A letter from one of our members, Rowan Barber, to Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan.

You can also send one to the following addresses - Wayne.Swan.MP@aph.gov.au; Kevin.Rudd.MP@aph.gov.au; Arch.Bevis.MP@aph.gov.au

Dear Treasurer Swan,

I read in today's Sunday Mail that my esteemed Lord Mayor has applied for $850 Million dollars to contribute towards the Northern Link Tunnel connecting Toowong to Kelvin Grove in Brisbane. I really do not think the Lord Mayor or SKM (the consultants who wrote the Environmental Impact Assessment) have seriously considered the changing milleau of peak oil and anthropogenic contributions to climate change.

Would you please invest in a future for my (as yet unborn) children and provide a mass transportation system for Brisbane in lieu of the more infrastructure for motor vehicles?

My expertise is in water, sanitation and carbon accounting not traffic engineering. However I see a lot of parallels between the problems we are encountering on SEQ roads and the problems I have encountered in sewers. The congestion of sewers is often caused by consumer behaviour. People put things down the sewer that do not belong there (like dead pets and sump oil). The distinction between sewage and traffic is when one builds a new sewer it does not encourage people to poo more. However, if the Lord Mayor is permitted to build the Northern Link tunnel it will just encourage people to drive more.

I note that: "The Bligh Government is determined to tackle congestion and we will consider any options that may be suitable for use in south-east Queensland".

I wonder if Federal, State and Local Governments have actually considered the option of not tackling congestion and tacking motorist behaviour instead? Congestion is a symptom not a cause. I like the idea of:

* Tolls to enter the CBDs;
* Duplicate and extend the rail networks;
* Add light rail to the mix. Reduce parking in the CBDs;
* Stop providing FBT and salary sacrificing incentives for motorists;
* Stop providing "rescue packages" to a sunset automotive industry that still build gasoline guzzlers;
* Run a marketing campaign to alert motorists of the impacts of motoring on non-renewable resources and the changes to the composition of our atmosphere.. ...

I look forward to your response.

Regards,

Rowan Barber