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Speaker 1: Already and this is this is the daily This is

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Speaker 1: the daily. Ohs oh, now it makes sense. Good morning

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Speaker 1: and welcome to the Daily OS. It is Thursday, the

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Speaker 1: fifteenth of August.

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Speaker 2: I'm billy, I'm Zara.

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Speaker 1: Rented e scooters. If you live in Melbourne, it is

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Speaker 1: hard to go a day without seeing one. But this

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Speaker 1: week the City of Melbourne Council has voted to ban

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Speaker 1: hired e scooters due to what it says is an

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Speaker 1: unacceptable safety risk. It has caused a fierce debate, with

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Speaker 1: the state government now pleading with the council to change

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Speaker 1: their decision. So where are we at with the exponential

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Speaker 1: rise of rental scooters and how has this debate been

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Speaker 1: settled elsewhere in the world. In today's Deep Dive, we

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Speaker 1: are going to tell you what you need to know.

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Speaker 1: But first, Sara, what is making headlines today.

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Speaker 2: A forty six year old woman has been charged with

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Speaker 2: murder after her take one year old daughter was found

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Speaker 2: dead in a Gold Coast home this week. Emergency crews

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Speaker 2: were called to a property in the suburb of Karra

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Speaker 2: on Tuesday night. A woman was located nearby and has

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Speaker 2: since been arrested and charged. The Gold Coast school attended

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Speaker 2: by the girl has released the statement, saying she was

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Speaker 2: a beloved member of the school community.

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Speaker 1: Japan's Prime Minister Fumiro Kashida has announced he will step

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Speaker 1: down at next month. Kashida told reporters he won't contest

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Speaker 1: the leadership for his party, the Liberal Democratic Party, when

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Speaker 1: it holds a vote next month. Kashida has been the

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Speaker 1: Prime minister of Japan since twenty twenty one. His approval

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Speaker 1: ratings have slumped in recent months, with one poll showing

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Speaker 1: support for his government had dropped to fifteen point five percent.

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Speaker 1: It comes amid ongoing national economic and social challenges, including

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Speaker 1: a low birth rate, high inflation, and concerns about corruption

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Speaker 1: in politics.

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Speaker 2: MPUs has been declared as a public health emergency in

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Speaker 2: Africa as CA base numbers continue to soar across the continent.

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Speaker 2: Empox is a viral disease that can cause skinner muscle lesions,

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Speaker 2: high temperature, headache, muscle lakes, and swollen lymph nodes. Thousands

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Speaker 2: of cases have been recorded this year, mostly around Central Africa,

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Speaker 2: including in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Africa Centers for

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Speaker 2: Disease Control and Prevention said the virus was spreading rapidly,

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Speaker 2: with cases detected in sixteen countries, up from ten earlier

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Speaker 2: this month.

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Speaker 1: In today's good news, scientists have found a new way

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Speaker 1: to recycle microplastics for use in batteries. Researchers at James

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Speaker 1: Cook University in Queenslance successfully used microwave technology to convert

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Speaker 1: microplastic debris into graphene. That's a thick carbon material that

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Speaker 1: can be used to develop solar power cells and batteries.

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Speaker 1: Professor Mowe and Jacob said the discovery could help reduce

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Speaker 1: the adverse effects of microplastic pollution on our ecosystems.

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Speaker 2: So believe there have been of headlines over the last

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Speaker 2: twenty four to forty eight hours about rented et scooters

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Speaker 2: in Melbourne, and I want to talk about what's happened there,

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Speaker 2: But then I also want to take a bit of

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Speaker 2: a broader look as to what the state of play

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Speaker 2: is when it comes to east scooters around the world.

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Speaker 2: Before we get there, though, tell me what happened in

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Speaker 2: Melbourne this week.

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Speaker 1: So on Tuesday night, the City of Melbourne Council, so

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Speaker 1: the local council for that area in the CBD, they

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Speaker 1: voted to ban rental e scooters. So normal e scooters

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Speaker 1: that you own are completely fine. It's just the rented ones.

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Speaker 1: You probably recognize, the bright grain scooters, the lame ones, yes, yeah,

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Speaker 1: the ones that are literally everywhere in the Melbourne Seed.

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Speaker 2: Drop it exactly where I park and therefore need to

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Speaker 2: just climb over there to reach wherever them going.

