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Sent: Saturday, 22 December 2018, 21:12
Subject: Sun.16.12.18 daily digest

Roderick.
 "181216Su-Melbourne'HeraldSun'-letters-road-energy. with tdu."181216Su-Melbourne'Age'-letters-energy.jpg" with tdu.181216Su Melbourne 'Age' - Transdev.

Sat.15.12 Metro Twitter.
12.54 Route 6 trams are diverting via Dandenong Rd between Stop 27 High/St Kilda Rd St & Stop 44 Glenferrie Rd (a traffic incident in High St).
- 13.02 Trams have resumed, with delays.
14.18 Route 58 trams are diverting via Swanston St between Stop 12 Flemington Rd & Stop22 Toorak Rd (a collision).
- 14.22 Shuttle trams are operating between Stop 116 City Rd & Stop 19 Royal Children's Hospital.
- 15.42 the shuttles operate at a lower frequency than the regular service.
- 15.57 Route 58 has resumed, with delays .
16.25 Route 67 trams towards Carnegie are delayed by a collision in Glen Huntly Rd.
- 16.28 Trams have resumed, with delays
16.57 Swanston St trams towards the south-eastern suburbs are delayed by a tram fault near Collins St.
- 17.00 Trams have resumed, with delays.
18.09 Flinders St trams heading towards Docklands are delayed by a tram fault.
- 18.32 Trams have resumed, with delays.
18.21 Route 86 trams towards Docklands are delayed by emergency services in Smith St.
- 18.23 consider Mernda line trains.
- 18.31 Trams have resumed, with delays.
22.22 Because of a traffic incident, route 48 trams are diverting via Victoria St between Stop 29 Barkers Rd & Stop 7 at 101 Collins St; route 75 is diverting via Swan St between Stop 29 Riversdale Junction & Stop 6 Russell St.
- 22.24 Bridge Rd passengers may connect with diverting trams via route 78 trams in Church St or bus route 246 in Punt Rd/Hoddle St.  [both infrequent at this time of night].
- 22.40 Trams have resumed, with delays.
1.20 Swanston St trams in both directions are delayed by a power fault in Swanston St.
- 1.23 No Swanston St trams are running between Stop 1 Melbourne University and Stop 14 Arts Precinct.
- 1.38 Consider trains between Flinders Street Station and Melbourne Central Station [there aren't any at this time of night].
- 1.48 Trams have resumed, with delays.
1.47 Belgrave/Lilydale lines: Major delays (a track fault near Camberwell).

Sun.16.12.18 Metro Twitter.
Glen Waverley line: Buses will replace trains Richmond/Burnley - Darling all weekend (maintenance works) take place.  A train shuttle service will run Darling - Glen Waverley.
Craigieburn/Upfield/Sunbury & Werribee lines: All trains will run direct Flinders St - North Melbourne all weekend (maintenance works).
Buses replace trains Westall - Pakenham/Cranbourne until the last train tonight.  Further changes apply until the last train of Sun 23 Dec.
- 15.42 Major delays (an equipment fault between Clayton and Westall).
- 15.48 That’s one way to make the replacement buses at Westall a welcome sight.
- 15.55 clearing.
Frankston line: All services will terminate/originate at Caulfield 10am-7pm while 'upgrades' take place.  Change at Caulfield for connecting services.
14.28 Belgrave/Lilydale lines: Minor delays (an equipment fault near Box Hill).
- 20.35 These delays cleared some hours ago.
15.53 Because of a collision in High St there are no route 48 trams between Stop 39 Harp Rd & North Balwyn.
- 15.59 Consider bus 200/207 along High Street/Doncaster Rd.
- 16.28 Trams have resumed, with delays.
20.17 Minor delays Ringwood - Lilydale while police attend to a trespasser.

Driver meeting to force Canberra bus shutdown 15 December 2018.
Talking points:
•Canberra's bus network will grind to a halt on Wednesday when drivers meet for a crucial vote on a new contract agreement with the ACT government.
•Buses have been cancelled from 10am-2.30pm.
•Passengers are being urged to plan ahead to avoid inconveniences.
Canberra's buses will come to a stop on Wednesday, as drivers meet to vote on a new enterprise bargaining agreement.
