Another insightful article John. In my view the same logic can be applied to the resistance to even consider contemplating high speed rail Brisbane-Sydney-Canberra-Melbourne
Instead of bailing out Qantas we should have nationalised It and bought it out for a song. All of the corporate welfare the government handed out to them was a wasted opportunity to restore businesses back to public hands as they have failed to provide a cheap service to the community. The pandemic was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have these businesses fail and to reverse decades of privitisation not only in Qantas but multiple failed experiments in privitisation and bloody Australians thought having Morrison in charge of the country was a good idea. <sigh>
Great piece John. My own thoughts on this went in a slightly different direction. Numerous practices in government favour large incumbents. As someone who's consulted, you're probably aware of the 'panel' system according to which governments purchase professional services. To maximise competition (or the appearance thereof) they hold tenders to get on panels and once on such a panel anyone in the relevant agency can purchase services on pre-agreed terms from any firm that managed to get on the panel.
Problem is, this means that they typically want large firms with comprehensive offerings on the panel so they can always get what they want. As we pointed out in a report to the AG's Department years ago (see link below), this removes the incentive to develop collaborative and cost effective relationships with smaller firms.
Similarly I think it's true that the incumbents enjoy huge advantages in selling to government. It's remarkable how shy Rex was of pricing its flights in the main trunk routes on the eastern seaboard at anything like those being asked by Qantas and Virgin. I assume because they couldn't get politicians and bureaucrats on board. I suspect that Chairman's Lounge membership was just a small part of this.
I was a Commonwealth public servant who was flown to Canberra each week from Brisbane while ‘social democrats’ were privatizing Qantas and the airports in the early 90s. My job was to help modernize a mainframe computer system for the tax office.
What about the workers?
About the same time Ansett workers were made redundant, its collapse caused in part by ‘social democrats’ who gave preferential treatment to Virgin in Queensland (no payroll tax). The government made the mistake of sending out former Australian Democrat Senator Cheryl Kernot to explain why and she was booed off the stage in King George Square by Ansett workers. Some of these workers got jobs for Qantas and were made redundant some years later under the leadership of the CEO John Joyce.
I live in a flight path that Kevin 07 promised to fix. Finally, my bosses sacked me for ‘disrespect’ for being critical of the politicisation of the public service and for being an active union member. I was never part of the elite, nor were my family and friends, but these economic managers of capitalism continue to ignore all the warnings.
There is a crisis at our doorstep, the oil producers are going up in flames because of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and it won’t but just be air travel that is effected. The price of air travel is about to become that much more expensive.
My solution is simple: nationalise all the airlines and airports, both regional and within the 'Golden Triangle'. But that is not going to happen under the present managers of capitalism.
Great point about the differing views of the political class to the typical citizen, John.
I'm wondering if the combined lobby of fossil fuels, roads, and aviation, have stifled any progress towards fast rail in Australia?
It's certainly convenient that they have a near-monopoly in the skies over a road-dominated country.
That said, a previous fast rail study that costed the price of Melbourne to Brisbane was the wrong pitch - fast rail projects overseas have been built one link at a time, and so should we. I don't care whether it's Sydney-Newcastle or Sydney-Canberra or Melbourne-Albury-Wodonga or Brisbane-Gold Coast, just pick one and start building it yesterday. (Reserving the whole east coast route does however need to be done ASAP).
Given the scale of the climate crisis, and the need for us to find ways to address it that also improve our quality of life, it appears that fast rail is a necessity. More trains, fewer planes. The problem is that fast trains serve the needs of the citizens more than they do the current political class, who are relaxed and comfortable with the status-quo.
".. fast rail projects overseas have been built one link at a time, and so should we." True for France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, with a lot of good legacy track already electrified at 25kv. But not for Japan and Spain, with rather poor legacy systems and non-standard gauges. Spain had to build its first AVE line from Madrid to Seville all in one go. Both countries have built rolling stock with sliding bogies that adapt to different widths, but it's tricky and limits operating speed. At first sight Australia's geography is more like Spain's, with a few well-spaced big cities and few middle-sized ones between them to justify an incremental approach.
