9 minute read
MY OPINION – Food for thought from a range of viewpoints.
UNEASY RIDERS
In the urban jungle, a new footpath predator has emerged: the e-scooter. It’s time, writes Jane Stephens, for rideable rules to be rewritten.
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It is a jungle out there on the footpaths, with wheeled contraptions zipping among bipeds trudging all in lines.
And as happens when wildness flourishes in crowded urban places, the time has come for a little pruning and shaping. We need far more than legislative reform: we have to consider our interactions, our attitudes and our infrastructure. Bicycles, scooters, e-scooters, mobility scooters and skates of the board, roller and inline kind – the footpaths are booming with life.
And why not? You get from A to B faster and with less effort. But while the visions of skimming along at speed that were once part of science fiction and fantasy are very real now, this is not the utopia depicted in the 1970s and ’80s. With speed comes collisions. And cranky pedestrians. And confusion about what is allowed for whom.
Footpath users don’t need to register their vehicles, and maybe that warrants consideration for review. No registration means no insurance cover and that means anyone flattened or any property damage done is mostly not covered.
Bikes are allowed on footpaths in Queensland, unlike other states, and they have an uneasy relationship with those travelling bipedal style. With the space becoming crowded, maybe it is time to review that.
The bell issue causes ructions too. Bikes must have one, but scooters needn’t. Even when they are used, some pedestrians get alarmed or grumpy at being alerted.
The laws are complicated. For example, in Queensland you don’t have to wear a helmet when using a human-powered wheeled recreational device, but a helmet is required if a foot scooter has an electric motor. Oh, or if you are riding a humanpowered bike. Go figure.
The focus needs to be on safety for the rider and others on footpaths, so small additions such as compulsory helmets and bells would seem logical, but would that mean oldies on mobility scooters need to risk helmet hair too? Under current law, e-scooters are classed as mobility scooters, which gives them access to everywhere accessible by pedestrians.
There are two certainties: rideables are here to stay and there are more riders on footpaths every day. We all need to up our game before the chance to improve this unwieldy situation scoots by.
Jane Stephens is a USC journalism lecturer, media commentator and writer.
MOVE OVER NOOSA
Ashley Robinson says a fancy new development in Caloundra could become the new Noosa for our southern holiday makers.
Ideadset had to look twice the other day as I was recovering from COVID and thought I had a relapse at an article I thought I saw. Not Noosa was the headline, which suits me by the way. But it was about a development in Caloundra offering Victorians an alternative to Noosa, which is about the time I thought COVID had kicked in again.
My thoughts on Noosa are pretty well known, apart from going to watch the Pirates, Tigers or Dolphins fight it out against a team from the poor south, I have little interest in going there. Unless there is a surf carnival and I manage to get a park closer than Peregian. Sure the surf is great, but the last time I went there on my dreaded knee board I spent two hours looking for a park. Then, after paddling into a southerly sweep before I actually caught a wave, I managed to drop in on ex-world champ Wendy Botha and basically got told where to go, which I did. I’ve never been back.
So with that cleared up, and realising it was an actual story, I went on to read about an advertising campaign in the heart of Melbourne teasing those pesky Victorians that Caloundra is a better option than Noosa. A development at the top of Caloundra Main Street, Paloma Paloma is its trendy name and it will sit on the old Post Office site. Now, growing up we always called Caloundra ‘Nambour by the sea’ and I should know about both as I lived my teenage years in Nambour, and as a toddler had holidays in Caloundra with my grandad. I have always said both places have had some bad press over the years as there are some great people and reasons to live there.
However, in the past few years Caloundra has really taken off and I have to agree with the developer, there are far more options beach-wise at Caloundra. Kings, Shelly, Happy Valley, Moffat, Ann Street, Currimundi and Wurtulla are some beautiful options with about half the amount of people vying to put up their cabana.
I can see a problem though. How do those taffy noses say Caloundra with a plumb in their mouth when someone at the country club asks them where they holidayed because Noooosaaaa is so easy to say.
Ashley Robinson is the manager of Alex Surf Club and the chairman of the Sunshine Coast Falcons.
The opinions expressed are those of the authors. These are not the views of My Weekly Preview publishers.
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KISSING MASKS GOODBYE
Like most of us, Sami Muirhead is delighted to say goodbye to wearing a mask, but look out teachers, she will be a regular in her children’s classrooms.
