The great city of Melbourne came up with a great idea; a bicycle program for the city’s central business district (CBD). Indeed this is a progressive plan to encourage more people to leave their cars at home for alternative transport options. The combination of public transport and the bicylce program would have been a great way to make the city even more accessible for non-cars.
But like so many other programs, the Labor Victorian government has failed again. And it has failed on a number of levels, another great trait of this government.
In the infinite wisdom the program being rolled out without helmets, as noted in The Age’s and Herald Sun’s letters-to-the-editor sections, enabling Victorian Police to raise unprecedented levels of revenue from cyclists not wearing a helmet. I’m sure this would be a resounding world-wide hit for tourists trying to do the right thing environmentally only to run afoul of Australian road rules. These kinds of oversights could result in problems containing the ripple effect and restoring faith in Melbourne being a great place to visit.
With all of the junkets to Europe and Asia, and especially to cities that already have rolled out extensive bicycle programs, one has to wonder exactly what they were doing while they were there. Surely it was not just to see how well the Europeans built roads, or nuclear power plants for that matter. Were they not shown how well these cities are adjusting to climate change through their own time-tested bicycle programs; and how they are helping to reduce the amount of cars on the roads? Surely from the experiences in China, France, Amsterdam, Vietnam, Indonesia, Germany, and Malayasia etc the Labor government would have better foresight into how such a program should be developed and rolled out.
It is no wonder people (mostly the writers and commentators at The Age and Herald Sun) make a mockery of so-called international educational tours & trade missions by politicians (and some senior bureaucrats); some to quiet extravagantly priced cities.
The wisdom was further extended to the pricing policy for the bicycle program; no doubt at the behest of the winning tender, the Royal Automobile Club of Victoria (RACV). That’s right. A bicycle program for Melbourne’s CBD is being rolled out by the state’s largest and most cashed-up car & motorist lobby group. (And perhaps yet another sign of Brumby’s pollution agenda.) Apparently, the hire of a bicycle is free for the first hour. There is apparently only the disclaimer that there are significant fees after the first free hour. What a wonderful idea. Make significant profits from significant fees because to go anywhere and enjoy the sights, sounds and delights on offer is going to take longer than an hour.
Unfortunately, this is another excellent program that has been junked by the reigning Labor government.
Social media process. Courtesy: Damien Basile (flickr.com)
Social media and activism present a rich combination for positive progressive change, if utilized properly and effectively; with a plan and strategy underpinning its use. In many ways there are similarities to the techniques and strategies used for on-the-ground organising and campaigning.
Given my work is all about campaigning online, and people have been approaching me about strategies and techniques, I’ve decided to publish my thoughts on a range of topics about social media and online activism through a series of posts. There will be attention to specific social media sites and tools; which will also include discussion of techniques. There will be at least one discussion piece about online organising; looking at websites and the use of email lists, website tools and CRM. I’ll also be publishing my thoughts on content; including sources (finding & generating them) and management.
Plus I couldn’t go past including something about mobile technologies and applications.
However, there’s a catch.
The catch is each article in the series will be password protected. Therefore you’ll either be invited to read the articles or you will need to request a password to the article you’d like to read (a listing of available articles will be published publicly).
Lobbyists for the big polluters are crawling the halls of Parliament every day, but ordinary voters haven’t had the same access or influence. Until now.
The Rudd Government was elected with a mandate to face up to climate change. Yet the legislation they’ve created locks in climate failure. It currently promises $16 billion to polluters, penalises ordinary Australians for reducing their emissions and sets pollution reduction targets way too low to stop climate change: just 5% by 2020.
The Greens Senators are facing up to climate change with the Safe Climate Bill. Now it’s your turn – how will you face up?
The Government’s CPRS Bill already failed once, and it’s up for a re-vote in November.
Right now the fossil fuel industry lobbyists are the ones with the access and influence to be seen. We want to change that. After all, the Rudd government works for you, not the polluters, and they need your vote come election time next year!
Upload your photo at www.faceup.org.au to take a stand for climate action that counts. We will take the photos and messages from your electorate and personally deliver them to your local MP and the Prime Minister as a greeting card and CD.
It’s time to put your face directly in front of the Prime Minister and your local MP.
Upload your photo to tell Kevin Rudd and his MPs that they work for you, not the big polluters, and you’ve given him a mandate to actually tackle the climate crisis, not lock in failure.
Note well: Originally posted at the Australian Greens’ MPs blog
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As found on
Alex’s Choice News- Better funding for State Community Services Workers is Overdue says Hartland November 9, 2009
- Greens rally in support of midwives November 9, 2009The Australian Greens have put their support behind rallies being held around Australia today in support of the rights of Australian midwives. The Greens support the rights of women to choose safe homebirths with the assistance of a midwife and have been working to strengthen the government's midwives legislation. But the government's amendment to […]
- It's Time To Say "I Do'', Mr Rudd November 9, 2009It's time for Prime Minister Kevin Rudd to provide marriage equality for same-sex couples, according to Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young. Senator Hanson-Young, Greens spokesperson on Sexuality and Gender Identity, says there is a growing level of public support for equal marriage and the Government should stop standing in the way of debate on this issu […]
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Alex Schlotzer by Alex Schlotzer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.5 Australia License.
Based on a work at alexschlotzer.wordpress.com.
