MRAA (ie MRAV) bashing

I realise I'm coming into this thread late, but after riding the current
incarnation of the Black Spur into Melbourne last Thursday enroute to
the GP dinner... if they were to resurface a stretch of my favourite
road in tarmac like that, and all I had to contribute was $50, I'd say
sign me the **** up, muthafuckas. Sign me up twice.

Victoria still has a quarter of the speed enforcement, better-quality
roads, cheaper rego and an infinitely more equitable third-party injury
compensation system than the state next door where riders, instead of
being represented by a bunch of ineffective buffons, have a sane, sage
lobby group.

Last I checked, Victorian coppers haven't been handing out tickets for a
missing sticker on a bike's muffler. Frankly, quit your bitching.

 

In aus.motorcycles on Sat, 22 Oct 2005 21:09:29 +1000

Petitions aren't usually that useful. Pollies know damn well that many
people will sign petitions if asked even if they don't really care, and
will often do so just to make the bod who asks happy.

Individual letters are more useful, especially if combined with a press
campaign, using reporters' own biases - such as against wasted govt
money - to get the reports slanted in the right way.

Protest rides are, in my opinion, useless unless they can do more than
just have people turn up. Toll protest rides work better than most
because they have a secondary purpose - clog the toll road and remind
toll operators that bikes are trouble, they take twice as long per bike.
(that at least helps in the NSW problem of no e-tag, but may be a
problem for getting lower/no toll for bikes.)

Pollies won't change things because they are asked. They have to be
convinced that either they'll get votes for the change, or will lose
votes if they don't change. Bike riders are a minority spread across
many electorates, so upsetting them isn't dangerous. Doing something
that can annoy other electors, or will add fuel to an already dangerous
fire, like mis-spending govt money, is dangerous.

Zebee

 

dunno, dont wear 'em, don't go out of my way to eat 'em or avoid 'em

best ask Minx what her platform is

can't say i'm particularly opposed to cancer, somethings got to keep the
population down and there are not many natural predators left

 

My guess is that nothing much but motorcycles and Black Hawk helicopters
*will* be moving in Melboune at the height of the Commonwealth Games. A
better protest would be to lane split through the grid locks with
abandon ...
- sanbar

 

It's not easy being Green, eh Minx?

http://zoic.org/sharkey/tmp/green.jpg

-----sharks

 

Smee said....

You'd have to ask her. I have no idea. All I did was to post a note to
the forum highlighting the fact that people still think that Codognotto
speaks for the MRA, when clearly he does not. That's a totally separate
issue to whatever someone else may have done.

Perhaps Minx would like to clear this matter up.

I never said any such thing. I suggest that you read what I posted, not
what you think that I posted.

Aren't teachers supposed to be trained in clear thinking?

 

Zebee said....

I realise that petitions are not the best way for lobbying. However,
it's suggested the whole idea in this case is foolish.

Is it? Or is it merely a waste of time and effort on the part of DC
who's running this campaign?

Me, I would have prefered that people sit down and physically write
paper based letters, put them in envelopes and mail them off. That
method of lobbying takes up more of a politician's or his/her staff's
time and resources.

But I'm not running this campaign, and when I suggested this alternative
and why, I copped the usual abuse.

 

G-S said....

Yes, they call it "motherhood issues" and thus make it difficult to
lobby against.

I'm not disagreeing with you. But when the money from this levy is
supposedly going into roadworks that doesn't directly and solely benefit
riders, then I get a tad annoyed.

I would prefer that it be spent on rider training, particularly for
older riders returning to riding, given that it's claimed that this
rider group is starting to figure prominently (and disapproprtionately)
in the stats.

 

Last time I checked I didn't have control over what my income tax is
spent on. For example, a couple of years ago my government decided to
throw a lot of money into a war, and no amount of protesting could stop
that. So I don't care what they do with that extra $50 I pay on the
rego now, which is still pretty cheap actually. But as it happens, a
lot of it gets spent on pages like this;

http://www.arrivealive.vic.gov.au/motorcycle_levy/index.html

ie, somebody has to detail where this money goes, because there are
people out there who think that an extra $50 a year is a political
issue.

Now there are some things that are worth protesting and writing letters
about, so I do. However I won't be joining the $50 levy protest,
partly because I'm volunteering at the Commonwealth Games and will
probably be rostered that day, (with a good chance that I'll now be
rostered on traffic control to deal with the delays caused by the $50
levy protest, thanks for that Damien), but the main reason I won't be
joining the protest is that I'm over it, never cared at all actually,
and my special message to the people who still do is, 'get a life'.
Please. You obviously have a lot of time on your hands, and a lot of
anger and energy to put into political issues. Please pick something
more important.

