New data released by Australia Post has revealed a worrying trend of dog attacks on postal workers, with Queensland leading the nation and Darra identified as a hotspot.
In the past six months, more than 1420 dog-related safety incidents have been recorded across Australia, with a staggering 466 of those occurring in Queensland. Within Brisbane, the suburbs of Bundamba, Darra, and Stafford have been identified as areas with the highest number of incidents.
Video footage released by Australia Post on Monday showcased several incidents where postal workers were chased and bitten by dogs while carrying out their duties, highlighting the risks they face daily. According to the organisation, more than 55 posts are involved in dog-related incidents each week, a figure they are eager to reduce.
While no specific breed has been identified as more prone to aggression, Australia Post has observed a trend of smaller dogs exhibiting aggressive behaviour towards postal workers.
Rod Maule, Australia Post General Manager of Safety and Wellbeing, acknowledged the stress and anxiety that these incidents cause for posties, stating that their team members simply want to deliver for their customers without being attacked, harassed, or chased by dogs.
Australia Post urges dog owners to take responsibility for their pets and ensure they are secured in a safe location, such as a back garden, on a leash, or in another room when expecting deliveries. If this is not possible, they suggest using parcel lockers.
Mr Maule emphasised that posties will only deliver to an address if it is deemed unsafe and that deliveries will cease once the issue is resolved. He also confirmed that all dog-related incidents are reported to local councils to ensure appropriate action.
Darra-based biotech startup company Luina Bio believes they have the ingredients and the expertise necessary to help produce a new generation of mRNA vaccines to help in the fight against COVID-19.
mRNA vaccines, like the one produced by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, are at the forefront of the worldwide efforts to contain the coronavirus pandemic.
At the present moment, Luina Bio helps prepare vaccines and proteins for researchers and companies worldwide, with more than 90 per cent of its business coming from overseas clients.
“As a microbial fermentation company, Luina Bio has all the capacity to produce the API – the active pharmaceutical – for mRNA vaccines,” Max Rosetto, Luina’s General Manager (Business Development) explained at a BioMelbourne Network event recently.
Their current capacity allows them to produce 1.4 million doses of the active drug for the vaccines — a number which can be increased to 20 million doses with some investment.
The federal government began discussing the production of the vaccines with numerous local manufacturers, Luina Bio included, in 2020. Government plans are already in place for a COVID-19 vaccine roll-out, with smaller startups volunteering to partake in the creation of mRNA vaccines in the future.
However, Karen Andrews, Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, reiterated that the production of mRNA products at scale is challenging and will take time to develop.
About Luina Bio
Luina Bio, founded and based in Brisbane, has served pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and veterinary industries across the globe for over 20 years by supplying them with manufacturing solutions for biological drugs.
Their primary clients consist of research institutes, universities, and biopharmaceutical development companies. Luina Bio’s manufacturing includes, but is not limited to, recombinant proteins and vaccines, live biotherapeutics, plasmid DNA, and human and veterinary products. For more information, visit their website.
The beginnings of Montrose Therapy & Respite, the disability facility that operates clinics and service centres across Australia with a head office in Darra, make for quite a remarkable story. It all started with a struggling businessman named George Marchant, who has become one of Brisbane’s well-revered philanthropists.
Mr Marchant of England arrived in Brisbane as a 16-year-old with limited resources. However, he persevered as a factory worker to become a soft-drink manufacturer and grew the small business he started in 1886.
Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons
By the 1920s, Mr Marchant’s company had manufacturing plants and offices in Sydney, Newcastle, Melbourne and Adelaide, aside from Brisbane. He also invented and patented the machine that bottling companies from all over the world would adopt in their plants.
Needless to say, the penniless man from England grew his fortune. But as the world was plagued the Polio epidemic in 1933, Mr Marchant stepped up to offer one of his beautiful homes, which was located in Taringa. This house became a healing centre for the young victims of the disease and was managed by the Queensland Crippled Children’s Society.
Photo Credit: National Library of Australia
The Rise of Montrose Home
Some six kilometres away from the first house, Mr Marchant also acquired a Corinda property in 1937 to accommodate more children with polio. Dubbed the “Montrose Home,” this facility did not just take care of crippled children as its services expanded to dental treatments and education.
Matron Jessie Peters was the very first matron to oversee the children’s care and recovery, especially after the death of Mr Marchant in 1941. A significant portion of his estate was left to the Montrose Home to support its operations.
By 1959, the Corinda location also included treatments for children with asthma, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, muscular disabilities and other debilitating conditions. Ms Peters had retired by then and medical advances in Polio slowly eradicated the disease.
Photo Credit: State Library of Queensland
In the 1970s, the Montrose Home was redeveloped to become a special needs facility for children and adults. The site also opened new dormitories to house people with disabilities.
However, as in-home health and wellness support became a more popular option, residents started moving out of the Montrose Home in the 1990s. At the dawn of the new millennium, the site was demolished in favour of housing developments and Montrose rebranded into MontroseAccess.
Today, the company’s main office is at 10 Station Avenue in Darra as it continues the legacy that Mr Marchant left behind. Now called the Montrose Therapy & Respite, the facility specialises in:
Early intervention for children with disabilities and developmental delays
Therapy services for children and adults
Skill-based programs to support adult lifestyle and social activities
NDIS assistance (disability insurance)
Montrose Therapy & Respite has clinics and service centres at various Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast locations. Visit the official site to check the nearest facility in your area.
Honouring Mr Marchant
Last 17th of July 2019, Queensland Business Hall of Fame honouredMr Marchant for his contributions to the region, which have been estimated at more than $100 million. Apart from his philanthropy, Mr. Marchant was also regarded as a progressive boss who had women employees and paid his workers above the minimum wage.
“I always feel sorry for those whose parents have sheltered them from the need to work for a living,” Mr. Marchant once said in an interview in 1936. “They may surpass me in external polish, but of that knowledge which comes from the great school of human experience, how can they know much?”
Darra has recently topped the list of best Brisbane suburbs to invest in property, according to the latest report from Place Advisory.
Among Brisbane suburbs with high weekly rental yield for a 3-bedroom house, Darra topped the list, with a five percent yield, which experts believe could potentially hit six percent. Whilst Forest Lake, Ellen Grove, and Kuraby also have the same weekly rental yield, Darra is the most affordable with a median price of $350,500.
According to the latest data from realestate.com.au, the median weekly rent for 3-bedroom house in Darra, based on 75 house listings from 1 July 2018 – 8 July 2019 is $340,000.
CoreLogic’s propertyvalue.com.au, on the other hand, reports that the median rent in Darra is $350,000 per week with a median gross yield of 4.2 percent, based on data over the last 12 months.
The suburbs of Durack, Richlands, Inala, Doolandella, Acacia Ridge, Willawong, Pallara, Larapinta, Heathwood follow with a weekly rent yield of 4.7 percent.
During the first quarter of 2019, the rental market in Brisbane continued to tighten, as Inner Brisbane and Brisbane LGA record their lowest vacancy rates — 2.1% and 2.5%, respectively — years after the local market was hit by supply glut.
Place Advisory attributes the strong performance to the increasing rate of population growth in these two markets; conversely, the rate of supply of new dwellings entering the market is declining. The tightening supply has also resulted in rental price growth during the first quarter of 2019, across all property types.
