Your views: on bikeways, euthanasia and more
Today, readers comment on city cycle paths, assisted dying laws, SA Health software and an AFL club’s bid for public open space.
Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily
Commenting on the story: Call for new cycling plan after bikeway debacle
Great leadership, Councillor Knoll, thank you. How many of our politicians and planners have bothered to jump on a bicycle and understand the issues that cyclists face.
Too often we hear of cyclists behaving badly, yet few understand the “fight or flight” reaction they are forced into when dealing with cars and buses. With such conducive topography for cycle commuting, we can only hope that the State Government will follow Cr Knoll’s lead and engage a city wide plan to join up bike lanes to encourage this sustainable and enjoyable form of transport. – Roger Coats
That councillor Knoll would actually get on a bike and obtain first hand experience is fantastic news. I would hope a few more of his colleagues might join him.
However, his view is just one cyclist’s view, possibly from a person who is cycling for the experience rather than for work commuting. Each cyclist will have a slightly different objective and there is sure to be a destination on every street that could be served by a safer cycling option.
Having said that, the options do not have to all be delivered by fully protected bikeways and can be achieved with changes to speed limits, green paint or increased legal protections and promotions for cyclists.
It is clear that as the population of city residents keeps increasing options such as scooters will gain in popularity, along with traditional bicycles. Post Covid-19 passengers are likely to return in greater numbers to public transport. This will put increased pressure on available space and the luxury of vehicle transport in the city will be one that will become unaffordable.
A transport plan is a good starting point and hopefully it will look 10 and 20 years into the future. Not just to the next council elections. – Richard Bentley
Finally Cr Franz Knoll understands the need for a cycling plan after he has started to cycle into the city.
The City of Adelaide has a plan but has been too sensitive to a vocal minority to implement it is a coherent way.
Sturt St and Frome Road cycle paths have both been built, and then removed or redesigned. The east-west cycle path has always been part of the plan but again the council rejected the original objective plan and began to make compromises that suited no-one.
With the amount of off street parking available in Adelaide, we should use roads for transport and not for parking.This would allow safe paths for pedestrians and cyclists.
Another issue is secure parking for bicycles. Currently there is a epidemic of cycle thefts in the CBD and CCTV seems to be inadequate to catch the thieves. – Peter Mayer
I have never understood why we don’t have a cycle ring road right round the parklands. This could be instead of the north-south route, or as a preliminary, building up traffic which will eventually justify the north-south route.
It would be very cheap to build, provide great access to much of the city without affecting vehicular traffic or parking, and would be so much fun to ride on. – Michel Boström
Commenting on the story: ‘White-hot’ anger over Marshall’s euthanasia gambit
As a Liberal voter at the last federal election, I am appalled by the underhandedness on display from Steven Marshall in attempting to push legislation of this significance through the State Parliament so quickly.
It is very rare for any Bill regarding social issues to go through Parliament in such a speedy manner, especially when significant amendments were proposed and voted on in the Legislative Council.
Lower House MPs should be given respect and the time needed to properly scrutinise the amended Bill and be allowed to express their point of view within the party room, before taking the matter to a vote.
Mr Marshall’s actions appear to show disdain for the 5000 members of the state Liberal party, many of whom would oppose this Bill if given the opportunity to have their say.
The Bill itself is flawed, as it seeks to give doctors the ability to facilitate the death of a patient, in direct contravention of the Hippocratic Oath, which states, “Neither will I administer a poison to anybody when asked to do so, nor will I suggest such a course. – Peter Heidenreich
Every Lower House politician has an obligation to listen to their constituents and to deliver their wishes to them.
They are not there acting as parents by saying I know what is best for you, or to make personal decisions which go against the public wishes.
If the majority want the euthanasia bill to pass then, that’s what should happen
Politicians are there to serve the wishes of the people and that’s it in a nutshell. We put them there and at election time we can take them out. – Leroy Uren
The only advice for our parliamentarians on voluntary euthanasia is: Listen to and be guided by the people.
Past surveys have shown strong support for it and parliamentarians should respect that and not override demand with personal preference. – Michael Schilling
Sorry but it’s time all MPs put aside their own views and vote for what the majority of their constituents want. – Christine Auld
What is the matter with this lot, and frankly, what is the matter with SA? Perhaps number plates here should read, South Australia, the Land Time Forgot.
Support for assisted dying in SA is strong. I, for one am sick and tired of listening to the outdated views of individuals who fail to appreciate and act on the wishes of those who are consigned to endless suffering.
