Last stage of Veloway Cycleway gears up
Companies have been invited to tender the final stage of the Veloway Cycleway, the $45 million project designed to improve Brisbane cycling.
Stage E will see an elevated bicycle freeway from Birdwood Road, Holland Park, to Gaza Road, Tarragindi and will complete the massive, dedicated 17 kilometre long cycleway between Eight Mile Plains and the CBD.
Disruption to residents within surrounding areas are expected, as well as delays for motorists once construction is underway mid this year.
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Source: wikimedia
Slavery in Thai fishing industry
Humans Rights Watch documents are reporting that migrants are being physically abused and trafficked to work on Thai boats in the fishing industry.
These workers are not paid on time and paid less than the minimum wage, and reports say anyone trying to escape the slavery are beaten and sometimes even killed in the presence of others.
Due to its trafficking persons report, Thailand has been put on the United States “Tier 2” watchlist.
Australia to push for a one-on-one trade deal with the UK
Trade Minister Steve Ciobo has confirmed Australia will continue to pursue a direct trade agreement with the UK once they have exited the UK despite Britain expressing interest in the Trans-pacific partnership.
Mr Ciobo said the fact the UK wants to be a part of the agreement shows it is a high-quality trade agreement.
The eleven countries remaining party to the agreement after Trump pulled out last year are expected to sign in March in Chile.
Banks still putting profit ahead of customers
Corporate regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), has conducted a survey of conflicts of interest within the big banks and AMP, ahead of the Royal Commission which is due to start in February.
The survey found that seventy-five per cent of the files reviewed by ASIC, in which a recommendation was made to switch to an 'in-house' product, failed the best interests test.
Causes of road deaths
New research into the trends and causes associated with road deaths has found seven out of 10 fatalities on the roads are men.
Experts said this was because men are more likely to be aggressive and take risks on the roads, but add more men drive than women, with eighty five per cent of workers in road freight transport are men.
But avoiding the driver's’ seat doesn’t necessarily mean you’re safe, with passengers, pedestrians and cyclists accounting for forty three percent of deaths.
Smashed avo ditched from local cafe menus
Smashed Avo on toast is being taken off menus around Brisbane as seasonal price surges of Avocado’s hits Cafe owners hard.
On Tuesday this week, Coles and Woolworths were both selling avocados for upwards of $3.50 each, with some wholesale suppliers charging as much as $100 for a tray of staple cafe breakfast rotation.
Avocado Australia chief executive John Tyas said most current supplies were from New Zealand, where weather events coupled with the busy Christmas period had affected supply.
Homeless services fall short
According to the Report on Government Services, released by the Productivity Commission, one in four clients of specialist homeless services in Queensland missed out on getting access to suitable accommodation in 2016-17.
The report suggests 43.5 per cent of low income private rental households were in rental stress in Queensland in 2015-16, meaning that they spend more than 30% of their household income on rent.
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Calls for Facebook to be regulated
There has been calls for Facebook to be regulated like cigarette companies, in a statement made to the World Economic Forum in Davos by chief executive for Salesforce, Marc Benioff.
Benioff said “for sure, technology has addictive qualities that we have to address, and that product designers are working to make those products more addictive, and we need to rein that back as much as possible,”