For the last decade it has been obvious to Sydneysiders that the government has had little or no interest in Sydney’s ferries. Various premiers and transport ministers (beset by train and bus, health and power troubles) have pushed the problem sideways by regularly hiring and firing a veritable procession of CEOs, each of which has brought enthusiasm, new ideas, and, it seems, little else to the job. 
  In an editorial August 2006 we noted several serviceable ferries, deemed to be of ‘no further use’, had then worked in New Zealand and in Victoria and Tasmania. In 2008 one such had been hired as a relief ferry on the Manly run! 
  In May 2007 ‘A confusion of ferries’ we argued that there were too many low-capacity catamarans of too many types and that there were too many chiefs and too few indians. 
  In February 2008, ‘Is there a future for the ferries?’ we noted the long-established precedent of commercial co-operation between private enterprise (Manly ferries) and the Inner Harbour service. Fifty years ago the government hired the one to run the other. 
  More than one year after Brett Walker SC released his expensive report into the ferry service – which coincidently made many practical suggestions similar to earlier Afloat proposals – nothing has happened. 
  Not only that, it seems that Walker does not expect that anything WILL happen. His comments on radio could have no other interpretation. True the frail JetCats have been dumped – but without any statement on how the existing large ferries will absorb the orphan passengers. 
  Sadly, in today’s political assembly there seems to be no-one on either side of the house that has ever actually physically worked for a living. No-one seems to have any technical understanding of phrases such as ‘preventative maintenance’, ‘capacity redundancy’, ‘simplicity and standardisation of design’ and so on. 
  We still hear rumours of a new ‘one size fits all’ ferry. Surely the ill-fated SuperCat debacle should have put that idea to rest? We need THREE new classes of ferry. The largest, for the Manly run, must be of size similar to those extant and of much the same speed. The Inner Harbour run needs a new class of medium speed, medium capacity ferries similar to the traditional Sydney ferry design. These would service the inner harbour including Darling Harbour (which is speed restricted) and up to Hunters Hill. The third class, medium-speed catamarans could look after the river run and along the south shore to Watsons Bay. Each class needs to be programmed only for its designed run as were ferries of the past. 
  Yes, it will cost well-directed money, controlled by people with experience. The public wants its politicians to actually make workable decisions … and stop passing the bloody buck! Perhaps they could ask the ferry staff just what is wrong with their service?

Graeme Andrews

Graeme Andrews was a master of Manly and Sydney ferries.