Letters To The Editor
Lismore Lake history
I advise Ross Greenwood (Echo, Jan 8), to take care with his use of adjectives. The dictionary definition of 'lecher' is -'a lewd, unchaste, fornicator, a debaucher'.
The adjective 'lecherous' would have similar implications and could be considered as libellous, so be warned. I presume that Ross is new to our area; otherwise he would know that Lismore Lake water sport complex was not "wrestled from under the noses of our ratepayers". The original site was a depression adjoining the river, which automatically became a swamp frequented by water birds in the wet times. This depression was excavated by the Council of the day, and the fill used to build up the road to Casino. The basin that remained was turned into a motorised water sports complex. After several years this had to be closed because of the blue-green algae problem, and the birds came back. Other problems for the sporting complex were: the small size of the lake with the risk of accidents and the noise problem, objected to by the motel proprietors and others.
A major problem that will remain, whatever the future use of the lake, is the maintenance of water levels. There is no natural run off, so when water levels drop, water has to be pumped in from the river. Permission for this to happen has to be given by the Land and Water Commission and can be refused in drought times, as happened in early 2003. I have asked the Goondiwindi Local Council to send me a brochure or a flyer about their aquatic lake. It will be interesting to learn the history of their $5 million aquatic lake.
Lismore Council with vision, and $5 million dollars to spend, could make of this area something that would really put Lismore on the map. We have here the where-with-all to make the best of all possible amenities. The Wilson River on the one hand crying out for attention, boating facilities and aquatic sports. And on the other hand a little lake that could be beautiful with an island or two, more tree plantings and picnic area facilities, already a 'special' place because it is the known habitat for two threatened species of birds.
Doubting Thomases in the past have been convinced when shown that unusual little bird, the Jacana, stepping out across the waterweeds. During the drought when there were no lily pads, Jacanas were absent, but they have been back now for several weeks. I am willing to show you Ross.
Molly Crawford
Lismore
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Not our customs
The Sydney Morning Herald (Dec 12, 03) reported that the High Court had ruled in favour of two homosexual men from Bangladesh claiming refugee status over persecution in their homeland.
In support of his case, the elder of the two men claimed he'd been sentenced to 300 lashes and sacked from his job after raping several young men at his workplace. It was he who invoked the term "rape", to which Arthur Dale (Echo, Jan 8) takes offence. The misuse of words in Dale's disjointed letter raises the question of whether it came through translation from Bengali, possibly dictated, or typed in haste, into a website, from which Dale's letter might have been a printout.
If there is a website proclaiming that all consensual sex is within the law, this is a serious matter. In Australia, there are heavy penalties for under age sex, but this is not the case in most of Asia, where children, born into generations of unpayable debt, have to be surrendered as sex slaves. They are a key part of the ancient system that divides much of Asia into super rich billionaires and grovelling poor, from whose despair not even death can free them.
If the High Court has taken up this "cause", beware! Through the Court's self-given powers and secret UN Committees, they can declare Australia's age-of-consent and anti-slavery laws null and void. They could argue that they are answering public demand, that custom must become law.
What "custom" you may ask. The custom whereby Asian child slaves are brought to Australia, imprisoned and forced into prostitution under the lash of sadistic Chinese Madams. When, as often happens, through sickness, madness or drug addiction they cease to be functional units, their passports are handed to the Immigration Dept, who obligingly deport them, some to die back in their homeland, others don't make it that far. There are laws that could send the slavers to jail for years but they are never used. That is the "custom".
Eddie Burns
Nimbin
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Hit for six
Who in the blazes does Ms Irwin think she is fooling with her snatch and grab bunch if independents and to rub salt into a well developed wound, now Labor wants in with their two bobs worth of independents I suppose!
How stupid could us poor old ratepayers be to fall for this little con! Please, please give us back our good ole reliable six-pack. They'd be a bloody site more reliable than these new pretenders to the throne I would think!
And have a guess who they want to be Queen Bee and boy does this little queen want that back! Oh God, please not again! Doesn't this woman ever give up! You've had a fair go Ros. For all our sakes have an 'extended' holiday like for about the next 30 years. You were dethroned fair and square last time. Take a hint and take a hike.
Come on Merve (sic) come on. The six-pack are just about the only councillors worth voting for. At least they have tried to get things done against the odds. Rosses (sic) mob just block, block, block what the vast majority of us want. Seems to me just the six-pack is sticking up for us and if it wasn't for the arrogant and self-opinionated opportunists on the other side these projects would have been in place years hence for possibly millions less.
