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Subject: Re: Election Questionaire

Date: Wed, 14 Mar 2007 09:32:35 +1100

From: Edward Okulicz <ed@furanes.net>

To: Chris Virtue <cvirtue@inhouse.com.au>

References: <45F71EB0.70708@inhouse.com.au>

Dear Chris,

I see your non-car owning status and raise you further - I don't even have a driver's licence. I have a bike locked up out the back which I use in less built-up areas than where I live (for leisure and fitness), but I wouldn't feel safe using it as my primary means of transport to work from Lilyfield. I used to live in Canberra, which was a cyclist's paradise by comparison.

I will concede that I have no chance of being elected. As such, #2 is the only question I can legitimately answer without offering you platitudes that would just be insulting your intelligence. The Democrats, and I am no exception, do support more cycling infrastructure. Actually, I support more of any kind of infrastructure as long as it's not excess road infrastructure. With all the hoo-hah about budget surpluses, I even think it's worth going into a manageable amount of debt to invest in transport infrastructure other than roads, or roads with dedicated cycling lanes as some bridges have even if it's not particularly good. Ideally, some day the recommendations of the Christie Report (have you seen this?) will happen and there will be a rail link into the Balmain area via Wynyard. In the here and now, a light rail link through Victoria Road strikes me as being more feasible as a way of reducing the number of cars in the area.

As far as the media attacks go, those are completely irresponsible. Perhaps I should stop skipping Miranda Devine's column. May I ask if there have been any specific instances where you've been on the receiving end of dangerous behaviour? Motorcyclists have quite the effective lobbying experience, yet I'm not aware of other cyclists' groups campaigning for people to treat them with respect on the roads.

I have forwarded your email to our sitting MLC, Arthur Chesterfield-Evans and ask him to give a more detailed response as to what he, as an elected Parliamentarian, will do to further your cause if he is re-elected on March 24 - our policies state, generally, that we will press the government to "push for more cycleways in the CBD and elsewhere". Of the specific concerns you raise, I'm only personally familiar with the bus shelter on the Anzac Bridge but there should be some guidelines for erecting structures for buses to stop that doesn't make the navigable path for pedestrians or cyclists narrower than a certain distance.

Thanks for your email, and I am sorry I can't give you anything more concrete than this.

Regards,

Edward Okulicz

Australian Democrats Candidate for Balmain

19 Gladstone St, Lilyfield

-- GilbertGrace - 18 Mar 2007

Parents: Advocacy > 2006Policy

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