Tonight on 60 Minutes, Adam Hegarty investigates growing concerns over passenger safety at Uber, as women prepare to take the rideshare giant to task over allegations of sexual misconduct by drivers.
Also reporting, Dimity Clancey examines the collapse of Australia’s plastic recycling industry after the federal government abandoned a $130 million initiative designed to support local recyclers.
Coming up tonight:
BAD TRIP
The world’s biggest ride-sharing company, Uber, has a slogan that should give everyone who uses the service great comfort. “Your safety drives us,” is the pledge.
Problem is, for women passengers especially, that’s simply not true. Complaints of sexual misconduct and inappropriate behaviour against Uber drivers are spiralling. In the United States alone, there’s one every eight minutes.
And here in Australia, where analysts estimate Uber controls more than 70 per cent of the rideshare market, so many women are so fed up there are plans to launch a class action against the company for not doing enough to stop the attacks and harassment of passengers by its drivers.
Reported by Adam Hegarty, produced by Serge Negus and Toni Ambrogetti.
WASTED OPPORTUNITY
It may come as a shock to many people, but governments do have good ideas. Three years ago, Canberra boasted it was going to boost Australia’s plastic recycling industry, to make the country more environmentally responsible.
As part of a $130 million package, foreign businesses would have been forced to use Australian recycled plastic in the products they manufactured and brought into the country; everyday items like food wrappers and detergent containers.
The program was not only an incentive for local recyclers to scale up their operations, it would have substantially reduced the tonnes of plastic garbage that end up in landfill every year. But in September, the federal government did the dirty on an industry trying to be clean and green.
As Dimity Clancey reports, it reneged on its promise, with the almost immediate effect of sending recyclers broke.
Reported by Dimity Clancey, produced by Sandra Odorisio.
