From: Angus Downie [downieangus@stringline.com.au]
Sent:
Saturday, 3 June 2000 16:16
To:
disabdis@hreoc.gov.au
Subject: ORTA APPLICATION FOR STATE BY STATE
EXEMPTIONS
SUBMISSION
From:
Angus Downie
To: Deputy DDA
Commissioner, Graeme Innes, HREOC
Subject: ORTA APPLICATION FOR
STATE BY STATE BUS
EXEMPTIONS
Date:
4th June, 2000
Dear Sir -
I wish to bring to your attention
commitments (and warnings) relating to accessible public transport for the
Sydney Olympics and Paralympics. This was reported by the NSW Parliamentary
Hansard during debate on the bill to establish ORTA (October 1998) and earlier
(1995) - all briedly reproduced in the last (Autumn 2000) issue of "Quad
Wrangle," officiual journal of the AQA.
However, as a resident of
Tasmania and therefore not directly affected by the proposed exemption, I am
making this submission in a separate capacity to provide some personal and
historical perspective..
As a senior journalist, researcher and national
advocate for accessible public transport since the late 1960's, I began asking
the original Olympics and Paralympic Bid Committee the key questions in November
- December 1992. Since then I have been like "a dog at a bone" from the
NSW Premier, Transport and Olympics ministers, their staffs, down through
OCA, ORTA, the NSW DOT other agencies, and even the then Sydney Lord Mayor (Doug
Sutherland) all without success.
Immediately after the 1996 Atlanta
Games with its transport stuff-ups, I began receiving questions about Sydney
Games' transport at conferences (Florida 1996, Perth 1998, the UK, Europe and
North America 1999) plus numerous faxes, emails and even phone calls from around
the world, all asking the same questions.
This was conveyed to NSW
authorities in person, writing and by phone calls, to virtually no avail, except
for one lengthy but totally unsatisfactory reply from the NSW Transport minister
in 1998 about which I lodged a personal complaint with NSW Premier Carr's staff.
Finally a breakthrough came recently on 24th May, 2000 when the then
acting Olympics minister conceded in a highly confidential letter to the
Victorian premier that without 1,100 buses (including "low-floor accessible
buses") from Victoria, the Olympic Games Bus 2000 fleet (estimated at 3,800) and
ORTA's " task in meeting transport commitments would be exceedingly difficult."
Surprise !
Now that the ACT has withdrawn its ACTION buses from the Bus
2000 fleet, it is virtually certain that ORTA may have to look to South
Australia to assist. And following SA's recent transport privatisation and the
government's contractual arrangements with operators, this can be expected to
raise the same sort of operator concerns that Victorian companies such as Grenda
and Ventura have raised with their state government.
Instead of detailing
the whole sorry mess relating to Olympic transport arrangements and Bus 2000, I
refer you to my views expressed in a detailed chronology and litany of errors in
the Winter issue of Quad Wrangle due out this week and accessible via <www.aqa.com.au> I
wish this to stand as my submission
As a related but side
issue to the above, the NSW Bus and Coach Association via its president, Jim
Bosnjak, who signed the original BUS 2000 Memorandum of Understanding with NSW
and Olympic authorities (and is also a key player in the national BCA which has
fought accessible "mainstream" public buses from the outset), has finally seen
the chickens come home to roost.
After 16 years leading the NSW BCA,
serving as chairman and former partner of Westbus and the National Bus
Company (both sold), and as leader of Bus 2000, 'Big Jim" was recently reported
as being likely to quit all positions after the Olympics.
However, I
firmly believe that the question of trade-offs now in currency to win Federal
Government agreement for the Accessible PublicTransport Standards in return for
the NSW-based ORTA application is politically naive, will lead to more problems
and has not been properly thought through by its proponents. This issue has also
been partly covered by the journal, Quad Wrangle.
.
Mr.
Deputy Commissioner, I refer you and others intending to make submissions to
read these articles before putting pen to paper by 13th June.
Yours
faithfully,
Angus Downie
8980 Channel Highway
Huonville
Tas. 7109
Kind Regards
Angus Downie
downieangus@stringline.com.au
Ph: +61 (0)3 62641321
Fax/Message +61 (0)3 62641919