With the 2013 Victorian and Federal budgets having been released in the past week, the spotlight is on funding major infrastructure projects across Australia. So how does the government pay for the big infrastructure projects we need to avoid choking on our own growth? And how did we do it in the old days?
On 28th March 2013 a neglected wall at the CUB Brewery site fell onto Swanston Street, killing three pedestrians. So how many other abandoned buildings around Melbourne are at risk of falling over? I found one at the corner of Abbotsford Street and Flemington Road in North Melbourne recently, attracted by the ‘Wheelwright’ and ‘Shoeing Forge’ signs on the facade.
Geelong is a city that was built on manufacturing, and the Ford factory has been a large part of it since it commenced operations in 1925. But what happens when one of those factories closes?
If you have ever caught a tram to the Royal Melbourne Show, you may have noticed the Housing Commission estate located opposite the showgrounds. Located in the inner north-western suburb of Ascot Vale, the estate is less distinctive than the massive 1960s apartment towers down the road in Flemington, but the higglety pigglety arrangement of the blocks of flats amongst green lawns is something not often seen in Melbourne housing developments.
Yesterday’s big Myki news story in the mainstream media was the revelation that Myki ticket machines spit out EFT receipts containing excessive amounts of personal details, even if the user doesn’t ask for one, leaving people open to identity fraud if they don’t collect their receipt.
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