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Sent: Monday, 2 August 2021, 09:45:34 pm AEST
Subject: Tues.27.4.21 daily digest

Roderick

"210426M-Melbourne-'HeraldSun'-council.mistakes-g-ss.jpg"

210427Tu-City.of.Melbourne-whatson-b-CityHatters.jpg [a Flinders St Station feature for decades]

Tues.27.4.21 Metro Twitter
Trains will not stop at Hallam until the last train of Tue 4 May (level-crossing works). Shuttle buses will operate Dandenong - Hallam - Narre Warren.  No access to station facilities or platforms during this time.
- Can we have more buses please? I waited for 20 minutes and had to get on the local 893 to get to Dandenong. Can you at least run the buses to the train timetable? PTV showed a bus run at 9.44. It did not arrive! And this is the first day!
- We're you able to speak to staff on site?
- I also just missed an 893, so there were two local buses to Dandenong, but zero shuttle buses
- Belatedly yes, but they are no help. They do not know when buses are arriving. And they always blame traffic. I only saw one shuttle bus heading to Narre in over 20 minutes! There should be a bus around the same time as the trains in both directions.
- We'll pass this along to follow up.
Follow along as we break through each stage of TBM Meg's tunnelling journey so far. We've passed Arden, Kensington, Parkville, State Library, and now, Meg is reaching the final stage.  Time for Town Hall.
9.29 Werribee/Williamstown Lines: Major delays (an equipment fault near Yarraville).
13.18 & 13.25 Mernda/Hurstbridge lines: Buses replace trains Parliament — Clifton Hill (a train fault near Victoria Park). Buses have been ordered, ETA 1 hour. Consider alternatives.
- 13.35  & 13.55 Buses have been ordered, ETA 1 hour. Journey time extended by 35min.
- 14.06 Trains resume, with major delays.
Buses replace trains Richmond - Glen Waverley from 20.10 until the last train (maintenance works).
Lilydale/Belgrave/Alamein lines: Buses replace trains Parliament - Camberwell from 20.30 until the to last train (maintenance works).
Buses replace trains Epping - Mernda from 20.50 until the last train (works).
21.58 Craigieburn line: All trains run direct to/from Flinders St until the last train (maintenance works). From loop stations, take a train from pfm 3 to North Melbourne.  To loop stations, take a train from North Melbourne pfm 6.
- And lose 30 minutes outbound.  Metro never reveals that.
22.44 Pakenham/Cranbourne lines: Buses to replace trains Oakleigh - Westall (an equipment fault). Buses have been ordered, but may take over 60 minutes to arrive.  Consider alternatives.
- 22.54 See our website at https://bit.ly/1p74boT
- 23.13 Anticipate buses to replace trains until at least 0.30.
- 23.23 Three buses in operation Westall & Oakleigh, adding 30 min to journey time.
- 23.33 Replacement buses are departing every 20 min.
- 23.43 Six buses are in operation, adding 20 min to journey.
- 1.03 Anticipate buses to replace trains Westall - Oakleigh until the last train.
23.53 Pakenham/Cranbourne/Frankston lines: Major delays (police attending to a trespasser).
23.54 Sunbury/Craigieburn/Upfield Lines: Major delays (police attending to a trespasser).
23.57 Mernda/Hurstbridge Lines: Trains will run direct to/from Flinders Street (police attending to a trespasser). 

Melbourne council fails: Times local governments got it really wrong Jordy Atkinson April 26, 2021 Leader 84 comments
A sharp art installation with the potential to impale passersby is just one of the baffling council decisions that will make you shake your head.
Here are some of the baffling blunders made by local councils in Melbourne.
We all make mistakes but these are some real doozies.
And as local councils increasingly veer away from discussion about roads, rates and rubbish in favour of tackling the bigger issues, such as banning plastic cutlery or freeing Julian Assange, we take a look back at some of the times they didn’t even quite get the basics right.
...NORTHCOTE’S $34K SPIKY MEDIAN STRIP ART
Westgarth Traders association president Peter Lynch said if the art could do this to a watermelon, “imagine what it could do to someone's head”.
“Dangerous” public art had to be removed from a median strip in Northcote in 2013 due to safety concerns.
The controversial steel pyramid installation in High St — between Clarke and Westgarth streets — cost ratepayers $34,000 but was taken away after traders and community members raised concerns about safety due to the sharp edges.
Westgarth Traders Association president Peter Lynch said at the time he feared a cyclist, motorcyclist or pedestrian would be impaled on the “metal shard installation”.
All councillors voted to remove the pyramid-like structures as a matter of urgency due to safety concerns.
Cr Vince Fontana said the council got it “dreadfully wrong”, while Cr Angela Villella described the installation as a very expensive mistake...
<www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/inner-east/melbourne-council-fails-times-local-governments-got-it-really-wrong/news-story/523ac0b25906347c836b4854507dd26c>

