Push polling

When the O'Farrell government forced Clover Moore to resign as the state member for Sydney or from the Sydney City Council, there was a by-election for the NSW parliament. During the campaign the Liberal Party made a childish attempt at push polling. Voters were asked which policies of the O'Farrell Government they approved. The policies were being tough on criminals and four similar policies. I threw the letter straight in the recycling bin. The electors voted with their feet and put the boots into the endorsed Liberal candidate.

When Public Servants resort to push polling though, the public has no mechanism to deal with them. No NSW public servant has ever been dismissed for incompetence. They have an assured salary until the age of 68 and superannuation paid by the taxpayer.

TfNSW has been using push polling to quell opposition to the Light Rail Project and now we have the 9/11 13 brochure which was designated "for further consultation". The website has a page engage.haveyoursay which asks for public comment on the Sydney Centre Access Strategy. The public is asked what are three ways the SCCAS could be strengthened in regards to RAIL, LIGHT RAIL, BUSES etc. Since the brochure contains no details on any of these it is hard to imagine anyone being naive enough to respond.

However there is a box that allows a file to be uploaded so I have uploaded a letter addressing some of the inconsistencies in the brochures and some of the obvious flaws in the strategy. I doubt if anyone in the department will pay attention to this but we must live in hope. The letter can be viewed here.