light rail operating by 2019. It hoped? "We're about building tomorrow's Newcastle", said Transport Minister Andrew Constance. A deal to enable this decision was brokered by the Shooters and Fishers Party, which has critical votes in the NSW Upper House. Control of the Upper House has been a vital issue for NSW governments in recent years.

The talk and the reality

There are more questionable decisions, notably the continuing debate over Barangaroo. Very close to the Sydney Harbour Bridge a very tall building will be erected . There have been very crude names used to describe such a large and impressive structure, suggestive of the male anatomy. It seems as if Mr Packer has obtained a very useful place in which to put a casino. Neither major party seems willing to oppose him, though questions have been asked about the way in which we seem to be inviting big-time gamblers and various shady types into our city. Frankly, we seem to have enough of them already. The TV drama "Rake" is certainly funny, but the high-level bribery and corruption, drug-taking , and sleazy types infesting the city are far too familiar to a Sydney audience. Only this week we heard that even Rugby League may be tainted with match-fixing, bribed footballers, and sports betting corrupting honest football. Whoever would have thought it?

Elizabeth Farrelly has been writing in the Sydney Morning Herald about the false choices being offered by Baird. In particular, there is talk of public transport versus streets clogged with cars. The reality is that we are getting a poor version of light rail and losing a lot of public land and tree-lined corridors. The more we hear of consultation, the more we see consolidation. The 'jackboot approach' Farrelly perceives reminds her of the way Bjelke-Petersen stamped on opposition in Queensland, bulldozing historic buildings in the dead of night. She foresees that much public land will be lost, to be replaced by tall towers offering more and more apartments. We are losing the Sydney we love so much, inch by inch, quarter acre by quarter acre. We are losing a city we love and gaining an urban jungle none of us will want to live in any more. The barbarians will have won.