An Irritating Truth

It was the first day of business as usual today, as people returned back from their end of year holidays. Surprise surprise! The ferry was late both ways, and two services failed to show up at all.

This morning we were told that the Darling Harbour service had reached maximum capacity at Huntleys Point, and would not be going to Drummoyne. We asked whether Sydney Ferries would be replacing the service, sending a new boat to pick up the stranded passengers at Drummoyne, McMahon’s, and Milson’s Point. No, we were told, no it would not. We were told to wait for the next ferry service which “should be coming along in about twenty minutes or so” (Thirty-five minutes later, the ferry finally arrived).

This afternoon, the 5.35 service still hadn’t left at ten to six, and it too decided it would not be going to Darling Harbour. When I inquired as to the cause of delay, the ferryman said “first we had technical problems, then we had another problem, then we were full.” A full ferry? Well blow me down! I thought that was a good thing – given that the proportion of passengers expecting to disembark at Darling Harbour made up about 50%. There would still be plenty of room for the people expecting to get on at other stops. But no, they concluded that the most logical decision was to not stop at Darling Harbour at all. We then we waited another seven minutes so that all the Darling Harbour patrons could get back off the ferry, and our half-empty river-cat went directly to Drummoyne. (Can I get a round of applause?)

Truly, I cannot think of any justification for such utter incompetence. They’ve only had the last month to prepare for the start of business in January (hell, they’ve had since last Christmas to fix any back-to-work inefficiencies). Even during the Christmas break they still couldn’t get it right, (some people still work over Christmas you know), only during this time they’d show up early and fail to hang around to collect anyone that was expecting the service to wait or arrive at its scheduled time. Even worse, some ferry services failed to show up at all. (This happened last Wednesday).

I really wish I had kept a proper record though, of the amount of times the ferry was late, or non-existent. I would have put it against a ratio of rude ferry employees, and missing staff. I can’t think of any other business in the world that would be allowed to remain so clearly sub-standard without significant barriers and penalties. Public transport is the one and only “business” I can think of where consumers are completely at the mercy of the organisation. Our tax dollars (and post-tax dollars) are paying for this service, you would think there would be an expectation of return on investment.

And yet, despite the fundamental lack of organisation of any kind whatsoever, Sydney Ferries still hands out anti-privatisation propaganda and expects people to believe that an inefficient, under-funded service with absolutely no accountability is the lesser of two evils.

If Sydney Ferries are privatised, the leaflets explained (without any burden of proof), we should expect:

• Decreased services
• Slower arrival times
• Ticket price increases
• Less staff

Well to begin with I don’t exactly know what constitutes a “slower arrival time.” I’m no engineer, but I would assume that a ferry is designed to drive at a certain speed (taking into account local speed limits); private or public – it’s the same bloody boat, I don’t really understand how speed would come into it at all.

As for ticket price increases, to be honest, if they increased services to the west and inner west , if the ferries arrived on time, if the staff were friendly and well-trained – I would be more than willing to pay more for my weekly ferry pass.

Furthermore, the only way that services would decrease under privatisation, is if all the wharfies decided to go on strike.
Here is what Sydney Ferries hasn’t told you about privatisation:

If Sydney Ferries were privatised, it most likely means that all Sydney Ferry employees would not be able to belong to a union. Yes, the rules of fair-trade, employment and non-discrimination would still apply (as it does to all other workers regardless of industry), but it would most likely mean that if an employee didn’t feel like coming into work, they wouldn’t have a union to hide behind. Under privatisation, in exchange for better training, a heirachical employment structure with benefits and an increased wage, there would be an expectation (amazing as it may seem) that if you don’t come to work – you don’t get paid. To Sydney Ferry employees this a major concern because at the moment the consequences for people who are late to work or fail to show up – are few (if any).

Sydney Ferries is in desperate need of privatisation by a forward thinking businessman who can lay out not only a comprehensive business plan to keep Sydney Ferries afloat (no pun intended) and lucrative, it needs someone who can make the damn things run on time (pardon the cliche). Someone who can account for the occasional mishap and have a plan in place that accounts for all possible setbacks and obstacles.

Moreover, the money paid in exchange for ownership of Sydney Ferries (including ownership of the ferries, wharfs, and technology) could go towards fixing other public transport services – including fixing our train lines and extending them into the western suburbs, or creating more buslanes out to the inner west. They could buy up the boats, and engineers, fix the technology (which I’m sure is part of the problem). With ferries and river cats being serviced frequently by qualified engineers, run by people who are well-paid and happy in their jobs, (working under stricter supervision), provided with the training they need to succeed in the industry, they will finally be providing a superior service, attracting more people onto Sydney Ferries, thereby making it a lucrative business to run.

There is no better time to buy than right now. With rising national debt and 15 million Australians out of work at the present time, the government needs the money as much as the jobless need employment. What better time than now to recruit into public transport services and get a solid management structure in place, with a rising scale of salaries and/or benefits. You’d be taking it off the governments hands, and those government employees faced with job cuts, (it’s inevitable that in a board room somewhere, there are a group of people employed to have a summit on Sydney Ferries, being told to reach the consensus to do absolutely nothing) can be integrated into Sydney Buses and City Rail. They can lend their expertise in government bureaucracy and finally come up with a solution for our existing public transport problems.

From today onwards, I will be keeping an exact record of the incidences of delayed and non existent ferry services. At the end of the month, I will be delivering this to the state government, with an attached proposal for privatisation. An Irritating Truth
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