Fines Victoria crisis deepens, leaving massive hole in state budget

[eb2fairmont]

Well I’m on holidays in the land of the free and been cruising around a bit driving.

Some observations

1. No cameras
2. No one does the speed limit in roadworks areas - that’s set at 55 mph (90) and people don’t lift for it. At all. Had trucks right up my Jacksie honking.
3. Speed limits are really posted +5-10 mph
4. Cops are a constant presence on the highways but only really after people going really slow or pulling 80+. If the traffic is flowing well they don’t care.

In many way I think what we do is better (esp roadworks) but TBH were being treated as a pack of fools. We have a zero harm rhetoric applied to justify more and more controls to resolve a problem.

And if you look at safety performance in large companies administrative controls only does so much. Rest is driver attitude (training) and engineering controls (car capability and roads)

We’re being fed mushroom fertiliser and suck it up from government in a most gutless way.

[Crazy Dazz]

Originally Posted by russellw

Without wishing to generalise, most Government agencies are ill-equipped to handle major IS transitions but I've witnessed this first hand and can say that ..

1. The handful of major rip-off merchants big vendors who operate in this project space are very good at overselling their capabilities and under-delivering their services while milking the dollar at a rate that is mind-boggling. It should be noted that this is not unique to them or Government projects but these big 'public money' failures get media attention.

2. Most agencies go into these projects under-prepared and with no real idea of just what is involved. Having said that, I was involved in one where the agency spent 18 months preparing; were very clear on the desired outcomes and well led by their management but the vendor(s) still couldn't deliver and several million went down the toilet.

It is possible to get a good outcome but you need a very clearly defined SoW; leadership willing to drive the vendor hard and a willingness to stop the money flow if clearly defined milestones aren't met.

The bit that really surprises me is that the same handful of vendors keep failing very publicly and for big $$ but always seem to be able to win new projects where the rest of us would be out of business.

It comes down to the insane way that government (and semi-government) procurement operates. Whether it's an IT system, trains, buses, or submarines.
It starts with the nonsensical assumption that their requirements are so unique that there couldn't possibly be an existing solution. Ie that nowhere in the world, amongst the thousands of governments, is there an existing system doing a similar job that is close enough to what they need.
They then spend a ridiculous amount of time writing up a wishlist of features the new system must have. And of course they make one of two mistakes. They either stack the committee with end-users who have no idea of the complexities of what they're asking for. OR they let the IT folk run the show, with scant regard for those who will most interact with the system.
Unfortunately the loudest voices on such committees are always the most pig-headed and opinionated.
The fundamental problem, when you move away from an existing system (or bus or train) is that you have no basis for comparison. The purchaser can't simply point to the existing products and complain that theirs isn't the same. So they have to rely on the SOW, which is often deeply flawed, subject to interpretation, or simply silent on how key outcomes are to be measured.

And the way they select the successful tenderer can be spectacularly bizarre. I'm not exaggerating when I say that even when you have a vendor simply trying to sell a product, the evaluation will include an assessment of the policies and procedures on such issues as sustainability, inclusivity, diversity, OH&S, etc. Moreover, success goes not to those with good track records, but whoever is best at answering the questionnaires.

[Franco Cozzo]

Originally Posted by eb2fairmont

Well I’m on holidays in the land of the free and been cruising around a bit driving.

Some observations

1. No cameras
2. No one does the speed limit in roadworks areas - that’s set at 55 mph (90) and people don’t lift for it. At all. Had trucks right up my Jacksie honking.
3. Speed limits are really posted +5-10 mph
4. Cops are a constant presence on the highways but only really after people going really slow or pulling 80+. If the traffic is flowing well they don’t care.

In many way I think what we do is better (esp roadworks) but TBH were being treated as a pack of fools. We have a zero harm rhetoric applied to justify more and more controls to resolve a problem.

And if you look at safety performance in large companies administrative controls only does so much. Rest is driver attitude (training) and engineering controls (car capability and roads)

We’re being fed mushroom fertiliser and suck it up from government in a most gutless way.

Thats because Australia is a nation of convicts, can't think for ourselves without the warden dictating to us

[Adamz Ghia]

Originally Posted by eb2fairmont

Well I’m on holidays in the land of the free and been cruising around a bit driving.

Some observations

1. No cameras
2. No one does the speed limit in roadworks areas - that’s set at 55 mph (90) and people don’t lift for it. At all. Had trucks right up my Jacksie honking.
3. Speed limits are really posted +5-10 mph
4. Cops are a constant presence on the highways but only really after people going really slow or pulling 80+. If the traffic is flowing well they don’t care.

In many way I think what we do is better (esp roadworks) but TBH were being treated as a pack of fools. We have a zero harm rhetoric applied to justify more and more controls to resolve a problem.

And if you look at safety performance in large companies administrative controls only does so much. Rest is driver attitude (training) and engineering controls (car capability and roads)

We’re being fed mushroom fertiliser and suck it up from government in a most gutless way.

There are exceptions to this. I personally agree with what you said. My better half doesn’t. She was doing 75mph in a 60mph zone, and in the middle of the desert in Kern County was pulled over by a highway patrol. No amount of politeness and talking could get her out of it. One AUD$575 fine later and we were on our way.