My dad passed the last ten years of his life, if one could call it that, bedridden and incapacitated with Multiple Sclerosis. He hated it.
He didn’t have a choice as to how his life ended. He should have had that choice.
Why is is it SA so out of kilter with other Australian states? These so-called politicians should listen, do their jobs and stop squibbing it. – Gilbert Aitken
Commenting on the story: SA Health still looking for answers over prescription dosage computer glitch
The prescription dosage problem is just part of a relentless stream of failures and glitches in SA Health’s electronic patient and hospital management systems stretching back ten years.
It started in 2011, when the Government purchased EPAS (Enterprise Patient Administration System) with a budget of $422 million.
This system was a disaster. Its procurement and implementation were severely criticised by the Auditor-General in 2014. Subsequently, there were many warnings from senior clinicians about its utility and safely, and its attempted rollout in the public hospital system was incomplete and disruptive.
It could not be introduced into the new RAH leaving this so-called paperless hospital without any provision for medical (patient) records, which had to be ferried to and from off-site locations throughout the day at a cost of $11 million each year for two years.
Its shortcomings in providing a module for initiating and monitoring chemotherapy dosage in cancer patients was the indirect cause of death in several patients who received incorrect treatment. This has still not been fixed, ten years on.
In 2018, EPAS was the subject of a twelve month, very expensive review. It was then revised and re-branded as Sunrise EMR. But the problems have persisted.
Apart from the medication errors, it is still incompletely rolled out, and it is still user-unfriendly and plagued by flaws.
The cost of all this by 2020 was $626 million, which is fast approaching the $700 million I and others predicted in 2016. – Professor Warren Jones
Commenting on the story: Port Adelaide Football Club picks a fight in Alberton back streets
The proposed PAFC (AFL) expansion, with the support of the Port Adelaide Enfield Mayor, is not only picking a fight with the Alberton community but also strikes at the heart of the integrity of the PAE Council.
What is happening in Alberton should be a wake up call for all PAE community members who believe that the AFL and council have our interests at heart and are committed to the numerous policies and plans that are readily available on council’s website.
Either council’s commitments to us are hollow, or we could be excused for believing that the AFL and our elected council members are ignorant of their promise to us that council has a strong focus on increasing open spaces, creating more green tree canopy and valuing the environment and its contribution to the health and wellbeing of residents.
The blatant disregard by council of the City Plan 2030 is a striking example of this apparent hypocrisy. Mayor Claire Boan introduces the Plan by stating that “Our built and natural environment is important to us, and we strongly advocate for heritage protection and conservation across the region”, and goes on to promise that a key priority is to ‘increase the city’s tree canopy coverage and greening in hot spots and public spaces’.
The City Plan also claims that ‘the people of PAE have a strong sense of ownership in their places because they have a say in how they are imagined, shaped and transformed’ and that council will ‘maintain and creatively activate our parks and public spaces to create beautiful places, increase utilisation, support community connections and active healthy living’.
Nowhere in the Plan (even in the Economy section) is there mention of a partnership with the PAFC to give away our valuable open space to the AFL (a wealthy Victorian business) and replace it with a monstrous building and parking lot.
So PAE Council, what do you stand for? Do your numerous policies and plans and commitments to your community count for nothing? How are you looking after your residents? What other negotiations are occurring that will see other neighbourhoods lose their amenity? – Eva Les
Alberton is a rare gem of a suburb, and has important village-like characteristics that other communities have lost.
It is diverse, with grand historic houses as well as modest units that provide affordable housing. It has few but valuable pockets of green public land. Residents greet each other in the streets, and use the open spaces. There is a sense of pride in our neighbourhood and it feels a safe place to live.
As a relative newcomer. I spend at least an hour a day exploring the area with my dog, enjoying the parks (including the green space by the Alberton Oval) and the wide leafy streets. This is also one way that I have quickly connected with local residents, learned about what is happening, shared stories and come to appreciate the history of this unique suburb. These green, open spaces contribute to my sense of wellbeing and community.
Alberton has another significant social asset – the Pear cafe – an ‘open’ space that is also pivotal in bringing the community together. The cafe links older and other potentially isolated residents into a vibrant neighbourhood network. It is also a catalyst for community-led creativity in our public spaces (murals, Stobie poles, art trails) that reflects broader community identity, pride and engagement.
The ‘open’ spaces, including the Pear, are priceless, and a model for what a healthy and connected community can be.
It is therefore unbelievable that the PAE Council is considering eroding the remarkable strengths of the Alberton community by replacing our valued open space with a concrete eyesore and parking lot. – Gael Fraser