This isn't about operational and maintenance staff Robert. The guy is
talking about politicians and senior public servants.
On the other side of the coin, we do have a government transport business
in NSW that's probably destined to break even, if not make a profit, Sydney
Metro. It looks like they got together the right pool of talent through a
combination of government employees and contractors. It's not since the
1950s that we've had a government transport operation that doesn't carry an
ongoing cost the taxpayers - the railways, ferries (using a contractor) and
tramways (I'd have to check the exact profitability end-dates). Some public
transport operations overseas are returning towards break-even, but it's a
long time since I looked up the examples.
Bear in mind that transport operational losses represent a foregone
opportunity for taxes to be directed instead to other essential services
that are not able to break even, like schools and hospitals.
Tony P
On Friday, 29 September 2023 at 10:33:12 UTC+10 Robert Taaffe wrote:
> Tony P - that is a lot of rubbish and a smear on dedicated and talented
> people who try to run an efficient operation. It is the politicians and so
> called overseas experts who have not got a clue and stuff the system. Bob T
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
> On 29 Sep 2023, at 9:29 am, Tony Galloway a...@...> wrote:
>
> Nah. That fascist clown you quoted is just a passive, impaled, boss
> buggered body cavity.
>
>
> Anti-union, anti-worker, anti-social. A shill for the problem not an
> advocate for a solution.
>
> A faecal smear evacuated from the sociopathic ideological rectum of
> Margaret Thatcher.
>
> Nothing else.
>
> Tony
>
> On 28 Sep 2023, at 14:45, TP histor...@...> wrote:
>
> A comment I read recently on another discussion about the whole current
> scene that might provide some insight into why, including the subject of
> government running operations instead of contractors.
>
> [quote]
> Governments have great difficulty running profitable businesses.
> Politicians respond to the loudest voices. As a result they tend to hold
> prices down and run businesses as an arm of welfare, overmanning them
> badly. Unions dominate weak politicians. Few public servants have a
> background in running businesses. Their thinking tends to be rule
> dominated, reflecting their public service training. No rewards for
> initiative, great fear of doing something different and it going wrong
> [risk]. It is harder for government-owned businesses to recruit outside
> talent at market rates. Governments tend to underinvest in their
> businesses, having other calls on taxpayer funds that will earn them more
> votes.
> [unquote]
>
> Put simply, governments nowadays have trouble attracting the relevant
> talent (and it's not just the issue of money but also the incredibly
> frustrating working environment), so they're obliged to contract out. The
> trick then is to hire the *right* talent, but then you have to have
> somebody who can recognise what the right talent is and you then have to
> hire that person or people and how do you know you have the right person?
> - a sort of Catch 22. Then on top of that, you have the contract process
> itself which has to be set up very carefully to get the outcome you want,
> or else anybody will get the job if they attain the optimum score, which
> may not necessarily include the right competency.
>
> Generally it goes OK, but modern light rail that fails to take into
> account the experience and expertise of legacy systems doesn't always fare
> so well.
>
> Tony P
>
> On Thursday, 28 September 2023 at 13:45:28 UTC+10bblun...@...
> wrote:
>
>> *"Parker said organisations responsible for delivering large-scale
>> projects like Auckland Light Rail and did not employ large teams of experts
>> necessary to develop projects, and relied on companies in the
>> infrastructure/construction industry to provide those skills."*
>>
>> And those organisations have have no expertise in assessing whether the
>> advice is in the their best interest, or for the consultants.
>>
>> Brian
>>
>> On Thursday, 28 September 2023 at 12:43:05 pm AEST, Tony Galloway <
>>a...@...> wrote:
>>
>>
>> Obviously, all public transport projects in the English speaking world
>> need a dose of this :
>>
>>
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>> .
>>
>> Tony
>>
>> On 28 Sep 2023, at 12:31, Greg Sutherland gregsut...@...>
>> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> https://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/politics/gravy-train-the-200-consulting-firms-working-on-auckland-light-rail/DO2CSJAJKRECPJ2JWPDAN4F5DQ/
>>
>>
>>
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>> .
>>
>>
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>>
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