Yesterday, Sydney was not a pleasant place to visit if you were driving a car. In fact, Sydney will be a horror destination for drivers for three whole days !
Why ? Because the vice president of the United States of America is here on a visit - and for some strange reason that visit will take place in Sydney.
Because the VP will be moving about the city in his motorcade,streets will be sealed off between his hotel in " The Rocks " and the CBD, both to ensure safety from terrorists and to speed his journey. As a consequence, other road users will face delays and inconvenience.
The question that needs an answer is why this visit by a senior representative of a friendly ally has to take place in Sydney ?
Sydney is the biggest city in this country - and the state capital - but the national capital happens to be in a place called Canberra - and that's the logical place for chin wags between government and visiting dignitaries to take place.
When our PM flies to America or Britain for meetings they take place in Washington or London.
Admittedly Canberra is something of a non-event when it comes to scenery - and few citizens of other countries have ever heard of it - as opposed to the beautiful world city of Sydney, with it's harbour, bridge and Opera House - but these top level discussions are not supposed to be mere tourism - and wouldn't it be reasonable to expect them to be held in Canberra - where the drab surroundings would not draw attention away from the matters under discussion ?
The citizens of Sydney could surely do without crowds of the unwashed demonstrating whenever a controversial visitor arrives and motorists have enough to put up with from badly designed traffic flows and tolls without street closures to further impede their progress.
Perhaps now is the time to ordain that all government to government contact will in future take place - in Canberra !
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