ACTION bus services have been cancelled between 10am and 2.30pm to allow drivers to attend a meeting convened by the Transport Workers Union.
Canberra's bus network will shut down on Wednesday, as drivers meet for talks over a new enterprise bargaining agreement. Credit:Jeffrey Chan.
Limited buses will be available between 9.30-10am and 2.30-3pm, as drivers transition from their shift to the meeting.
The meeting will effect the entire network, except for the special needs transport and flexible bus services.
The ACT government and the union have been locked in talks over a new agreement for drivers for about two years. The main sticking point has been weekend shifts, which are set to ramp up when the government rolls out its new bus network in late April.
The network will offer faster, more frequent buses and more late-night and evening runs.
Transport Workers Union ACT-branch secretary Klaus Pinkas said members would on Wednesday, December 19 vote on whether to accept the government's latest offer, which essentially retained the terms in their existing agreement.
Mr Pinkas did not wish to speculate on the likely outcome of the vote, but said if members rejected the offer they would either launch industrial action or head back to the negotiating table.
He said the impasse over weekend conditions had been resolved.
Transport Canberra operations executive director Judith Sturman said the authorised meeting had been scheduled outside of peak times to minimise disruptions to commuters.
Passengers are being asked to plan ahead to avoid inconveniences.
"We thank the Canberra community for their cooperation and understanding, and we acknowledge the disruption to services this has to allow for this to occur,” said Ms Sturman.
<www.theage.com.au/national/act/driver-meeting-to-force-canberra-bus-shutdown-20181214-p50maj.html>

Climate deal falls short, fails to set binding targets 16 December 2018.
Katowice:  Weary climate negotiators have limped across the finish line after days of round-the-clock talks, striking a deal that keeps the world moving forward with plans to curb carbon emissions. But the agreement fell well short of the breakthrough that scientists - and many of the conference's own participants - say is needed to avoid the cataclysmic impacts of a warming planet.
The deal struck on Saturday at a global conference in the heart of Polish coal country, where some 25,000 delegates had gathered, adds legal flesh to the bones of the 2015 Paris agreement, setting the rules of the road for how nearly 200 countries cut their production of greenhouse gases and monitor each other's progress.
The agreement from the COP24 climate talks in Katowice, Poland, falls short of what many scientists believe is necessary.Credit:AP
The agreement also prods countries to step up their ambition in fighting climate change, a recognition of the fact that the world's efforts have not gone nearly far enough. But, like the landmark 2015 agreement in Paris, it does not bind countries to hit their targets. And observers questioned whether it was sufficient given the extraordinary stakes.
"We are driven by our sense of humanity and commitment to the well being of the earth that sustains us and those generations that will replace us," Michał Kurtyka, the Polish environmental official who provided over the two-week international summit, said late Saturday as the marathon talks drew to a close.
Kurtyka noted the difficulty of finding global consensus on issues so technical and, in many ways, politically fraught. "Under these circumstances, every single step forward is a big achievement," he said. "And through this package, you have made 1000 little steps forward together."
But even as he spoke, the outcome raised immediate questions about whether those steps were large enough.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, right, talks to UN climate conference president, Poland's Deputy Environment Minister Michal Kurtyka.Credit:AP
"In the climate emergency we're in, slow success is no success," said Durwood Zaelke, president of the Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development. "In an emergency, if the ambulance doesn't get you to the hospital in time, you die. If the fire truck doesn't get to your house in time, it burns down."
Negotiators said the agreement was the best that could have been expected given the limited agenda for the talks and the need for a global consensus. Virtually every nation on Earth was represented at Katowice, ranging from small island  countries that threaten to be swallowed by rising seas - and that pushed for a crisis-level response - to the United States, which has said it plans to withdraw from the Paris process.
The United States, the world's largest economy and its second-largest polluter, remains in the agreement until at least 2020. It played an at-times contentious role in the negotiations, with its officials rankling fellow delegates by initially refusing to accept a landmark climate report and later putting on a presentation touting the virtues of fossil fuels.
But fellow negotiators said it was mostly notable for its absence.
"USA was the driving force in the run-up to Paris. Once they decide to no longer be a part of the agreement, they can't be a driver," said Jochen Flasbarth, a top German delegate.