Yep. The benefits will come with the first line built, but getting Sydney-Melbourne people out of planes and into trains will provide a great boost for everyone and the planet.
Google claims that the acronym GBD has 27 meanings in addition to he presumably intended General Business District, including "Green Biker Dude (video game character)" and "Gay Bowel Disease".
Can Air New Zealand, a decent airline, apply for connecting internal routes within Australia?
Allows me to witter on about the impending revolution in short-haul passenger aviation from electric planes. The well-funded Swedish startup Heart Aviation has a target date of 2028 for commercialisation of a 30-seater hybrid electric plane with an electric range of 200 km and a hybrid range of 800 km. The world's largest battery company, CATL, is working hard on batteries that will enable this.
The revolution will be turbulent. The *only* thing holding up the transition is battery density - motors, airframes, controls, are all fixed, as shown by the handful of certified or nearly certified electric trainers and air taxis with niche one-hour autonomy. It isn't in doubt that fuel costs and maintenance will be much lower for electric commuter planes like Heart's than combustion planes - Heart claim half. Takeoffs and landings will be nearly inaudible.
Brazil, like Australia, combines long internal distances and low population density with a poor legacy rail network, so regional aviation is an attractive option.. Lu's brother Afranio is standing for election as mayor of Natividade (pop. 15,000) in upcountry Rio de Janeiro state. The only way you can get there today is by car or bus on not very good roads. But nearby Itaperuna (pop. 100,000) has a disused airport just 25 km away. I've suggested to him that reviving this as a subregional hub would be a smart policy item. He likes the idea. This scenario will soon be repeated in a lot of places around the world.
Nobody is saying you can ever have electric intercontinental flight, which will have to run on sustainable biofuel - a drop-in, if more expensive, replacement for fossil kerosene. All-electric ranges will increase, but nobody knows where the limit lies.
Lifters and leaners defined by entree into the Chairman’s Lounge.
Great piece. And infuriating
Another insightful article John. In my view the same logic can be applied to the resistance to even consider contemplating high speed rail Brisbane-Sydney-Canberra-Melbourne
I think you could write an almost identical article that substituted "Canada" for "Australia". Neoliberalism for thee, but not for me.
Instead of bailing out Qantas we should have nationalised It and bought it out for a song. All of the corporate welfare the government handed out to them was a wasted opportunity to restore businesses back to public hands as they have failed to provide a cheap service to the community. The pandemic was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have these businesses fail and to reverse decades of privitisation not only in Qantas but multiple failed experiments in privitisation and bloody Australians thought having Morrison in charge of the country was a good idea. <sigh>
Great piece John. My own thoughts on this went in a slightly different direction. Numerous practices in government favour large incumbents. As someone who's consulted, you're probably aware of the 'panel' system according to which governments purchase professional services. To maximise competition (or the appearance thereof) they hold tenders to get on panels and once on such a panel anyone in the relevant agency can purchase services on pre-agreed terms from any firm that managed to get on the panel.
Problem is, this means that they typically want large firms with comprehensive offerings on the panel so they can always get what they want. As we pointed out in a report to the AG's Department years ago (see link below), this removes the incentive to develop collaborative and cost effective relationships with smaller firms.
Similarly I think it's true that the incumbents enjoy huge advantages in selling to government. It's remarkable how shy Rex was of pricing its flights in the main trunk routes on the eastern seaboard at anything like those being asked by Qantas and Virgin. I assume because they couldn't get politicians and bureaucrats on board. I suspect that Chairman's Lounge membership was just a small part of this.
Do you know?
https://lateraleconomics.com.au/output/learning-experience-purchasing-legal-services/
I was a Commonwealth public servant who was flown to Canberra each week from Brisbane while ‘social democrats’ were privatizing Qantas and the airports in the early 90s. My job was to help modernize a mainframe computer system for the tax office.
What about the workers?
