Commenting on the story: Call to repave Rundle Mall (again) to combat climate change

I have one comment. Trees. Some years ago the Mall was green and had trees for shade, now it’s concrete and bare. I no longer go there. – Glenn Freeman

Surely this is a joke? Climate change wasn’t a thing in 2013? Just let the trees grow and provide some shade. – Ben Taylor

The paved walking/bike path from the Children’s Hospital to the River Torrens with virtually no shade is much worse than Rundle Mall.

Definitely a “health risk” in the summer. – Mary Isobel Storer

Misters and cooling fans?!  Isn’t the obvious solution to plant more, bigger and better trees?  Trees that by 2090 (& 2050) will provide full coverage, removing the “extreme” risk of reduced sales. – Charlie Cudmore

Just to the west of Rundle Mall of course is Hindley Street, whose paving surface surely must the city’s most treacherous.

The City of Adelaide has recently attended to worst of the loose and crumbling pavement surface which were a genuine danger to pedestrians, but in the same breath have made it clear that the pavement has another 20 years asset life.

Repaving the mall in the future may be necessary to mitigate the effects of climate change, but surely not as a priority before the long needed upgrade of Hindley St. The pavement is a disgrace. – Andrew Wallace

Ok, with all that is facing South Australia, the best this council can do is waste money on reports like this.

I have a fantastic idea. Instead of looking to 2090, how about looking right now in your own backyard and see what all South Australians can see, which is a massive list of how to make this city better.

Any council member that is happy with a headline that reads “Repave Rundle Mall (again) to combat climate change” should hang their head in shame.

How about a headline that reads “Adelaide City Council to establish more homeless beds, safer streets, offering future businesses incentives to bring employment to SA”?

Now is the time for leadership and that means leading by example. You want the support of the people in S.A, bring leadership, not a program looking 70 years into the future. – Paul Murray

I thought today was the 1^st of September, not the 1^st of April.

When the last revamp of the mall was done, the council’s experts who had extolled the wonders of their new plan, including one suggestion that this new hot openness would give tourists and locals a chance to sit in awe of the Adelaide Hills!

They derided anyone who criticized this shadeless, ugly expanse of granite with its supremely uncomfortable seating and the total lack of any trees. They pulled out all the ones which were fast forming a wonderfully shady, relatively cool canopy.

Now it is proposed to change it all again! Someone, somewhere is making one hell of a lot of money out of the Adelaide City Council’s stupidity. – Robert McCormick

The members seem to be getting a little bored. What is the business case? Does it pass the pub test? – Paul Andrew

Risk management gone mad! Leave well alone. The current surfacing is the best we’ve ever had. Any new surfacing will almost certainly be deemed to be not achieving its objectives, followed by a fresh proposal to ‘solve all problems’. 

Meanwhile, somebody continues to profit at the gullible public’s expense. – Richard Samulis

Commenting on the story: Low-income rental market lockout despite Centrelink boost

We need a lot more public housing to provide affordable options and to pressure the private sector to lower rents. – Constance Lever-Tracy

At the 2016 Census, over 6000 people were counted as being homeless in South Australia.  We are now less than a year away from the next Census – what will the result be then?

At the base rate of JobSeeker, the Rental Affordability Snapshot found only 31 properties in SA were affordable for a single person, 121 for families where both parents were on JobSeeker.

That’s 152 affordable properties between 6000+ people.

In between now and the next Census, Australia faces the looming “cliff” at the end of September. JobSeeker Covid Supplement will be reduced. JobKeeper phase 1 ends and a lower JobKeeper will be available if your employer is still eligible. 

Rent deferrals, evictions and utility disconnection moratoriums will end. The pandemic and associated restrictions continue to threaten our lives and our way of life. For many families across Australia, October will be crunch time.

 15,700 additional people became unemployed in Australia between June and July this year; 296,200 more than this time last year. Homelessness has already risen. And this once in a lifetime economic contraction hasn’t ended yet.

 Cutting the Covid supplement and reducing JobSeeker now will only increase the numbers of our community experiencing poverty, destitution and homelessness. It’s much hard to get back up if you’ve hit rock-bottom. Safety nets are there for a reason.

What will next year’s Census tell us about our society?  Are we a society who looks after each other? – Louise Miller Frost, CEO, St Vincent de Paul Society (SA)

Commenting on the story: Deputy sidelined in Labor reshuffle

What a remarkable headline! How you could interpret Susan Close relinquishing the important Education shadow portfolio in order to focus on the even more pressing policy areas of climate change, industry, environment and water is beyond me.

Instead, I consider this a recognition of her talents and her excellent past performance. It’s great news that she will be focusing her considerable intelligence on the development of new industries in which today’s South Australian students will be finding their future employment opportunities. – Sue Averay

Commenting on the story: Revealed: State MPs under “criminal investigation”

It pains me greatly to see politicians (in any party) adopt the attitude that they are a law unto themselves. The whole purpose of ICAC (Independent Commission Against Corruption) is to “keep the bastards honest” (Quote by Don Chipp – Past Member of the House of Representatives).

Where is the integrity, transparency and accountability of our elected representatives if they are unwilling to accede to the ICAC Commissioner’s request?

I venture to say that these characteristics are non-existent and should be remembered by the voters at the next election. – Phil Manhire