‘Destroying our historical records’: Historians fear Australian stories could be lost forever. Shane Wright and Katina Curtis April 27, 2021
Historians fear untold Australian stories could be lost without a substantial funding increase for the National Archives to prevent the disintegration of records dating back to the mid-19th century.
This masthead revealed on Monday the war-time speeches of John Curtin, papers of suffragettes Adela Pankhurst and Cecilia John and records of the Bounty mutineers could disappear forever as the Archives struggles to digitise almost 400 kilometres of documents, recordings and tapes.
Recordings of the war-time speeches of prime minister John Curtin are on magnetic audiotape.
It follows years of cuts in real funding that have hit the Archives’ staff numbers. In 2019-20, it spent less on staff than it did in 2013-14. Last financial year, the institution reported an almost $17 million operating deficit. Its last surplus was in 2014-15.
Michelle Arrow, co-editor of History Australia and a former member of the advisory panel for the Prime Minister’s Prize for Australian History, said she was deeply concerned about the looming “digital cliff” that would result in the disintegration of fragile audiovisual records.
It would be almost impossible to write the history of the past century without access to any radio or television recordings, she said.
Professor Arrow said without an injection of cash, vital records of Australia’s identity could be lost just the way key documents relating to South Africa’s history were destroyed last week in a fire at Table Mountain.
“Last week, historians around the world watched in horror as the Library at the University of Cape Town burned down, taking with it thousands of irreplaceable historical records,” she said. “By neglecting and under-funding our national cultural institutions, we are also destroying our historical records, just less spectacularly.”
Many photographs and motion pictures are on acetate film, which suffers from “vinegar syndrome”. The film develops a vinegar smell and becomes brittle, shattering under any tension. Other holdings are on magnetic tape or in a digital form that has become obsolete.
Recordings of speeches made by Curtin during WWII are on magnetic audiotape, as are the hearings of the Stolen Generation and Aboriginal Deaths in Custody royal commissions. WWII-era personnel records from the Second Australian Imperial Force and RAAF are on deteriorating paper and unstable nitrate film.
John Edwards, the author of the award-winning John Curtin’s War: The Coming of War in the Pacific, and Reinventing Australia, said hearing the spoken word of Curtin enabled researchers to understand how he spoke to people at a pivotal point in Australian history.
“They’re immensely important resources and it’s very important that these archives aren’t allowed to disappear,” he said. “You can see that the National Archives needs to be properly resourced so it can protect and preserve these records.”
The Tune review of the Archives, released in March, recommended the government fund a seven-year program to digitise at-risk materials at a cost of $67.7 million. Archives director David Fricker says it will cost about $25 million to save just the audiovisual collection.
Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General Amanda Stoker has said the government will respond to the Tune review this year.
Labor’s shadow attorney-general, Mark Dreyfus, said a response was urgently needed given the imminent threat to history.
“A government that was proud of our history and was committed to truth and accountability would make sure our National Archives could properly safeguard our heritage.”
RELATED ARTICLE Director-general of the National Archives, David Fricker stands among the archives boxes at its Canberra repository in 2012. ‘The memory of the nation is at risk’ with National Archives desperate for funds
RELATED ARTICLE John Curtin’s speaks at a rally on 12 October 1942. Audiotapes of his speeches are under threat. National archives must not be left to rot away
<www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/destroying-our-historical-records-historians-fear-australian-stories-could-be-lost-forever-20210426-p57mf5.html>
* This historical stuff is so important to future historians but don't expect Morrison to spend a cent to save these records.