Cheers

 

Why are there so many songs about rainbows and what's on the other side?

 

How far, exactly, do you think $50 a year each goes?

http://www.arrivealive.vic.gov.au/motorcycle_levy/index.html

http://evilurl.com/burnTITJUGSpiss

 

sanbar said....

Until said Blackhawks get a target lock on those terrorist suspect,
CFMEU member, backpack carrying motorcycle "commuters", that is...

 

IK said....

Maybe it's cos we don't have such a law, yet. Just like we don't have
double demerit points and lower speed limits for learners and P platers.
However, give Bracks time....

But you're right. We do have it good in some respects, in comparison to
NSW, for example.

I think that the main bitch about the TAC Levy is that there are a lot
of riders who think that it's discriminatory. No other road user group
has to pay any extra levies or taxes beyond their normal rego and TAC
charges.

4WD owners used to have a special $40 levy tacked onto their rego, but
that was dropped. Probably 'cos there are a lot more 4WD owners than
there are motorcyclists, and probably why 4WDs attract less import duty
than other pax vehicles, given the demographic that drives them...

 

It's the CFMEU the federal government has to thank for its increased
majority in the lower house; they ain't getting targetted by nuttin'
just yet.

 

If I had insider input to government and noticed this sort of sentiment
among a particular minority group, my advice would run something like,
"They already think the worst of us, and set themselves apart from the
majority of society by their own proclamations... whatever you can think
of to hit them with, go for it. It's not like we're about to lose the
votes of people who hate us and expect the worst from us, anyway. If
anything, there might be a few votes to be gained in the wider community
by us appearing to be making an effort to keep these outsiders in
line"... just like the anti-terror laws.

The more someone whinges and moans in our name about being ostracised,
victimised and groomed for ever-more of the same, the more ostracised
and victimised we can count on becoming.

Some respects?
Footpath parking. Legal lanesplitting. Cheaper rego. No-fault
universal-cover third-party injury compensation scheme. Free toll roads.
For the life of me, I can't think of a single thing NSW motorcyclists
have that should be the envy of Victorian motorcyclists...

The point is that, faced with this relatively favourable set of
circumstances, the Victorian riders-rights advocacy body has, for as
long as I've been paying attention, been conducting its public-awareness
campaign through actions which have been needlessly antagonistic...

....ffs, for example, a protest ride about the $50 levy staged in the
evening peak hour, through a tunnel which riders, unlike everyone their
action inconvenienced, get to use for free. Abuse a privilege to
complain about a perceived inequity. The nicest thing you can say about
something like that is that the people who thought it up would have to
be some of the most pr-ignorant nob-ends this side of the Indonesian
Army high command. Alternately, you could probably say that they're just
combative wankers, and little wonder they get ignored when input into
issues relating to motorcycling is sought by the government if that's
the case.

So, if the $50 surcharge was, instead, packaged as just a $50 hike in
the basic bike rego fee... what then?

Some more perspective might come in handy here; when was this $40
surcharge on 4WD's dropped?

There goes the persecution complex again; banging on about the issue
from that angle is counterproductive (not that I'm convinced that there
really are more 4WD owners than riders). Regardless of whether they have
to pay a separate extra fee on their rego, how much more expensive is
4WD rego compared to bike rego or regular passenger car rego in Victoria?

How reasonable does someone sound to a random member of the public if
their call for change boils down to, "These cahns only pay $300 more for
rego than me per year. That's not fair. They should be paying a grand more"?

 

GOOD LORD...a genyoowhine rampant antagonistic politician bothering looney

 

Only because it's harsh week mate...


Johno

beer?

 

The only problem with that point of view (concerning that particular
piece of road) is that motorcyclists are paying for damage to the road
which was done (and continues to be done) by logging trucks and 4WDs
towing boats.

Nev..
'03 ZX12R

 

She already posted clearing that matter up.. 3 days ago.

Nev..
'03 ZX12R

 

Martins post to the forum was read by my MRA geek friend, whose
indignation prompted me to clarify that the protest is not organised by
the MRA per se. That is, they're not organising it, but they're
promoting it, ie; sending the email around, and posting it on their
website. I just made that distinction clear since it was important to
him, and I wanted to make up for calling him a geek