Flasbarth said the minimised US role was particularly apparent in negotiations with China, which did not feel as much pressure to ramp up its ambition in fighting climate change as it otherwise might have because the United States was not applying it. China is the world's largest producer of greenhouse gases.
"The USA role here is somewhat schizophrenic - pushing coal and dissing science on the one hand, but also working hard in the room for strong transparency rules," said Elliot Diringer, executive vice president of the Centre for Climate and Energy Solutions, a Virginia-based nonprofit group. "Over the long haul, making the agreement operational will do more to strengthen climate ambition than any immediate political signals."
In another sign of a more difficult environment for climate negotiations this year, text establishing a large part of a planned carbon trading system was scuttled after Brazil, one of the world's leading greenhouse gas producers, blocked proposals for counting certain emissions.
Brazil led a push for lenient rules that other nations said would weaken the system, which is intended to encourage emissions cuts by creating a market price. With negotiators unable to reach a deal, the issue was punted until next year - a move that Boston College environmental law professor David Wirth said could "delay or undermine confidence among the private sector in undertaking climate-friendly investments - one of the most important purposes of the Paris Rulebook".
This year's conference - an annual UN-sponsored exercise now in its 24th year - came against the backdrop of a series of increasingly dire assessments by scientists.
Specifically, an October report from the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change warned that the world was far off-track in its efforts to avoid the most catastrophic impacts from warming temperatures. It concluded that a "rapid and far-reaching" transformation of the world's energy, transportation and other sectors will be necessary over the next dozen years to avoid warming the globe more than 1.5 degree Celsius  above pre-industrial levels.
But rather than lighting a fire under the world to move with more urgency, the report became a source of political friction during the talks in Poland..
Early in the summit, the Trump administration joined Saudi Arabia, Russia and Kuwait in blocking official acceptance of the report's findings, arguing that any agreement should merely "note" its existence rather than "welcome" its warnings.
The semantic fight encapsulated the shift of the United States under President Donald Trump from a country pushing fellow countries to act more aggressively to one that refuses to acknowledge the conclusion of the world's top scientists.
A chorus of activists and diplomats and national delegates - none more vocal than a coalition of small island states already feeling the impact of rising seas - had implored leaders of the summit to recognise the content of the IPCC report. The issue continued to be debated into the conference's closing hours, along with a bevy of more technical disagreements.
The conference was scheduled to end Friday, but repeated deadlines for closing out the talks came and went, with negotiators haggling through the night and through Saturday. By then, some negotiators had nearly lost their voices. Bleary-eyed journalists slept on chairs or FaceTimed with their loved ones from afar. UN staffers, security officials and the rest of the dwindling crowd at the cavernous conference centre - built on the site of a former coal waste dump - speculated over when the talks would finally reach their end.
A worker dismantles the exhibition pavilion of Austria after the UN Climate conference ended, but negotiators from almost 200 countries continued haggling over the fine print of the Paris climate accord in Katowice, Poland, Saturday.  Credit: AP.
The once-busy pavilions - which once pulsated with a seemingly endless stream of lectures and demonstrations of new technologies - were being broken apart. A group of Pacific Islanders sat in a small circle, playing a guitar and drums. A group of Austrians seemed determined to clear out any remaining wine, beer and sweets in their corner of the conference centre, and to invite passersby to join in.
After two weeks under the cold, unremittingly gray skies of a December in Poland, negotiators are due to meet in the sun and warmth of Santiago, Chile, next winter. In between, the UN is hosting a climate summit next September that observers say now takes on crucial importance as a measure of whether countries are serious about upping their ambition.
Manuel Pulgar-Vidal, who led a previous round of UN climate talks and is now leader of the World Wildlife Fund's global climate and energy practice, said world leaders will need to come through in New York on the promises they have made in Katowice.
"Anything less," he said, "is a failure in political and moral leadership."
Related Articles: 'Fundamental': Major ambition gaps dog final days of climate talks.
El Nino events to become 'stronger' and more intense, study finds.
<www.watoday.com.au/world/europe/climate-deal-falls-short-fails-to-set-binding-targets-20181216-p50mje.html>

Rye community group calls for jet ski ban after 5000 strong petition.
