Melbourne Protests

[MadKaw]

I keep getting this stuff so I'll pass it on..

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Dear Victorian Motorcycle Clubs,
Please make your members aware of this invitation to join our protest against the way the motorcycle community has been treated by our government.

This is not just about road tolls in the city. It's against wire rope barriers, the TAC tax, compulsory front ID for bikes and more.

Your members who can't make it to the protest ride can help by filling in the petition, seeing their Member of Parliament and/or writing to, or visiting, the media in your area. You never know they may have riders on their staff who will sign the petition and go on the ride.

Your club is welcome to attend the July 5 ride as a club and raise motorcycling issues most important to your members. Kids in their bike gear and club banners welcome. If this is a big, colourful, well-managed event we get media. If we get media we get bargaining power.

Damien.

From: DAMIEN CODOGNOTTO OAM
To: MLA NP - KEN JASPER - MURRAY VALLEY ; MLA NP - JEANETTE POWELL - SHEPPARTON
Sent: Friday, May 30, 2008 5:03 PM
Subject: MEDIA RELEASE 2 - PROTEST RUN - JULY 5, 2008.

This is not spam. It's about a motorcycle & scooter, sidecar & trike ride to protest against road tolls, compulsory front ID, the TAC antibike tax, use of bus lanes & similar and other issues.

Not interested? Delete now. If you want off my email list please say so. This a big list and keedping it updated is important. It is not in my interests to send people information they do not want.

If you think this information is important, please pass it on.


PROTEST RIDE - TOLLS, TAC TAX & FRONT ID & MORE.

There will be a protest ride on Saturday, July 5, 2008. The primary argument will be against road tolls for motorcycles but we'll be collecting signatures on the petition to abolish the unjust $56 a year TAC tax too. Front ID for motorcycles & scooters is definitely a big issue on this protest run.

If we get the numbers we plan to have stands at the bike expo and the OZ GP to collect more signatures against the TAC tax. The petition will be given to an MP to present to Parliament probably on November 12, 2008.

The assembly area will be the Doncaster Park & Ride from 10 am on July 5 - Melway reference Map 46 K1. It's virtually empty on a Saturday. It's left out the gate. A few metres and left onto the Eastern Freeway which becomes the Eastlink toll road. Very safe. Traffic was light when these pictures were taken. Eastlink opens Sunday, June 29. There's a month-long, toll-free period.


Please send an email giving your thoughts on road tolls for motorcycles and scooters to the paper at manningham@leadernewspapers.com.au .

At noon riders will proceed to Frankston at 10 kph under the speed limit. Probably 90 kph most of the trip. The distance will be around 60 kms. The destination is the Fankston Civic Centre in Davey Street. - Melway reference map100A C9. There will be no road tolls and no entry fees or registration. A voluntary bucket collection will help defray costs.

All road registered trikes, sidecars, motorcycles & scooters are welcome. On the ride, normal road laws apply and each rider is responsible for him/her self.

We will be inviting City Councillors and MPs from along the route to be at the start or the finish or to ride with us. The media too. We'll have responsible pilots to take passengers. Let me know if you can take a passenger.

If we get the numbers, the November protest against tolls, front number plates, the $56 TAC tax and other issues goes ahead, if not, it doesn't.

Hopefully some riders will be tempted to come a fair distance for a chance to ride the new super road before the tolls start. Others may be inspired by the recent successful protests by taxi drivers and pensioners and lobbying by nurses and teachers, but I doubt we'll see any topless riders this time of year. Others still may attend because they are angry that our representatives on VMAC have not stood up for the motorcycle community's interests.

In the current issue of Australian Motorcycle News (AMCN), MRA President John Karmouche said the MRA in Melbourne wasn't planning a protest. Read the Editorial and "TOLLING FIRST FOR VICTORIAN RIDERS" on page 10. This is not an MRA ride.

Please use this media release as you see fit. Pass it on to egroups, websites, newsletter editors and so on.

Damien Codognotto OAM
Independant Lobbyist.
Melbourne.
0419 846 855.

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Dear Victorian Club Committees, Webmasters, Editors and Motorcycle Shop Managers & Staff.

Can you please make this petition form available to as many people as possible?

Encourage people to print it out, copy it and collect signatures. People do not have to be a rider to sign it. Putting it on bike shop counters would help a lot.

Completed forms can be returned to Denis Napthine MP or to me at PO Box 3091,Tthe Pines SC, East Doncaster 3109.

We want to present it to Parliament on November 12, 2008. The Eastlink protest ride is on July 5, 2008.

Damien.
Melbourne.
0419 846 855.

From: denis.napthine@parliament.vic.gov.au
To: DAMIEN CODOGNOTTO OAM
Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 10:11 AM
Subject: Re: PETITION/PROTEST.

Dear Damien,

Re: $56 Brumby Bike Tax

Thanks for your email.

I would be pleased to again present petitions against this discriminating State Labor tax on motorbikes to the Parliament.

I attach the format for a petition which you can photocopy and circulate.

Completed petition forms can be sent to me at PO Box 5075 Warrnambool 3280 or to Denis Napthine MP, Parliament House, Spring Street, Melbourne, 3002.

With respect to a proposed protest on November 12, 2008, on the steps of Parliament House, you have to book your protest with the Serjeant-at-Arms.

