Last week we received a letter from Justin Madden. We do appreciate his response to us. Unfortunately, it didn’t answer any of the questions in the letter we sent to his department 84 days ago. (Hence the clock keeps ticking).

When the RRL project started, we assumed the government would be open about their decision-making process. We asked them how they were going to decide where the new tracks would run, rather than where they would run.

However, the workings on this project were deemed to be ‘not in the public interest’. There is no discussion. There is no transparency.

Without transparency, how can anyone judge whether the government is using its $4.3 billion of taxpayer money wisely? How can we sure they are putting adequate weight on the value of neighbourhoods, community, heritage & livability when considering route options?

If the government believes they are making the right decisions for the right reasons, they should be willing to defend them. Their reasoning needs to stand up to public scrutiny and debate.

We can accept our homes might be knocked down for the greater good (though it would make us very sad). What we’re most worried about is that the government’s idea of ‘the greater good’ is very different from ours.