* Well, we wouldn't want Australians to be informed about their history (including that of previous governments), now would we? It's way easier to try and make A Big Statement about the National War Memorial by giving it more than half a billion dollars to do a completely unnecessary refurbishment to supposedly honour the dead while also completely ignoring the needs of still-living veterans and current servicemen and servicewomen, if Australians don't even have our own history to look at for reference. Isn't it amazing that whenever the LNP is in power, this rampant vandalism occurs?!
* Another reason I WON'T be Voting LNP !
* Plenty of money for sporting events and stadiums.
* Why is anyone surprised? This is normal management by the LNP.
* What is ridiculous about this is that over at the Aust War Memorial they have been given half-a-billion dollars to renovate the building. It is the glorification of war, and represents no balance whatsoever. Disgraceful.
* The very people we want to preserve started the very ‘disgraceful’ thing you rattle on about. The War Memorial is about ordinary people and a celebration of their efforts and sacrifice. Yet you want to preserve the history of those who declared these wars and not those forced to fight them.
* I’m a big supporter of acknowledging our military history and those who served and sacrificed (have made my living in military history) but I do not believe the extra $500m renovation at the AWM can be justified. Quite the opposite, historians appreciate the Archives work is about the context of who Australians - everyday people - were in all aspects of life. For a nation largely untouched (directly) by war we spend more than any other country on war and military commemoration (that was a was fact checked in 2018).
* Destroy is what Liberals do.
* Thank you for bringing this important news to our attention. Other media tend to neglect the important matters and focus on the same predictable subjects. This is important.
* Millions of dollars can be found for a new building at the Australian War Memorial (funded by Dept of Vets Affairs) to house military equipment - but the actual records that tell our history can slowly rot. It's not just the National Archives that has had its funding depleted budget after budget. This death by cuts is affecting other national cultural institutions such as the National Library Australia, National Film and Sound Archive, and the National Gallery. We deserve to have our cultural heritage preserved and made accessible, and this requires adequate funding.
* The current crop of politicians, regardless of their leanings, clearly believe that there are no votes to be had by funding such necessary but esoteric activities as digitising Australia's history and that's all they care about - votes... how to get re-elected, how to cling to the power and perks that go with being one of the ruling elite. It's only one of the many, many reasons why these days politicians appear at the very bottom of any list of professions and the regard they are held in by society.
* Assistant Minister to the Attorney-General Amanda Stoker has said the government will respond to the Tune review this year. The budget is next month! Find the money.
* Control the Past. Control the Present.
* government by deniability, not accountability.
* What is the problem, the Liberals are experts at rewriting history to suit their own view of the world.
* The governments trickle down and user pay policies that only make the rich richer and workers poorer. Giving tax cuts to the wealthiest, so funding cuts inevitable and the are starting to bit right across our communities. It will and is destroying our social fabric
* If I were a fit and active retiree (which I am not - yet) with time on my hands, a willingness to be trained and a desire to still make a meaningful contribution to Australian society, this is EXACTLY the sort of project I would want to be a part of.
* After having spent many millions trying to stop Australians having rightful access to correspondence between Kerr and The Queen about the dismissal of the Whitman Government, it’s a bit rich for National Archives Director Fricker to cry poor. Of course we need to preserve our heritage. Fricker et al are damaged goods and need to move on for the reputational sake of Archives.
* Meanwhile, the PM's priorities are too messed up. He should not be allowed to be PM. Put money into saving our history.
* He should not be dropped because of his faith but because of his incompetence and dishonesty.
* We must keep digitised copies and original copies in special long life containers.
* It is all about posterity and the valuing of all facets of our history, and in tangible form, for future generations and their custodians.