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Speaker 1: So what it would mean is that the council would

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Speaker 1: end its contracts with e scooter companies, which are mostly

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Speaker 1: Lime and Neuron, nearly six months before they were due

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Speaker 1: to expire. So right now we're in the middle of

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Speaker 1: trial and I'll get into that, but basically they are

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Speaker 1: ending that and you basically won't see them anymore because

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Speaker 1: of this decision, and the companies have thirty days to

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Speaker 1: remove their scooters from Melbourne's CBD. There are other councils

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Speaker 1: where they still will be fine, but in Melbourne CBD.

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Speaker 2: Which is a really large council area, it needs to

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Speaker 2: be said. Okay, So I mean I spend a lot

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Speaker 2: of time in Melbourne, and so when I saw this headline,

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Speaker 2: when I saw that the Lord Mayor had announced that

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Speaker 2: this was going to happen, I just thought of all

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Speaker 2: of my melbourney and friends. You know, you just can't

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Speaker 2: go fifteen minutes without seeing an e scooter or a

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Speaker 2: Lime or whatever it is. They are everywhere in Melbourne, right.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, in the intro, I use the word exponential rise

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Speaker 1: because it really has been like that in the past

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Speaker 1: two years. I've been there twice and both times, you know,

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Speaker 1: these scooters have kind of been a key part of

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Speaker 1: my trip because they're so much fun. I don't know

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Speaker 1: if I've ever shared this story with you, but one

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Speaker 1: time I was in Melbourne for work and I was

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Speaker 1: using one of the scooters to get to the office

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Speaker 1: where I needed to go, and I was on a

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Speaker 1: footpath just briefly and I got completely shouted at. It

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Speaker 1: was one of the most humiliating experiences of my life

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Speaker 1: when it was the first time I realized that maybe

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Speaker 1: these weren't the most popular locals.

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Speaker 2: Interesting.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, it was clear that there was a lot of frustration,

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Speaker 1: and it was clear that I hadn't been the first

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Speaker 1: person that that person had compatively obliterated.

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Speaker 2: Hilarious. I mean, it's very clear that there are two

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Speaker 2: sides to this argument. What is the history, Like, how

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Speaker 2: did Melbourne become so littered with these e scooters? Because

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Speaker 2: Sydney doesn't feel like it has the same thing.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, No, Sydney has the bikes, but we don't have

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Speaker 1: the scooters yea. So rented e scooters were first introduced

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Speaker 1: to Melbourne in February or twenty twenty two, so about

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Speaker 1: two and a half years in now. When they were

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Speaker 1: first introduced, they were just a trial, like I mentioned before,

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Speaker 1: and that trial has just been extended several times since now.

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Speaker 1: Throughout the trial there have been concerns raised about dangerous

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Speaker 1: behaviors by riders, and there have been many fines that

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Speaker 1: have been handed out to riders for their failure to

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Speaker 1: comply with rules like wearing helmets, running red lights, etc.

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Speaker 1: I have to say, in my defense, when you get

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Speaker 1: on those scooters, I mean, apart from needing to wear

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Speaker 1: a helmet, there wasn't anything that told me you absolutely

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Speaker 1: cannot go on footpaths, you can't go in this place

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Speaker 1: like I didn't know.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and so I think a bit of a free

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Speaker 2: for all.

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Speaker 1: Yes, I think enforcing the rules has been a real

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Speaker 1: concern for many and in May there was a blitz

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Speaker 1: from the Victorian Police of trying to hand out several

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Speaker 1: fines to show that they are trying to enforce these rules.

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Speaker 1: There have also been serious concerns about people getting injured.

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Speaker 1: A Royal Melbourne Hospital study reported that there were over

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Speaker 1: one hundred e scooter related head injuries in the trial's

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Speaker 1: first year.

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Speaker 2: Wow.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and those injuries cost the economy just under two

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Speaker 1: million dollars, which is not insignificant at all. Although I

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Speaker 1: have just gone straight to the negatives, so I think

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Speaker 1: we should also mention some of the positives.

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Speaker 2: So what are the positives then, because there are many.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, one of the obvious ones, like I said, it's

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Speaker 1: really fun. When I went on, it was it was

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Speaker 1: a lot of joy. There was a lot of you know,

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Speaker 1: wind in my hair, enjoying my ride to work. And

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Speaker 1: that is a positive that a lot of Melbournians have

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Speaker 1: embraced it. Yeah, Melbourne actually has one of the highest

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Speaker 1: rates of e scooter uptake in the world. They have

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Speaker 1: about six thousand trips occurring a day on these rented

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Speaker 1: e scooters. Another positive is that it is good for

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Speaker 1: the environment, So according to the state government, as of

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Speaker 1: August last year, the trial had resulted in the city's

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Speaker 1: carbon emissions being reduced by more than four hundred tons.