About the same time Ansett workers were made redundant, its collapse caused in part by ‘social democrats’ who gave preferential treatment to Virgin in Queensland (no payroll tax). The government made the mistake of sending out former Australian Democrat Senator Cheryl Kernot to explain why and she was booed off the stage in King George Square by Ansett workers. Some of these workers got jobs for Qantas and were made redundant some years later under the leadership of the CEO John Joyce.
I live in a flight path that Kevin 07 promised to fix. Finally, my bosses sacked me for ‘disrespect’ for being critical of the politicisation of the public service and for being an active union member. I was never part of the elite, nor were my family and friends, but these economic managers of capitalism continue to ignore all the warnings.
There is a crisis at our doorstep, the oil producers are going up in flames because of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and it won’t but just be air travel that is effected. The price of air travel is about to become that much more expensive.
My solution is simple: nationalise all the airlines and airports, both regional and within the 'Golden Triangle'. But that is not going to happen under the present managers of capitalism.
Great point about the differing views of the political class to the typical citizen, John.
I'm wondering if the combined lobby of fossil fuels, roads, and aviation, have stifled any progress towards fast rail in Australia?
It's certainly convenient that they have a near-monopoly in the skies over a road-dominated country.
That said, a previous fast rail study that costed the price of Melbourne to Brisbane was the wrong pitch - fast rail projects overseas have been built one link at a time, and so should we. I don't care whether it's Sydney-Newcastle or Sydney-Canberra or Melbourne-Albury-Wodonga or Brisbane-Gold Coast, just pick one and start building it yesterday. (Reserving the whole east coast route does however need to be done ASAP).
Given the scale of the climate crisis, and the need for us to find ways to address it that also improve our quality of life, it appears that fast rail is a necessity. More trains, fewer planes. The problem is that fast trains serve the needs of the citizens more than they do the current political class, who are relaxed and comfortable with the status-quo.
".. fast rail projects overseas have been built one link at a time, and so should we." True for France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands, with a lot of good legacy track already electrified at 25kv. But not for Japan and Spain, with rather poor legacy systems and non-standard gauges. Spain had to build its first AVE line from Madrid to Seville all in one go. Both countries have built rolling stock with sliding bogies that adapt to different widths, but it's tricky and limits operating speed. At first sight Australia's geography is more like Spain's, with a few well-spaced big cities and few middle-sized ones between them to justify an incremental approach.
Yep. The benefits will come with the first line built, but getting Sydney-Melbourne people out of planes and into trains will provide a great boost for everyone and the planet.
Google claims that the acronym GBD has 27 meanings in addition to he presumably intended General Business District, including "Green Biker Dude (video game character)" and "Gay Bowel Disease".
Can Air New Zealand, a decent airline, apply for connecting internal routes within Australia?
Allows me to witter on about the impending revolution in short-haul passenger aviation from electric planes. The well-funded Swedish startup Heart Aviation has a target date of 2028 for commercialisation of a 30-seater hybrid electric plane with an electric range of 200 km and a hybrid range of 800 km. The world's largest battery company, CATL, is working hard on batteries that will enable this.
The revolution will be turbulent. The *only* thing holding up the transition is battery density - motors, airframes, controls, are all fixed, as shown by the handful of certified or nearly certified electric trainers and air taxis with niche one-hour autonomy. It isn't in doubt that fuel costs and maintenance will be much lower for electric commuter planes like Heart's than combustion planes - Heart claim half. Takeoffs and landings will be nearly inaudible.
Brazil, like Australia, combines long internal distances and low population density with a poor legacy rail network, so regional aviation is an attractive option.. Lu's brother Afranio is standing for election as mayor of Natividade (pop. 15,000) in upcountry Rio de Janeiro state. The only way you can get there today is by car or bus on not very good roads. But nearby Itaperuna (pop. 100,000) has a disused airport just 25 km away. I've suggested to him that reviving this as a subregional hub would be a smart policy item. He likes the idea. This scenario will soon be repeated in a lot of places around the world.
Nobody is saying you can ever have electric intercontinental flight, which will have to run on sustainable biofuel - a drop-in, if more expensive, replacement for fossil kerosene. All-electric ranges will increase, but nobody knows where the limit lies.