Cycle of profits
The apocalypse is upon us and civilisation as we know it is doomed, or so it would appear if critics of the state government’s planned crackdown on electric scooters and bikes are to be believed.
The companies that rent them like Lime and Neuron Mobility have claimed that the changes that the state government is considering, such as limiting all e-mobility devices to 10km/h, requiring users to obtain a driver’s licence, and banning all riders aged under 16, would make their services unviable and have said they will have to depart Queensland if the laws are implemented. So be it.
The legislation is being framed for the common good, not to guarantee profits for private enterprise. The argument seems to be that corporate profits should be prioritised over public safety.
People complain that they won’t be able to get to work. They could always catch a bus/train/ferry like they did before the bikes appeared on the scene, buy a bicycle or – shock! horror! – walk. The exercise would be good for them.
Uber has complained that Uber-eaters will have to wait longer for their meals. Here’s a thought. How about they get off the couch and go and collect their takeaways themselves. Once more the exercise would be good for them and help them work off the calories oozing out of takeaways.
It has even been suggested the laws would have a negative impact on the staging of the Olympic Games. I wonder how many people will cancel their plans to travel to Brisbane in 2032 when they hear we’ve cracked down on e-bikes.
Let’s hope the government puts people before profits.
Chilling circumstances
Winter’s chill is all but upon it, that time of the year when all true-blue Queenslanders huddle indoors wrapped in blankets or crank up the reverse cycle aircon as temperatures plummet to what Canberra residents regard as a heat wave.
Nod if this scene is familiar. You dig out the tracksuit you haven’t worn for 10 months and find several decidedly second-hand tissues stuffed in the pockets. You pull on the top and find a large tomato sauce/soup/unknown origin but possibly avocado smear all over the front. Did you launder it after last winter? Apparently not. You go looking for your UGG boots. After a three day search you find them stuffed in a draw beneath some beach towels. How they got there will remain forever one of life’s many unsolved mysteries.
My weather whining starts now and will continue until September 1.
Green Grid in need of greenbacks
Brisbane City Council’s Making Our Mark campaign with its claimed aim of helping shape the city’s evolution has come up with a concept called The Green Grid.
It proposes tree-lined, well lit, easily negotiated pedestrian-safe walkways along Brunswick Street to link Fortitude Valley, the Herston hospital precinct, the proposed Olympic stadium at Victoria Park and Roma Street Parklands.
It also proposed improving the Roma Street Parkland to City Botanic Gardens link, a connection between South Brisbane and Newstead and another between the Bowen Hills precinct and James St.
Sounds wonderful. What’s the catch? A closer look at the council’s green dream reveals it to be a blueprint for developers, the private sector and governments to partner with the council and invest in these projects. In other words, unless some party other than the council puts up the money, the green dream will remain just that.
Committee for Brisbane chief executive Jen Williams has said that to see the tree-lined streets come to fruition in time for the 2032 Games, planting and serious planning would need to start now. Don’t hold your breath, Jen.
