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| Inquiry Ignored - Government Leaves Ferries in Too-Hard Basket |
| Tuesday, 22 December 2009 | ||||||
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The NSW Government has shunned the recommendations of an independent inquiry and failed to implement private management for Sydney Ferries, putting union demands ahead of commuter interests, said Manly MP Mike Baird. “This was an historic opportunity to improve the ferry service for this community and the new Premier has left it in the too-hard basket,” Mr Baird said. “Instead of following the recommendations of the Walker Inquiry, which the NSW Government itself commissioned more than two years ago, they have once again bowed in to union pressure. “If the NSW Government cared about ferry commuters, it would have listened to Walker and put a robust service contract in place with heightened demands on customer service, increased routes, improved reliability and upgraded vessels. From the announcement, the proposed service contract looks like nothing has changed. “In Brisbane, patronage over the last three years has soared as commuters have benefited from a model that sets ‘customer service satisfaction’ as the key criteria. “In Manly we have seen the private fast ferry service deliver significant improvements to customer service, with more environmentally friendly vessels and cheaper fares. “Manly’s fast ferry service not only saves the government money but also brings in revenue through wharf access – why was this not pursued for the ferries on behalf of taxpayers? “We will watch the performance of Sydney Ferries over the next 15 months and if there is not an ongoing improvement in patronage, service, fares, reliability, routes and government contribution then we will contract out the management, as Walker recommended. “Sydney Harbour remains one of Sydney’s under utilised public transport opportunities – where is the innovation, passion and customer-service culture that exists in other cities?” Reports in today’s The Australian newspaper quote Mr Walker as acknowledging the Government has let the public down. “The ferries are going backwards in real terms and they know it,” Mr Walker said. “Even in the last financial year Sydney Ferries lost more than $14 million – there is no accountability and the new Premier has proved nothing has changed,” Mr Baird said. MEDIA: Lisa Harrington - 0406 726 880
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Ferries When discussing the ferries with people,I point out to them my experiences. When catching the Manly ferry I notice the person at the "gate"---- he is more occupied ona personal computer(playing solatair) to even say gooday --- let alone do his function to supervise the checkin.The comparison is the private jetcat ---the gate is supervised by a friendly person who secures the vessel,sells tickets and answers queriers. Then one comes to the abundance of staff(who realy earn their way inholiday time ----texting and on their mobiles while securing the vessel. They are chatting in between vessels. My friend and I had a picnic at Woollich a while ago and saw a private ferry (the same size of the inner Syd Ferries) come in --- skipped by a young female...she manervoured it to the wharf,tied it up,operated the gangplank and did all the reverse -- all perfectly to drop a20 backpackers from Cockatoo Is....she was the only crewmperson. Inner ferries have 2 deckhands,a skipper,and an engineer --- compare this!Manly Ferries have a skipper,engineer,graser,and 4 deckhands The moral of this all is the MUA has overstaffed the state ferries.It is why Australia has very little flaged merchant ships |
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