“We will not be intimidated, especially when we are trying to stop a genocide,” he told the house.
“Any time police officers resort to the use of force against non-violent protesters, they violate these principles and undermine the consent and respect necessary for the police to do their job.”
So the RTA's own modelling showed the Rozelle Interchange would be a traffic disaster—but generating more toll road trips for Transurban was more important.
"The [NSW Roads and Traffic Authority] finalised the first business case for the WestConnex tunnel project in June 2013, with the help of road designers from around the world.
"[Paul Forward, a former CEO of the RTA] said the initial concept did not include the Rozelle Interchange.
...
"In 2014, an expert review group was formed to assess these plans.
"Mr Forward said it was at this point that TfNSW bureaucrats began to question the connectivity provided by the design.
"The RTA's former director of traffic Chris Ford told the inquiry that 15 alternative designs were modelled.
"Mr Ford said the modelling found that another motorway leading to the Anzac Bridge would cause congestion.
"'The issues that we see today were very clearly established in the modelling in 2014,' he said.
"In November 2015, after Mr Forward and Mr Ford were dismissed, TfNSW updated the WestConnex business case to include the tunnel to the Anzac Bridge, despite the congestion concerns raised by the modelling.
"In 2016, Transport for NSW updated the business case a second time ... creating a tunnel linking the Iron Cove Bridge to the Anzac Bridge."
...
"In 2018, the NSW government sold its 51 per cent stake in the Sydney Motorway Corporation, the body responsible for operating WestConnex, to Transurban for $9 billion.
"Mr Forward said the final design would generate a larger number of toll trips than previous options."
See, here's why I think the Parramatta light rail should be extended from Sydney Olympic Park to Strathfield.
It's not just that it would allow it to connect directly to many of the train lines serving the western and northern suburbs, including the T1, T2, T3, and T9. Or intercity trains to the Blue Mountains, Central Coast, and Newcastle.
It's not just that Strathfield is a major bus hub with many services across the western suburbs.
It's not just that DFO Homebush (between Strathfield and Olympic Park) is a busy shopping centre that generates a lot of traffic.
No, the big reason I say it's a good idea is because these photos were taken on the 526 bus, between Strathfield and Olympic Park, on a Sunday afternoon.
So just imagine we let one man, and his company, buy most of the papers in our regional cities and small towns.
And that man was named Rupert Murdoch.
And that man decided to shut down the print editions, and instead put those papers behind the paywalls of his big right-wing metropolitan tabloids.
Want to read the local newspaper in Lismore? It's now behind the Daily Telegraph paywall.
And then that man gutted the editorial team for each online newspaper to just one person.
And then used generative AI to centrally churn out 3000 local news articles per week across all his local publications, overseen by four human journalists.
Along with the ongoing issues the building industry is facing, including skills and product supply shortages, the episode looks at a dodgy Sydney-based development firm the corporate regulators haven't touched.
"Dyldam was once a towering force. Its apartments still line the streets and light up the skyline of western Sydney.
"But for more than a decade, the Dyldam group has left a trail of misery behind it that includes bankrupt businesses, unpaid taxes, tradies denied payment for work they've done, suppliers ripped off, and anguished apartment buyers stuck with defective buildings — one built so badly it posed a hazard to human life.
"Time and again, a litany of potential law-breaking has been identified by those brought in to clean up the mess left by busted Dyldam companies.
"Yet, for years the corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), took no action."