WE can only hope the day doesn’t come when Orange City Council bans the age of cars we can drive in town.
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The do-gooder administrators in Paris have axed all cars from the city more than 10 years old because of smog and violators are fined. That means no more classic Citroens, Peugeots or Renaults that make Paris streets all the more colourful.
It also means people unable to afford newer cars can’t drive in the city and that’s resulting in complaints of economic discrimination.
If Orange City Council had a brain snap and did the same here our streets would be cleared of thousands of cars because latest Roads and Maritime Services’ figures for the year ended December 31 show the average age of all vehicles registered in Orange is 11.6 years.
The breakdown shows the average age of cars is 10.7 years while the off-road vehicles’ average is only 8.2 years, people movers 9.6 years, light trucks 9.9, motorcycles 10.3 and caravans 13.3 years.
The average age of all vehicles in Bathurst is12.2 years, cars 11.0, off-road 8.8, light trucks 10.7 and caravans 13.9 years.
The average age of Dubbo vehicles is 11.7 years, cars 10.3, off-road 7.9, light trucks 9.4 and caravans 15.3 years.
So owners of 2007 or older vehicles can rest assured they can still drive their old clunkers.
For now.
‘MUM AND DAD’ … WHAT’LL THEY CENSOR NEXT?
IN George Orwell’s novel, 1984, Winston Smith’s job in the Ministry of Truth was to ban words and phrases unacceptable to Big Brother and replace them with newspeak. He was a member of the word police.
Well, George can roll over because newspeak is well and truly here with Qantas staff the latest now being told to stamp out ‘gender-inappropriate’ words from their vocabulary in a bid to ‘make them feel more comfortable in the workplace’.
Gender specific terms such as ‘guys’, ‘honey’, ‘husband and wife’ and ‘mum and dad’ feature on a list of words to avoid, supposedly designed to help staff from offending people. Will g’day be next?
The strange term ‘manterruptions’, requiring men not to interrupt women when they’re speaking, along with describing the arrival of Europeans as ‘colonisation’, ‘occupation’ or ‘invasion’ rather than 'settlement' add to the gibberish.
Strike me pink. What next? And to think Qantas bills itself as the Spirit of Australia and it’s nicknamed The Flying Kangaroo. Someone should remind them everyday Aussie talk is part of that.
Terms like pen pushers, fat cats, coppers, wharfies, cockies, brickies, posties, chalkies, truckies, garbos, bewdy, goodonya, no worries, fairenuf, absolutely, seeya, catch ya and Bob’s yer uncle will survive despite Qantas telling staff what they can and can’t say.
What would Qantas founders Hudson Fysh and Paul McGinness have thought?
ARE YOU SICK OF PEOPLE TRYING TO SIGN YOU UP?
THE Central Business District is in danger of becoming like Hong Kong with annoying touts mainly outside the post office or in Woollies car park wanting to sign you up for some out-of-town organisation or sell you tickets in something and they don’t like taking no for an answer.
We have our own ticket sellers without having to put up with these pushy visitors, no matter how worthy their cause might be.
Buskers have to get a council permit. What about these people?