On an unassuming suburban house block, located about 10 kilometres south-west of Sydney’s city centre, Andrew Graf is manufacturing possibly the most complex bikes ever to be made in Australia.
In this article I’ll look at two recent decisions by two different governments, that are equally disturbing for a slightly differing set of reasons.
Banning Scooter Trials: Andrew Constance has deep roots in the Bega region on NSW’s far south coast. In the 1860’s his great-great-grandfather, James Constance, drove a team of bullocks through the Bega Valley and settled there as a bush pioneer until his death in 1912. Andrew Constance told this story in greater detail during his maiden speech to the NSW parliament on 21st May 2003.
In that same maiden speech he said, “The broader policy questions about the environment mean surely it is time to dare our Government and citizens to consider every option…”
The NSW government has abandoned plans for an electric scooter trial in Sydney despite a national push to legalise the mobility devices.
Electric scooters are illegal on roads and footpaths in NSW, but sales continue to grow.
Transport Minister Andrew Constance says he was “not in the mood” to have e-scooters on Sydney streets, even though his department ran a lengthy process recommending conditions for holding a trial.
Virtually every Australian rail trail proves to be a huge boon to its local economy when it’s opened. Yet virtually every proposed new trail, especially in NSW, take years of pitch battles fought by heroic volunteers in order to overcome the same ill-informed and negative arguments that are thrown up against them.
We recently became aware of a particularly eloquent letter that was written by a local resident nine months after a landmark rail trail in NSW was finally opened last year.
For micromobility to flourish, people need to feel safe on our roads. Over the past couple of years, I have been alarmed and dismayed to see a rapid acceleration in the number of ‘hyper macho pickup trucks’ being imported from the USA and appearing on our streets.
Bosch is investing approximately one billion Euros (A$1.63
billion) in new silicon carbide semiconductor technology that is due to enter
production in the first...