Best of luck in getting big numbers to sign this petition.

Yours sincerly,

Denis Napthine,
Member for South West Coast
Shadow Minister for Ports; Regional Cities; Racing
Phone: 5562 8230.


"DAMIEN CODOGNOTTO OAM" <d.codognotto.oam@bigpond.com>
20/05/2008 12:41 PM
To "MLA LP - DR DENIS NAPTHINE - S W COAST" <denis.napthine@parliament.vic.gov.au>
cc
Subject PETITION/PROTEST.





Good afternoon Denis.

We are collecting signatures for the petition to abolish the $56 a year TAC
tax on motorcycles & scooters again.

The recent proposals to use the tax to pay for 10 police bikes at around
$300,000 and the plan to introduce tolls for motorcycles & scooters on
Eastlink then other toll roads has made a lot of riders very angry.

I have been in touch with Parliament House and it looks like we would
protest there at around noon on Wednesday, November 12, 2008.

How do we get the original petition forms back? Would you accept the
petition again and present it to Parliament.

Damien Codognotto OAM
Melbourne.
0419 846 855.

[funky]

So how many victorian members can we get to this?

[TopCat]

I'll be there

[triway]

Too many issues will make it all a blur to the media. One issue, one rally! Waste of time otherwise imho.

[MadKaw]

media release

The Eastlink toll road in Melbourne opened on June 29, 2008.

On Saturday, July 5, thousands of motorcycle & scooter riders will assemble at the Doncaster Park & Ride bus/car facility (Melway map 46, K1) next to the Eastern Freeway. At noon they ride to Frankston to hear speakers on issues effecting riders. Each rider will be responsible for their own safe trip.

Mortgage stress is up, so are fuel costs, the economy is a real worry so people are looking for more economical, reliable transport. Climate change will deliver more violent weather so we have to cut pollution.
Responsible authorities are promoting the safe use of environmentally-friendly transport, but, not in Victoria.

Issues include road tolls for bikes, the TAC $56 a year antibike tax, buying police bikes with the tax, compulsory front ID for bikes, planning motorcycle & scooter safety and facilities as for bicycles and wire rope barriers (WRB).

The continued use of WRB, in spite of a written promise by then Premier Steve Bracks to rid Victorian roads of these deadly and costly barriers is a major safety and budget issue.

Vicroads' key reason for continued use of WRB is that it stops crossover crashes, but it doesn't. On July 24, 2006, a track ran across a WRB near Brisbane. That truck hit oncoming traffic killing a woman car driver, putting 8 people in hospital and destroying six cars. The highway at Yatala was closed for hours in both directions.



WRB usually has 4 cables with posts no more than 3 metres apart. WRB on Eastlink has 3 cables and posts about 5 metres apart. 3 cable WRB is more dangerous for motorcycle & scooter riders because the posts are steel box girder constructions with eye/hook bolts exposed. While the posts will do more damage to a rider sliding on the ground, it is doubtful this barrier be as strong when a car hits it? How does that make Eastlink safer than comparable roads. How was 3 cable WRB tested, where and when? Does it meet EU safety standards? does it even meet VicRoads' safety guidelines.

After the fatal crash at Yatala the RACQ called for WRB to be replaced. The manufacturer told the TV news that WRB was never designed to stop trucks.

Recently a car reportedly crossed a WRB on the Monash Freeway at Doveton and careered down the wrong side of the freeway. Miraculously no one died.

Reports that the 3AW Rumour File claimed compulsory, front number plates/stickers/tags were off the national agenda can't be trusted. The people pushing this covert program do not want any more negative publicity after the VicRoads' draft regulatory impact statement leaked. The rumour (anonymous?) hit the air waves in Melbourne just 5 days before a major protest ride. Coincidence? After the campaign against Les Twentyman in the lead up to the Werribee byelection, who knows.

The potential revenue gained from front ID tags in all private vehicles would make speed camera and poker machine revenue look small. Not to mention the data from being able to track vehicles anywhere, anytime. The tags are being tested in 50 Victorian government cars. These devices allow vehicles to be tracked and tolled or fined automatically, anywhere in the country. The civil liberties implications are frightening.

Neale Burgess MP, Liberal Member for Hastings, will be one of the speakers at the at the Frankston Civic Centre. He will speak on the issues of the anti-bike tax and WRB.

Other speakers include world-renowned, transport expert, Professor Marc Wigan; Honda Australia Managing Director, Stuart Strickland, and motorcyclists Michael Lewis and Lindsay Swift.

Motorcycling Australia (Victoria) will put on a sausage sizzle after the speeches behind the Frankston Civic Centre in Davey Street.

Damien Codognotto OAM
Independant Lobbyist.
Melbourne.
0419 846 855

[cookeetree]

Too many issues will make it all a blur to the media. One issue, one rally! Waste of time otherwise imho.

...the way the motorcycle community has been treated by our government...

There's your one issue right there.

[dilligaf]

the purpose of the protest seems to have changed. originally it was against the tolls.
now its a general purpose whinge?
its tricky as the MRA (sans Damien) have got their act together and now seem to have
reasonable input to the govt. they don't support the ride, probably due to the Damien factor.
but if we don't turn up it looks like a lack of support. bloody politics.