Mornington Peninsula Leader December 16, 2018.
More than 5000 people have signed a petition calling for a ban on jet skis from prime southern Peninsula beaches. Picture: Jason Edwards.
More than 5000 people have signed a petition calling for a ban on jet skis from prime southern Peninsula beaches, a forum has heard.
Rye Community Group Alliance chair Mechelle Cheers said the petition was the tip of the iceberg.
“There are many more people who are way over having their summers ruined by constant mind shattering noise, petrol fumes or aggressive or selfish behaviour,” she said.
“It should be mandatory that jet skis are kept well away from other water users and marine life.
“Go karting, motorcycle and car racing and monkey bikes all are illegal in public spaces? Why not jetskiing?
“Over summer jet skiers dominate the water and in Rye and occupy an entire beach and shoreline.”Ms Cheers made the comments at a forum to consider the issue hosted by Mornington Peninsula Shire Council.
video: Man has uses jetski to extinguish a boat engulfed in flames.
The petition calls for jet skis to be banned from beaches between Rye and Pt Nepean.
Prominent environmentalist Jenny Warfe spoke out against the potential damage to marine habitat by the jet skis.
M1036555_RoadMapSurvey_KerrieDyster_DEC18-DIGITAL-650x100.jpg
Jet ski enthusiasts told a previous forum hosted by the shire late last month that a rogue minority “fanging around” beaches were giving responsible riders a bad reputation.
The shire plans to conduct a major enforcement campaign on jet ski hoons at Rye and Safety Beach and push authorities, including police and Parks Victoria, to take tougher action.
It will receive a report on submissions made at the forums before determining a position on potential zones for jet skis riders.
JETSKI HOONS DRIVING BEACHGOERS AND BOATIES CRAZY.
CALL TO BAN JET SKIS AT RYE AS HOONS CAUSE HAVOC.
PLANS TO EXTEND ASPENDALE BEACH’S SWIMMING-ONLY ZONE BY 60M.
COMMUTERS CALL FOR BUS SHELTERS, BUT MP REFUSES TO BUDGE.
<www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/south-east/rye-community-group-calls-for-jet-ski-ban-after-5000-strong-petition/news-story/0b87b5c34a3b74c46d1f0f5ca42a9040>

Cab fare war simmers ahead of new WA levy for plate buy-back scheme.
PerthNow December 16, 2018.
From early next month, the levy will be charged on all taxi, rideshare and small charter vehicle fares. Picture: File image.
A cabbie price war is set to erupt in Perth in the new year when the State Government’s new tax on fare charges kicks in.
Shofer has become the first ride-sharing service to indicate it may absorb the Government’s new 10 per cent levy on fares, but rivals aren’t so keen.
Uber said it would pass on the cost to customers, while Swan Taxis wouldn’t say how it intends to treat the new tax, which will fund compensation for taxi plate owners.
“Shofer is still considering its position regarding the 10 per cent levy, where we are leaning towards absorbing it and not passing it on,” Shofer chief executive David Mills said.
A spokeswoman for Uber said: “As per other States where a similar government levy applies, it would be paid in addition to the Uber fare, by riders, and the levy will then be paid to government on a monthly basis.”
Swan Taxis marketing and communications manager Eddy Ciciriello added: “We will be glad to discuss our position once we obtain full clarity on the introduction of the levy.”
From early next month, the levy will be charged on all taxi, rideshare and small charter vehicle fares.
Monies raised will pay for a multimillion-dollar plate buy-back scheme which will see owners receive between $100,000 and $250,000, less any hardship payments already received — and depending on how long they owned the plate.
Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said a letter to all Perth taxi plate owners was expected to be sent before the end of this year, confirming individual buyback offers, key dates and the process for applying.
She said payments were expected to be made mid-2019, once applications had been assessed.
Ms Saffioti said “many” in Perth’s on-demand transport industry should be able to absorb the levy, rather than hit passengers in the hip pocket.
“I maintain that the new legislation removes some overheads for operators and that should mean that many can absorb some or all of the levy if they choose to,” she said.
She said the levy would be collected monthly for big companies and quarterly for small businesses.
“Under the new legislation, booking services will be required to sign up to payment of the temporary levy in order to be authorised and operate in WA,” Ms Saffioti said.
