Ok, moron is harsh... but this is the moron blog so unfortunately Sally R Hill gets lumped in with the overarching theme.
Anyway, Sally has started a campaign to encourage the Australian government to invest in a High Speed Rail system (HSR) that would run from Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast.
Sally's HSR Campaign
I'd be so keen to see a HSR system built in Australia!.... I've only ever been on the one in Japan (the Shinkanzen, aka Bullet Train), but it was epic. Super efficient. Super fast. Awesome!
Unfortunately though (and this is just the realist in me coming out), I find it hard to envision that Australia could ever afford one. 20 million tax payers and huge land distances just don't go well together when it comes to HSR.
Sally isn't really a moron, but she's committed the fatal all time dummy move of not researching what it is she's campaigning about. In her campaign email that she's encouraging as many of you to send to government officials as possible, Sally has referenced that the cost of building a Melbourne to Brisbane HSR would be $13billion.
Hmmm, maybe Sally should have kept reading past the executive summary of Infrastructure Australia's report?...
The $13b figure relates to the cost of the acquisition of land required only and doesn't take into account the act of actually building the damn thing. This same report indicates that the cost of building a HSR from Melbourne to the Sunshine Coast would be $80billion!
I'm all for campaigning about whatever it is that you're passionate about, but if you're going to do so at least take the time to get your facts straight!
...Otherwise people will think that you're a dummy.
[Feel free to twitter Sally: @Sallyrhill]