To quote Lenard Cohen “Hallelujah!” Masks are no longer required in indoor settings, including workplaces, schools and restaurants! They will continue to be mandatory on public transport and when in high-risk settings such as hospitals and aged care facilities.
They have been a wonderful addition in keeping us all safe. I don’t know about you, but for me masks have become part of the routine mental checklist when you rush out the door. Keys? Credit card? Sunnies? Mask? At first I was horrified about wearing them because they can look so very sinister, but I have since embraced them and I have invested in masks of many colours and patterns.
My kids still laugh at me when I wear the disposable mask the wrong way around. It is blue side outside for those of you who are slow to learn like me. You see the mask makes getting ready to leave the house much easier as it covers half my face so I feel I don’t need to spread on foundation or slap on lipstick. Au naturel has never been so easy and helpful to the lazy. The other big news is we are allowed back in our kids classrooms. Our school did a wonderful job of keeping kids safe and I am so thankful for this and the tough stance that parents have not been allowed back in rooms. But I am itching to get back into my kid’s spaces to see where they spend so many hours each day. It was Easter, 2020 when I was last inside my youngest child’s room. All those memories were taken away from us of those cute little interactions with his friends and even the bittersweet kiss goodbye at the classroom door each day was snatched from my grasp.
Yes, I am needy! I know parents like myself are really annoying for teachers because we hover like protective mother lionesses just making a fuss about nothing. But it has made my heart heavy not being able to go into the classroom. Okay, some days I admit I have basically told the kids to tuck and roll out the car door and gleefully drive away to get a coffee or something wonderful with my scant spare time. But those days are the minority.
So to our teachers, I apologise in advance but I will be in the classroom milking every last memory of having “little kids”. I will be that annoying parent, but I promise, in return, I am good for a bottle of wine or two at the end of term. Maybe I better make it a carton!
Sami Muirhead is a radio announcer, blogger and commentator. For more from Sami tune into Mix FM. Darryl Watt,
Ord Minnett Buderim.
Medical device advice
Ord Minnett recently raised its recommendation on the medical device manufacturer ResMed to Buy from Hold and its target price to $37.90 from $36.
The upgrade was driven by our view that fiscal year 2022 will prove to be a strong year for ResMed as it takes full advantage of the product recall woes of rival Philips. We retain this positive view despite ongoing supply-chain challenges, which weighed on the December quarter result. Production should ramp up over the coming months as chip and component deliveries increase, allowing ResMed to lift device sales into the end of fiscal year 2022, and quite likely into fiscal year 2023. Philips will work hard to recover market share once the recall is dealt with, but we are confident ResMed has both the product range and sales force to ensure it holds onto material market share gains.
Our research indicate ResMed’s deliveries fell short of customer expectations late in the December quarter. This reflects both supply chain challenges (a shortage of key components) and the increased freight times as the Christmas rush exacerbated pandemic-induced challenges. New patient starts have been limited by access to hardware, with one source reporting the time from diagnosis to treatment has jumped from two to four weeks to four to six weeks. The challenge remains meeting this demand given supply constraints. A lack of semiconductor chips remains the key constraint. Regulation of medical devices restricts ResMed from switching suppliers without prior approval, meaning that, in the near term, ResMed can try to win a greater allocation only from current suppliers.
ResMed has introduced a global $US12 surcharge for all its devices from January 2022. Management sees this as reflecting the ongoing nature of elevated costs, rather than merely an effort to support gross margins. By our calculations, the surcharge will offset around half of the gross margin decline caused by the component and freight cost challenges.
Small cuts to our fiscal year 2022 forecasts incorporate reductions to sales in the December quarter to reflect ongoing supply chain challenges. This was partially offset by the surcharge and a modest boost to sales in early fiscal 2023 to reflect the delay in Philips’ return to the market. We see upside risk to pricing, a protracted competitor recall that positions ResMed well given the likely product shortage, and a benign pricing environment post recent changes to US Medicare reimbursements to so-called durable medical equipment suppliers.
Darryl Watt is a representative of Ord Minnett Limited, AFS Licence 237121. This article contains general financial advice only and does not consider your personal circumstances; you should determine its suitability to you. Before acquiring a financial product you should seek advice from a licensed financial adviser and consider the relevant product disclosure statement. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