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Speaker 1: Again not insignificant and part of The reason for that

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Speaker 1: is because it has encouraged more people to use public transport,

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Speaker 1: and that's because people are using it as a way

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Speaker 1: to connect their commute, so for example, from a train

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Speaker 1: to a tram, they're using these scooters in between that.

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Speaker 1: And we know that that is good for the environment

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Speaker 1: as well, which goes back to the four hundred tons

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Speaker 1: of carbon et missions being reduced, and that has also

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Speaker 1: helped alleviate traffic with less cars on the road, which

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Speaker 1: makes sense. And another positive is that it has actually

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Speaker 1: contributed more than one hundred and seventy million dollars to

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Speaker 1: the local economy since twent twenty two, and that's according

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Speaker 1: to the state government.

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Speaker 2: Okay, so I feel myself flip flopping on this issue

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Speaker 2: as you speak. When you were talking about the negatives,

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Speaker 2: I was like, yeah, they shut When you talked about

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Speaker 2: the positive, I was like, I love them. So let's

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Speaker 2: go to the professionals and the experts. Why did the

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Speaker 2: council make this decision? What was their reasoning?

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Speaker 1: So essentially, the Melbourne Lord Mayor Nicholas Reese, who brought

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Speaker 1: this motion to the council, said that he has basically

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Speaker 1: just run out of patients with the scooters and said

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Speaker 1: that they pose an unacceptable risk to people's safety. Here

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Speaker 1: is a little bit of what he said during the

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Speaker 1: council meeting on Tuesday night.

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Speaker 2: All Right, so Lord Mayor Nicholas raised absolutely not mincing

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Speaker 2: his words there. What have some of the responses to

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Speaker 2: the announcement been.

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Speaker 1: I'll go straight to the Victorian Premier, Jacinta Allen, who

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Speaker 1: isn't the happiest and I think she's a pretty important

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Speaker 1: person in this, I thought, senior leaders in the state.

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Speaker 1: So this is kind of an awkward one because this

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Speaker 1: trial of e s scooters that I've been mentioning that

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Speaker 1: was a state government initiative. But in order for hired

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Speaker 1: e scooters to operate in an area, the companies need

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Speaker 1: the explicit approval of the relevant local council.

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Speaker 2: Right, So there's those overlapping responsibilities of and local government.

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Speaker 2: So you both need to kind of be on the

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Speaker 2: same page for this to work.

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Speaker 1: Yes, and so the state government isn't as you would expect,

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Speaker 1: Please that the Melbourne CBD's local council isn't now cooperating

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Speaker 1: with the state government's initiative. So the Premier, Jacinta Allen

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Speaker 1: said yesterday that she hopes that the local council is

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Speaker 1: going to change their mind. Here is a little bit

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Speaker 1: of what she said in her press conference yesterday.

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Speaker 3: I really hope that the City of Melbourne can have

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Speaker 3: a change of heart on this decision. It was only

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Speaker 3: two or three weeks ago that the Lord Mayor was

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Speaker 3: pretty keen to be out talking about the benefits of

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Speaker 3: a scooters in the City of Melbourne. There are trials

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Speaker 3: going on in other parts of the city and state.

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Speaker 1: Now you're here there that she mentioned something that happened

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Speaker 1: three weeks ago. There she's referring to when the Victorian

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Speaker 1: government announced in July that e scooters would be permanently

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Speaker 1: legalized in Melbourne from this October with additional safety and

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Speaker 1: compliance measures right there. Okay, Yeah, so literally three weeks

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Speaker 1: ago the Victorian government held a press conference and said

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Speaker 1: e scooters are here to stay in Melbourne. What's also

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Speaker 1: interesting about that is that the Lord Mayor, Nicholas Reese,

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Speaker 1: was at that press conference, standing next to the minister

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Speaker 1: who was announcing it. And so I think that also

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Speaker 1: goes to why the Victorian government is a bit confused

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Speaker 1: now because what they're saying is just three weeks ago

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Speaker 1: you are helping us say that these scooters were here

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Speaker 1: to stay, and now you're saying that we're actually going

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Speaker 1: to take them away.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And I mean, just to add another level of

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Speaker 2: complexity to the political arena that this is playing out in,

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Speaker 2: there's actually a local election happening soon. So Lord Mayor

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Speaker 2: Nicholas Race he has assumed that position because previous Lord

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Speaker 2: Mayor Sally Caps stepped down and now he's contesting that.

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Speaker 2: So there's so much to this it's really quite fascinating.

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Speaker 1: Can always trust you to have election knowledge of local

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Speaker 1: councils in Australia.