Queensland study maps route to car-free cities of the future Stuart Layt April 27, 2021
Going car-free in modern Australian cities is still no easy prospect for many, but experts say it can be done and to prove it, they have studied a group of people who have left cars behind.
University of Queensland urban planning expert Dorina Pojani and former student Hayley Paijmans studied 24 Brisbane residents who made the conscious decision to cut cars out of their life.
Those in the study ditched cars for a range of reasons, but few nominated the environment as their key motivation.CREDIT:LYDIA LYNCH
Dr Pojani said all of those studied made the decision themselves, rather than being forced not to drive due to economic reasons or because of a disability.
“We wanted to look at people who had made the change off their own bat in a sprawling city like Brisbane because if they’ve made the change here, they show the way for people in cities with better public transport and more central populations,” she said.
Dr Pojani said the measures the subjects put in place to get around their lack of a car could also provide clues about where more public transport and other services were needed.
While she did not include herself in the study, Dr Pojani is car-free and says that as an urban planning expert, she does not see a future for cars in the cities of tomorrow.
“I believe the car-free city is really the future – it’s not the electric car city, it’s not the driverless car city, it’s not even the flying car city,” she said.
“I think we need to give up our cars rather than hoping some sort of technology will fix the problem without us changing our behaviour at all.”
The study found a number of reasons for going car-free among the 24 people, with only a handful citing environmental concerns as their primary motivation.
Having a healthy lifestyle that included lots of walking and cycling was a major factor for some, while others wanted to streamline their lives and remove the apparent hassle of owning and driving a car.
The subjects mostly used a combination of walking, cycling and public transport to get around, although at least some of them still used taxis or ride-share vehicles on occasion, which Dr Pojani said suggested they weren’t ideologically opposed to cars but simply wanted to avoid using them.
Almost all lived in the inner-city area, where access to public transport was potentially better than further out in Brisbane’s suburbs, although Dr Pojani said two people in particular lived much further out but were avid cyclists, regularly riding to the city centre for work.
She said the study’s sample size was very small and not representative, but it was designed as a pilot study to give an initial impression of the issue and point the way to further research.
“It seems as if the inner parts of Brisbane and other cities are the starting point for any push for a car-free city,” she said.
“[Also] if there is public transport conveniently nearby, Australians will take it, so I think expanding public transport networks is also vital to convincing people to give up their cars.”
The research has been published in the journal Case Studies on Transport Policy.
RELATED ARTICLE Fewer people used Brisbane’s bikeways overall in the first half of 2020 but weekend riding became more popular. COVID kept cycle paths quiet until weekend warriors came out in force
<www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/queensland/queensland-study-maps-route-to-car-free-cities-of-the-future-20210427-p57mv5.html>
* We haven't gone car-free, but we have moved from 2-car family to 1. A little compromising, and greater use of public and active transport for all family members has meant it's been a relatively pain-free transition. In 18 months I think we've used an uber/taxi maybe twice...and saved a lot of car money in the meantime. We live in the burbs, but not far off western freeway so public transport and bike-ways are good. Not everybody has that (which I guess is the point of the article).
* The problem is the car is always going to be king unless we start rebuilding Brisbane to a higher density of population and services. Most of Brisbane outside the inner city is still large houses with large yards that makes a walk/cycling/scootering problematic due to distance/road safety. There are very few places in Brisbane that are walking distance to shops/schools/daycare/transport and have safe cycling/scooter access to the city and these areas are usually ultra rich anti-development zones due to NIMBYism. Most train/bus stations/bikeways are fully surrounded by old large housing blocking people out ... madness if you want a sustainable city. I can't justify an extra $300k to live near a bike path to save $7k on a car per year.
* I think that one of your statements is just plain wrong and another misses the point. First up, most of Brisbane except the extreme outer fringe is within walking distance of shops, primary schools and public transport. Clearly, you and I have different ideas about what "walking distance" is. To me, anything up to about 1.5 km qualifies as an easy walking distance. It should be for anyone except the disabled, including children. Second, "bike paths" are pretty useless except for leisurely recreation. You don't need to be near a bike path for a bicycle to be an effective form of personal transportation. The road network can get you where you want to go. There are two problems here with the present state of things. One is that much of the road network has been designed with only cars and larger vehicles in mind. This needs to change and existing roads need to be made more suitable for bicycles. The other issue is that most bicycles in Australia are "sports bikes" or at least bikes designed to only transport your body. Look at countries like the Netherlands, where many bicycles (or, indeed, human-powered tricycles) have significant goods carrying capacity - perfect for local trips to the shops. In any case, this article is about what changes could or should be made to move away from universal car use. It is not about the current state of affairs, which is admittedly problematic. I have no problem with riding on the present roads myself (they are safer than "bike paths"!) but I am both an experienced and competent cyclist AND car driver so I understand the needs of all road users and act accordingly. Motorists occasionally do stupid things but ultimately I am responsible for my own safety - the key is anticipating potential dangers and avoiding them.
* I finally sold my car last year after 25 years of being a driver. I’m lucky enough to live near bike lanes and public transport and because of that ice found it to not only be surprisingly easy but highly enjoyable, much cheaper and at least as fast. I’ll never go back. Having access to safe bike lanes and good public transport is key though.
* And pigs might fly. Might be something for the young and easy, but try doing 2 x school drop offs plus get 20km to work by 8.30am with a bike involved.
* It's true it's not possible or easy for everyone and no-one said it's compulsory. It's certainly not just about bikes though - public transport should be able to get people to work and school as easily as or faster than a car. Kids should definitely be able to ride to schools (which are usually within 5k of home) or catch PT. They might not be able to safely at the moment but that's what needs to change.
* It is easy to be car free in a city like Paris (and many others). That is partly because of housing and living styles, which are not the way Australians live. In Australia, transport authorities will do anything to avoid providing the necessary public transport. Frequency and convenience are vital.