“Driver authorisations will also need to be renewed annually, whereas under the old system private plate owners held an authorisation to drive in perpetuity.”
<www.perthnow.com.au/news/transport/cab-fare-war-simmers-ahead-of-new-wa-levy-for-plate-buy-back-scheme-ng-b881051666z>

Home Affairs reveals $132,000 spent on motivational speakers as it cuts airport staff 16 December 2018.  54 comments.
The Department of Home Affairs splashed $132,000 in eight months on motivational speakers including singer Casey Donovan and actor Magda Szubanski, before a budget blowout forced it to drastically cut costs and slash airport staff this Christmas.
Magda Szubanski was paid $16,500 to speak at an event promoting the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia.  Credit: Simone De Peak.
The splurge, much of it directed towards executive staff, raises questions over the department’s budget management and is likely to further anger frontline border staff struggling to perform their jobs with dwindling resources.
As The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age revealed last week, the Australian Border Force arm of the department was also planning to pull ships from ocean patrols to save money on fuel. Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton was forced to intervene following the report, and ordered that patrols remain unchanged.
Documents provided to a Senate committee in response to questions by Labor show that, between late February and October this year, the department spent $132,000 on guest speakers to gee-up its staff.
Dr Karl Kruszelnicki received more than $13,000 to speak at the department's Innovation Month event.Credit:Mel Koutchavlis
The speakers included singer Casey Donovan, winner of the reality TV series I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here!, who was paid $11,000 to appear at a National Reconciliation Week event. Actor Magda Szubanski was paid $16,500 to speak at an event promoting the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia.
Actor Samuel Johnson received $17,000 to speak about his sister Connie on International Women’s Day. Ms Johnson was an advocate for cancer research and awareness who died from the disease last year.
Celebrity scientist Karl Kruszelnicki spoke at the department's Innovation Month event, in return for more than $13,000.
Olympic kayaker-turned-motivational speaker Dan Collins was paid $5,500 to speak at a "leadership in action" event. On his website, Mr Collins describes himself as "a management consultant who’s obsessed with taking that which is average and turning it into a winning culture".
Professional MC David Lourdes was paid almost $12,000 to speak about "self awareness and personal development" at an executive assistant conference. Mr Lourdes is the founder of Evolving Human Potential Pty Ltd, and seeks to inspire organisations to "develop a 'go-for-it' mindset to gain ultimate success".
Speaking at the department’s executive leadership conferences, corporate comedian Malcolm Dix received almost $10,000 and motivational speaker Nadine Champion was paid more than $9000.
Singer Casey Donovan was paid $11,000 to speak at a Department of Home Affairs event.
Home Affairs documents also show the department forked out more than $111,000 on promotional merchandise in the 2017-18 financial year. It refused to give details on the merchandise when requested.
The Community and Public Sector Union says the department was heading for a budget deficit of at least $300 million by the end of this financial year, necessitating major cuts to frontline operations across the country. It blamed senior management for the financial woes.
As reported last week, leaked emails showed the Border Force was responding to the budget pressures by slashing casual staff by up to two-thirds in some airports in the lead up to the busy Christmas period, prompting fears of long passenger queues and weakened security.
Labor’s immigration and border protection spokesman Shayne Neumann said the spending "beggars belief".
The Australian Border Force, part of Home Affairs, is struggling to absorb drastic budget savings measures.  Credit: Marina Neil.
"Peter Dutton is allowing his department to spend hundreds of thousands of taxpayers’ dollars on motivational speakers and promotional materials but, at the same time, stopping ABF vessels from patrolling Australia’s borders to save money on fuel and cutting frontline staff at airports over Christmas," he said.
In a statement, the department said the creation of Home Affairs in December 2017 involved a merger of immigration, border protection and four other departments, and its costs were "comparative with those of other large Commonwealth agencies".
The department has previously said that as of November 1, Home Affairs and the Border Force began implementing "significant budget control measures to ensure we operate within established internal budgets".
<www.canberratimes.com.au/politics/federal/home-affairs-reveals-132-000-spent-on-motivational-speakers-as-it-cuts-airport-staff-20181214-p50mbq.html>