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Speaker 2: My favorite thing to do. Okay, so let's move now

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Speaker 2: to Line because I imagine that they haven't taken to

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Speaker 2: this announcement too well.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: So Lime is one of the biggest stakeholders in this debate.

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Speaker 1: If you don't recognize a name I said before, you

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Speaker 1: might recognize their really bright green coloring.

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Speaker 2: Or the noise. I was recently walking with my partner

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Speaker 2: and someone was activating a line bike and you know

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Speaker 2: it like do do do oh, Yes, I was that

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Speaker 2: is the noise of a generation. I could hear that

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Speaker 2: in my sleep and not be confused. But anyway, Lime

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Speaker 2: very widespread.

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Speaker 1: Yes, and not very happy with this announcement, as you

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Speaker 1: would expect. So they responded to this in a statement

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Speaker 1: saying that they appreciate that counselors are hearing from what

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Speaker 1: they say is a very vocal minority. Interesting and they

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Speaker 1: also said that removing the service in Melbourne could actually

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Speaker 1: lead to more dangerous outcomes. So in a statement, they said,

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Speaker 1: if higher schemes aren't around, riders will turn to unregulated,

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Speaker 1: privately owned scooters that can be modified to travel at

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Speaker 1: the same speeds as cars and without the ability to

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Speaker 1: imply meant geo fencing, slow zones and helmets.

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Speaker 2: So that's just the typical black market argument. Yet if

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Speaker 2: you ban something, people still do it, but it just

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Speaker 2: becomes more dangerous. I mean, obviously we'd have to wait

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Speaker 2: and see if that rings true, but it's an interesting

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Speaker 2: argument there from a company that has a lot to lose.

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Speaker 2: Right now, I want to turn really quickly before we

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Speaker 2: end to the rest of the world, because Melbourne is

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Speaker 2: by no means unique. You know, we said that there's

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Speaker 2: been a lot of uptake, but these e scooters are

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Speaker 2: all around the world. Can you tell me what has

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Speaker 2: happened elsewhere?

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Speaker 1: So Another city where these rented scooters have been really

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Speaker 1: popular is Paris, and they have gone through these.

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Speaker 2: At the time of my life on an e scooter there,

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Speaker 2: I just want to say, there is nothing better in

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Speaker 2: this world than being in summer in Paris on an

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Speaker 2: e scooter.

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Speaker 1: Well, that is not a luxury. You can have any mine,

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Speaker 1: and I'll explain why. So they have gone through the

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Speaker 1: exact debate that Melbourne is having right now, and the

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Speaker 1: way they settled this debate is actually by putting it

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Speaker 1: to a public poll last year, and that pole resulted

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Speaker 1: in ninety percent of people who responded, So not everyone

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Speaker 1: responded and you're not quite a citizen or a resident,

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Speaker 1: but that poll resulted in ninety percent of respondents voting

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Speaker 1: to remove scooters. So again I think it comes back

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Speaker 1: to it's not really the most popular thing for locals

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Speaker 1: in these cities where it is really popular. And so ever,

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Speaker 1: since September last year, scooters have been banned in the

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Speaker 1: city and Zara most importantly hasn't been able to ride

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Speaker 1: her scooter through the streets of Paris.

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Speaker 2: Again, Niche experiences they're coming to light on this podcast. Billy,

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Speaker 2: thank you so much for explaining that I mean, it

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Speaker 2: seemed like a fairly straightforward story, but there are so

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Speaker 2: many layers to it, and I think it will be

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Speaker 2: really interesting. This is a precedent that's being set in

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Speaker 2: Melbourne and seeing what happens elsewhere will be fascinating too.

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Speaker 3: Yeah.

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Speaker 1: I think it's you know, it's an economic story, it's

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Speaker 1: a safety story, it's a political story, it's a tourism story.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if I want to go to Melbourne now.

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Speaker 2: That they don't know really, draw card is gone.

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Speaker 1: Thank you so much for listening to this episode of

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Speaker 1: The Daily Oz. If you would like to help us grow,

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Speaker 1: if you can click follow on Spotify or Apple. It

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Speaker 1: really helps us get up those charts and helps new

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Speaker 1: people discover us. Thank you so much and we'll be

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Speaker 1: back again tomorrow. My name is Lily Maddon and I'm

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Speaker 1: a proud Arunda Bungelung Calcoton woman from Gadigol Country. The

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Speaker 1: Daily oz acknowledges that this podcast is recorded on the

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Speaker 1: lands of the Gadighl people and pays respect to all

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Speaker 1: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island and nations. We pay our

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Speaker 1: respects to the first peoples of these countries, both past

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Speaker 1: and present,