Cruel Spam Harassment by Transport for NSW

Since Monday 15th April 2024, Nature Trail has received an out-of-the-blue threatening phone call from Kimberley Warren supposedly at Transport for NSW’s “Point to Point Commissioner”, a threatening email from same, and subsequently two fake emails from staff at this ridiculously named Point to Point Commissioner.

 

Here are copies of those incoming correspondences:

Threatening Phone Call 1:

Received from one ‘Kimberley Warren’ on telephone number 02-8650 1783 at 1:38pm on Monday 15th April 2024 from this Transport for NSW’s Point to Point Commissioner department.

Nature Trails records all its incoming calls, just as government does, using our mobile phone and saves them as .MP3 audio files.  It’s a standard ‘Voice Memo’ app on all Apple iPhones.

This 14 minute call was recorded and will be considered as evidence for likely legal action.

---

Threatening Email 1:

Received from same ‘Kimberley Warren’ at 2:20pm same day on Monday 15th April 2024 from this Transport for NSW’s Point to Point Commissioner department. It was just 40 minutes after the phone call.

After an office coffee break this template email was primed to forward to us.

 

“Good Afternoon Steven,

It has been brought to the attention of The Point to Point Transport Commission that you are operating passenger services in Blue Mountains NSW. In NSW, Point to Point transport is any passenger service in a vehicle (other than a bus) that can take customers on the route they choose, at a time that suits them, for a fare. This includes taxis, limousines, rideshare services, airport transfers and other hire vehicles.

If you choose not to become authorised as a Booking Service provider, you will need to cease offering & advertising passenger services in Blue Mountains.

Penalties of up to $110,000 apply for anyone providing an unauthorised taxi or booking service, while drivers will face penalties if they take bookings or carry out passenger services from unauthorised service providers. Penalties are much higher for second or subsequent offences.

Please see below for links to our website and the current legislation and regulation.

As discussed in our phone call this afternoon you are not permitted to advertise these services if you are not an authorised booking service provider. Also discussed, I will view your website on 19 April 2024 in order to confirm that all advertising has been removed.

https://www.pointtopoint.nsw.gov.au/

https://www.pointtopoint.nsw.gov.au/what-a-service-provider/become-an-authorised-service-provider

https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/sl-2017-0424

https://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2016-034

Yours Sincerely

Kimberley Warren
Service & Industry Liaison Officer
Operations
NSW Point to Point Transport Commission”

---

Fake Email 2:

Hi Steve,

I’m looking to do the Grand Cliff Top Walk with my husband and two toddlers. As we will be carrying toddlers, we don’t also want to be carrying gear for an overnight stay in Leura. I was wondering if you offer bag transfer services so that our bags can be dropped at our accommodation in Leura for the night and we can also get picked up the following day from Katoomba and get transferred back to our vehicle at Wentworth Falls.

Thanks,

Sarah

 

---

Fake Email 3:

Hi Steve

I am interested in the transport cost for an overnight camping trip to Birds Rock Newness Plateau. We would bring our own camping equipment and supplies. What would be the cost to drop us and pick us up the next day or 2 days later ? There would be 2 people plus tent wth camping supplies

Thanks

Stuart Slater

---

The government’s ‘Love Local’ hypocrisy, eh?

 

“Anthony Wing is the (current) Point to Point Transport Commissioner – the regulator for taxis, hire vehicles and rideshare in NSW.  Anthony was appointed as Point to Point Transport Commissioner in July 2019.

As Commissioner, Anthony is responsible for administering and enforcing point to point transport law to improve safety and contribute to the creation of a more adaptive, innovative and competitive market for the whole industry.”

SOURCE:  Meet the Commissioner

 

What happened to the good old New South Wales Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA)?

It used to have its own dedicated customer service branch office conveniently locally in Katoomba in Parke Street.  That was before Council bulldozed it in 2008 to make way for a new Coles supermarket, replacing the public servants with council staff in Council Chambers in Civic Place across the highway in North Katoomba.

Barry O’Farrell’s NSW Government in its wisdom then on 1st November 2011, merged the RTA with Sydney Ferries, re-branded it ‘Roads and Maritime Services’ (RMS), so creating a mega department and sacking many long time public servants in the process.

Then later on 18th March 2013, Barry O’Farrell’s NSW Government consolidated the RMS and other departments to the back office, so creating a super mega department replacing customer service with the umbrella super department ‘Service NSW’.

Then again on 1st December 2019, the ​Gladys Berejiklian’s NSW Government further amalgamated the RMS with Sydney Trains (previously was Railcorp and before 1st January 2004 was the State Rail Authority) so creating a super duper über mega department along with anything that moves – into what is (currently) Transport for NSW (TfNSW).

It’s become a trend to now have mega “parent” departments with acronyms like ‘TfNSW‘ looking after children departments, oddly named like ‘Point to Point‘. The Point to Point Transport Commissioner was created in 2016 after all the mess with  mishandling of the foreign Uber usurpation of the NSW taxis industry.

And all the 400 odd railway stations across New South Wales got new orange signs costing tens of millions.  It’s what governments waste taxpayers money on.

Why all these new silly named sub-departments run by bureaucrats who have never had a real job or run a business?

For some reason, the geniuses who designed the signage at Central Station didn’t think putting up clear signs on each platform, listing every stop, was a smart thing to do.

Instead, they installed the most confusing signs in the entire station: the ones labelled “Key Stops”.

Platform 22, for example, which is the platform for the T3 and T8 lines, lists the “Key Stops” of Redfern, Sydenham, Bankstown, Lidcombe and couple of others.  But there is no mention of other stops on the line, such as Marrickville, Campsie, Wiley Park, Chester Hill or Villawood. If you live at any of those stops, tough luck to you. Despite the fact that your station is key to you – because you live there – Sydney Rail does not consider it ‘key’ enough to mention on a sign.

SOURCE:  ‘The Sydney train station sign that’s a nightmare for tourists‘

Nature Trail’s Tour Director in a previous life was also a Management Accountant with the RTA back in 2008-2009 at its then Elizabeth Street headquarters (recent Google Maps street image below).