Month: July 2022

The Aboriginal flag will fly permanently on top of the Sydney Harbour Bridge following NAIDOC week celebrations, completing a commitment made by the NSW Government earlier this year.
 
“From today, one of Australia’s most recognisable landmarks will celebrate our Indigenous people and provide an everyday reminder of our nation’s rich history,” Mr Perrottet said.
 
“Our nation’s story is rich and enduring and flying the Aboriginal flag permanently above the Sydney Harbour Bridge is a celebration and acknowledgment of that.
 
“Honouring this commitment is part of our ongoing commitment to recognise the history, culture, excellence and achievements of Aboriginal people and is a fitting end to NAIDOC week 2022.”
 
The NSW State Flag remains a vital part of our heritage and this will be showcased in a place of prominence as part of the revitalisation of the Macquarie St East precinct redevelopment.
 
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Ben Franklin said the $25 million announced in the NSW Budget to place a permanent third flag pole on the Sydney Harbour Bridge will instead be allocated towards indigenous initiatives.
 
“This builds on the NSW Government’s commitment to improve outcomes for Aboriginal people across NSW, following a $716 million investment in this year’s Budget to prioritise Closing the Gap initiatives,” Mr Franklin said.
 
“I am proud to be part of the Government that will permanently fly the Aboriginal flag above the Sydney Harbour Bridge and I am happy that a further investment will be made to deliver real outcomes for Aboriginal people across NSW.”
 
Minister for Metropolitan Roads Natalie Ward said this is the right decision to ensure the flag can be flown permanently as quickly as possible, whilst recognising the significance of the Aboriginal flag.
 
“As has been outlined all along, the process of installing a third flagpole high above one of the busiest traffic corridors in Australia was always going to be difficult and this decision ensures the Aboriginal flag can remain permanently,” Mrs Ward.
 
“The Macquarie Street East precinct redevelopment will now be expanded to include a prominent NSW State flag, which recognises the important and rich history of Macquarie Street to the heritage of NSW.”

Ground-breaking drone technology is being used by Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) crews to help spot and clear leftover flood debris in cane fields across the Northern Rivers.
 
Minister for Emergency Services and Resilience and Minister for Flood Recovery Steph Cooke said the drones, known as Remotely Piloted Aircraft Systems (RPAS), are proving invaluable to the ongoing clean-up and recovery effort.
 
“The flood event in February and March had such a devastating and widespread impact, including for many cane farmers who four months on are still finding debris strewn through their fields,” Ms Cooke said.
 
“Items like fridges, washing machines, gas cylinders, shipping containers and even a swimming pool are being found in cane fields across the Northern Rivers. This sort of debris could damage farming equipment like harvesters and risk ruining harvest season activities, which is the last thing our growers need after being impacted by the floods.
 
“The waters may have receded months ago but the recovery is ongoing and the NSW Government is committed to using any and all means necessary to the help the flood-affected communities of the Northern Rivers bounce back.”
 
Two teams of drone operators from FRNSW’s Bushfire and Aviation Unit have been in the Northern Rivers to identify and map the location of dangerous debris.
 
FRNSW Deputy Commissioner Megan Stiffler said it’s the first time the drones, purchased with funding in response to the Black Summer bush fires, have been used in the flood recovery effort.
 
“We conduct reconnaissance flights using smaller drones and if they identify dangerous or bulky waste material, we send up the larger RPAS’s which can pinpoint the size and location of the debris.
 
“Once we process the data, we can send QR codes to the cane growers, which then provide them with real-time maps of their properties, identifying where the obstacles are located.”
 
The growers can then remove the debris with the help of Resilience NSW and the Environment Protection Authority.

Your local bus or garbage truck could soon be equipped with a new technology that will track and prioritise road repairs, including identifying potholes before they form.
 
The NSW Government is funding Asset AI™, a $2.9 million trial – currently involving 32 sensors installed on 32 public transport buses across Greater Sydney area – which is being led by Transport for NSW and the Roads and Transport Directorate.
 
The new technology can be combined with local weather observations to predict the rate of deterioration and streamline how road asset maintenance is prioritised.
 
Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government Victor Dominello said the new sensors were another example of the NSW Government using technology to improve outcomes across the State.
 
