Stephen Rees's blog

This story started popping up in my inbox – from several sources. First take a look at Now Public which has a big slab of stuff from The Australian. Then go to the horse’s mouth and read what they an “operational briefing” which of course is written in much more positive language than the Australian uses – and which you can expect to see sampled in the Asper family media outlets that dominate our local newscape in the next day or so. And certainly not the take used by the Sydney Morning Herald

I am not pinning my hopes on the outcome that the present package falls apart – though that does seem to be a distinct possibility. It would only defer the decision. It does not point to a region that takes a deep breath, thinks clearly about what is needed post peak oil, now the sea levels are rising fast kind of world, and realises that widening a freeway and  building a ten lane bridge is not “sustainable” in any terms. Becuase the current discussion is just about money. And there is far more at stake here than the $3.3bn price tag.