Wollongong City Council has proposed a short-term overflow boat and trailer car park at the Bellambi boat ramp to improve safety at the site The announcement of the plan comes after safety concerns were raised about the park’s capacity not meeting demand for parking spots. In a statement, the council said the proposed car park would be a pedestrian and vehicle shared zone that would allow safer movement and encourage visitors to be aware when moving in that area. Wollongong City Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery said it was a short-term option ahead of a long-term plan being developed. “We need…
Author: Cassandra Zaucer
Two Illawarra women have taken steps to improve the safety of people who want to walk when it’s dark outside but are afraid to do so alone. Lifelong friends Janet Selby and Larnie Stanford have asked women and men to join them on their morning walk for safety. https://youtu.be/zTfNOesvxPU “It’s a risk, walking by yourself this early. I used to do it, but I don’t. I walk with a friend now,” Ms Selby said. According to the Mission Australia Gender Gaps 2018 Youth Survey, one in two women don’t feel safe walking in the dark. Audio: walking group organiser Janet…
Childcare is being reported as a ‘winner’ in the 2021-22 federal budget but the real winner is the economy. Childcare will see an extra $1.7 billion across three years as part of the budget which is estimated to help around 250,000 families. The government assumes making childcare more affordable for parents will lessen the structural disincentive to take on additional days at work. According to a media release, the investment will “add up to 300,000 hours of work per week which would allow the equivalent of around 40,000 individuals to work an extra day per week.” In a media release,…
The Australian Cheer Union is working with the international cheer union to standardise cheerleading across the world in the lead-up to sport debuting at the Olympic Games. Cheerleading became a provisional Olympic sport in 2016 when the International Olympic Committee voted to recognise cheerleading as a sport. The process of the International Olympic Committee officially recognising a sport can take up to seven years so we could see cheerleading at the Olympics as early as 2024 or 2028. There are currently 49 summer sports, with a total of 64 recognised sports seen in the Olympics. This number will rise to…
International trade is down, but experts claim there is no need to panic. Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data from January has revealed global imports and exports are down. Exports dropped nine per cent from December 2020 to January 2021, with metalliferous ores, meat, coal and gold, non-monetary leading the decline. The ABS revealed gas offset the decline with an increase of nine per cent, and oil seeds, which increased by 88 per cent over the same period. After increases in December, coal declined by eight per cent. The decline was driven by “hard coking coal, and partially offset by…