Today I had the misfortune to travel on the road from Bundaberg to Gympie..The road is not as good as it should be because of the constant movement of extra heavy vehicles with mining equipment. Examples 4 semi trucks with Dongas, 6 semi trucks with at least 4 huge tyres, plus at least 30 other carrying steel mining equipment. All of these vehicles had escorts as they were extra wide. The main highway has been vastly improved in many parts like over the Gunalda range. Several bridges have been also recently upgraded. The general condition of the road in so many places is riddled with uneven sections caused in my opinion by heavy vehicles. No wonder that there is so many accidents on this road as they are in a terrible hurry to get those giant tyres up there to keep the mines producing. QLD Govenments are going to find it hard to keep this road up to standard and the accident toll down if these trucks continue in every increasing number to service the mining industry in the Bowen Basin. The number of stoppages and holdups on this major highway is making a 2hr trip into a 3 hr one as well as a terrific waste in fuel. My main bitch is that I hope that the Mining Industry is made pay for the extra heavy traffic that frequents this part of the main road. Why did I go to Gympie. There be gold in them damm hills. Regards Errol 43
Everyone wants their cut don't they? I love seeing trucks on the roads. And caravans. Every truck and caravan and car you see is traveling for a reason. And that reason is "to do business". I'd rather be inconvenienced by heavy vehicles and grey nomads than see our highways bare.
Yes Errol your government is taking MRRT from the Coal miners remember, maybe you should lobby the federal government for better roads?
This post should be in the form of an open letter to your local member and the media if you want results though.
That's easy to fix. Raise fuel levies on petrol and put a toll on the road (make heavy vehicles toll exempt). That way the motorists can pay for the damage, while the well-connected mine owners get a free ride.
And better yet if you make it high enough - say around 38.143c/L+GST - you can raise more money than you actually spend on the roads :lol:
I used to be against toll roads. But now I'm all user pays. Anything "free" or where the cost is a one off will get abused. Cue examples Expo 88 season ticket debacle Queensland Ambulance My employer having a doctor visit once a week (blatantly being abused as a chance to take a 15 minute break) My employer throwing on morning tea (workers filling their lunch boxes up with cake to take home..... angered the boss so much it never happened again) Nothing ever should be "free" to the consumer because someone will always ruin it for others. Everyone wants someone else to pay.
I'm all for user-pays. Provided it's not user-pays twice, once in taxes, then again when you need it. A lot of gov services should be "user-pay" rather than "give us all your money and we'll use it wisely".
If I could count the number of times I've been lambasted on SS over the years for even whispering such ideology...
Do you think the local members talk to me anymore? I ask too many hard questions at their public meetings...You want to see them dive for cover. However, because of my age, I have decided to retire from the brown arm brigade. Regards Errol 43
People already pay vehicle registration , fuel tariffs (& GST on top of fuel tariffs!) , local government rates of which part goes to the road maintenance crew on top of state government recieving federal money for road maintenance.People are already paying enough , the money is being spent poorly that is the problem here - asking people to pay tolls on any road is ridiculous i am glad there are no toll roads here in WA.
What do you guys think the tax collected by all forms of government from the miners adds up to compared to the cost they add to maintaining those roads? Ie, if they weren't allowed to use those roads but got to pay no tax, what do you think the government bottom line would look like? On another note, yesterday I was talking extensively to a retired trucker. One big thing he noted was that if they made the Bruce highway from Cooroy to cairns 4 lanes the whole way and told the trucking companies they had to pay $100 each way per truck. They would happily pay it.
http://fueltaxinquiry.treasury.gov.au/content/Submissions/Industry/BIC_234.asp#Summary Motorists aren't even coming close to paying their own way. Super Executive summary - multiply what you are currently paying by 1.33 and you'd come close. However if you want to also pay full price then what you're paying right now needs to be multiplied by just shy of 3 times.
I have noticed that a very large % of semis are registered in SA...I wonder why? Is it because the rego for large vehicles is the lowest in SA. Regards Errol 43
What is 'Congestion cost' exactly? People were half an hour late for work so this cost the economy money? It's hypothetical. I thought we were solely talking about potholes , eroded edges , water damage , cracks etc.
A lot sure, but not all. Disability and health, public education and public transport should always be subsidised/free.
LOL.. dont worry those trucks and workers will not be required in Australia's NEW economy.. Those Private capitalists are re-allocating resources O.S as we speak.. no jobs, no demand for machinary.. and now no-one to pay taxes to fix that roading. LOL - what a mess, this whole mining exodus was entirely predictable.. made worse by a economic slowdown in china.. Ouch + Ouch = Up Schitt creek without a paddle. 1for1