“The people of NSW have embraced digital services through products like the ServiceNSW app, Dine and Discover vouchers, Fuel Check and Park’nPay and expect modern service delivery,” Mr Dominello said.
 
“There will always be cracks in the road and there will always be potholes but with smart tech like this we can predict deterioration, streamline maintenance and get to better outcomes much faster.”
 
Minister for Metropolitan Roads Natalie Ward said this cutting edge technology is revolutionising road maintenance across the state.
 
“It’s a brilliant use of resources already on our roads. Mounting cameras and sensors onto vehicles with regular routes, like garbage trucks and public transport buses, ensures road defects are captured incidentally, including those un-reported by residents,” Mrs Ward said.
 
“This AI technology assesses the captured footage and logs any road defects detected into a database in near-real time, meaning it will find potholes and cracks in the road before they find you.”
 
Minister for Regional Transport and Roads Sam Farraway said road data is also being collected outside of the city with a utility vehicle mounted with cameras scanning 100 kilometres of rural roads, across regional NSW.
 
“A ute with the road scanning camera and user interface mounted is travelling across 100 kilometres of regional NSW roads to detect and report on road conditions,” Mr Farraway said.
 
“We will have it out collecting data along the Great Western Highway between Lithgow and Bathurst, the Sturt Highway near Wagga Wagga and around Spring Ridge in the Upper Hunter.”
 
A pre-trial was undertaken with Canterbury-Bankstown Council last year, Asset AI™ is now being developed with initial camera and sensor trials underway across Greater Sydney.
 
Canterbury Bankstown Mayor Khal Asfour said Asset AI™ will save councils and ratepayers money and improve road safety.
 
“We do an audit of our roads once every four years and it is very expensive. This new technology will allow us to do it on a weekly basis instead,” Cr Asfour said.
 
“Asset AI uses predictive analysis to improve road maintenance by predicting the risk to the community rather than just reporting the condition of the road assets, and that’s great news for our residents.”
 
IPWEA NSW and ACT operate the Roads and Transport Directorate, which is a joint venture with Local Government NSW.
 
The organisation’s President Grant Baker said Asset AI™ could revolutionise current practices.
 
“This initiative is a game-changer for local government to re-imagine the way they currently assess and audit roads to fully benefit from new technology,” Mr Baker said.
 
“It’s all about putting communities at the centre of everything we do.”
 
Further testing is being rolled out across regional and metropolitan regions including Georges River, Blayney, Central Coast, Liverpool, Wingecarribee, Sutherland, Warren Shire, Liverpool Plains, Griffith, Tamworth, Wollongong, and Murray River Councils in September.
 
The Asset AI™ project is funded by the NSW Digital Restart Fund and is expected to be available to all NSW Local Government areas in late 2023.

Louise Sauvage, Cathy Freeman, Betty Cuthbert and Sam Kerr are some of the sporting legends who could be honoured under a NSW Labor commitment to naming stadium stands after female sports icons – starting with a stand at Stadium Australia (Accor Stadium). 
 
A Minns Labor government will conduct a public consultation process to determine which sporting icon will be honoured first, in response to calls for better recognition of great female athletes.
 
Currently, the Sydney Cricket Ground does not have any stands named after female athletes and the new Sydney Football Stadium in Moore Park has named four men who will have stands named after them.
 
Stadium Australia in western Sydney does not have names allocated to any of its stands.
 
NSW Labor Leader Chris Minns said:

Sitting in a stadium stand named after a female sporting legend will undoubtedly inspire the next generation of female athletes at the Olympics, Rugby League or in the A-League Women. It’s a no brainer – and there’s no shortage of wonderful female sporting legends in Australia to choose from.”
 
“Female participation in sport is growing rapidly in NSW, yet we do not recognise great female athletes appropriately. We will make a start in fixing this by naming a stand in Stadium Australia.”

Shadow Minister for Sport Julia Finn said “What better way to acknowledge the contribution of female athletes than by naming a stand at Stadium Australia”.
 
“But we want every new stadium project in Sydney and regional NSW to recognise female sport legends in a similar manner”.
 
Shadow Minister for Women Jodie Harrison said “We are quick to recognise the contribution of men in sport, but there is little recognition of women and that needs to be fixed.”
 
The NSW Government owns and operates four stadiums in Sydney through Venues NSW, and one stadium each in Newcastle and Wollongong.