I have been told this by reliable sources and I speak of two projects - the baths redevelopment and flood proofing. Now of course as expected our Ross (sic) is desperately trying to blame our great mayors so called six-pack. Well she would wouldn't she! Also I cannot see why councillors should always take the advice of council staff. Who says they are always right and maybe they are working to their own agendas anyhow! We just would not know. Good on our six-pack for having the guts to support us long-suffering ratepayers. More power to them and boy do we need them next election the shocking way it's stacking up. At long last we'll have a 'swim' in great new complex where we want it. The 'levy' is well on the way! Lismore Square extensions? Lets Go! Our six-pack back, you bet.
Please vote below the line and show these perceived opportunists we are not just a bunch of gullible voters that don't know crap from clay. At least I know the names of the six-pack. King, Crowther, Chant, Baxter, Suffolk and Hampton! At least one of the others and more I'm trying to forget. But I suppose I won't be that lucky.
Lastly there must be something in this 'councillor' stuff with so many wanting a go at it. I hope there is something more than just big-noting ones self, however, there is at least one of the opposition that knocks that for six! Come on people, do we want progress, development, jobs for our kids or a thousand steps backwards? At least give your ticks to the six again. We'll then have some hope! Better than hopeless!
G Wallace
South Lismore
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Riverbank plans
Thank you to Anastasia Guise for her suggestions regarding the Wilsons River (Echo, Jan 8).
Lismore City Council is committed to opening the river in the city precinct, and to ensure that the community of Lismore has a fantastic area where all sorts of passive recreation can be enjoyed.
To date, we have been through an extensive consultation period to ensure that we are meeting the needs and wishes of the community in the implementation of this very important project. Plans and budgets for four key areas have been completed, and implementation has begun.
The new park - the riverside section of Heritage Park, has been completely reshaped and opened up. Just over 12 months ago there was no view of the river at all from this area; now the river is a key feature.
Almost 1000 native species have been planted, pathways have been put through both areas, new trees that will provide cool shade have recently been planted, and over the next few months, recreational equipment will be added to the boat ramp and Heritage Park areas.
Modern boating facilities are planned at both the boat ramp and at the Rowing Club car park, and these will be completed before the end of 2004.
We will continue to consult with the community on the revitalisation of the Wilsons River in the city precinct, and I welcome any comments or input from the community.
Lois Kelly
Project Co-ordinator
Wilsons River Redevelopment
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News to me
Did you notice a little "reminder" in the latest NRMA Open Road page 11?
"50: the new 60". Just what does this cryptic bit mean? Does it mean that any time I have gone past the Alstonville 60 kph camera at 59 kph I will be fined?
Whatever it means, it came into law on 1 November and this is the first I have heard about it. I haven't got my head in a bag. I know the Alstonville rodeo is postponed even though I could not care less. This lack of notice is not good enough. Where it applies the signs should be changed pronto.
Nat B Wheatley
Alstonville
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Powered perils
Electronic remote central locking and power windows in modern cars have many advantages against carjackers, bag snatchers, etc. but have people thought of the dangers? If the battery fails nothing works.
A Melbourne man was unable to open the doors or windows to escape, when his cars' electronic locking system shut down as his car sank in a flooded creek. He tried unsuccessfully to kick out the back window and was only saved by SES breaking in at the last seconds before he drowned. The cars manufacturer said it was not recommended that the car be driven into excessively deep water!
A similar accident happened in Queensland last year, where a driver only managed to break out by using a bottle to smash a window. But we are warned to have no loose heavy objects in the passenger compartment that may injure people.
My car instructions warn not to activate deadlocks if people are inside, as it cannot be unlocked from inside. Danger here if children in a vehicle activate spare keys, maybe unknowingly.
Auto lock in Drive locks doors automatically when transmission is out of Park.
Then battery failure due to a minor accident, water immersion or mechanical fault could leave occupants trapped inside a locked, sinking or burning vehicle.
Seems you need to carry a suitable tool to break out in any emergency.
How many power locked cars may be swept away with their occupants next flood?
Has the NRMA and makers checked out this problem, or publicised it? Should there be two alternative manually opening escape routes?
I have seen no warnings, except an article in The Australian.
Ken Macdonald
Lennox Head
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Death row writer
I am writing on behalf of Brandon Astor Jones, an Afro-American writer who has been living on death row in a Georgia prison for the past 25 years.
Over the past two years he has been writing a book about the American Civil War and the lives of slaves, soldiers and sailors involved. The book is entitled Without War and has been written with the help of outside researchers, there being no research facilities in prison. Brandon is needing support to complete and distribute the book, in the time he has left. Specifically, he needs money and people willing to type and research. He says that donations can be sent via American Express Money Orders or cashier's cheques, directly to him at:
Brandon Astor Jones; UNO400574; EF-122216; Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison; Post Office Box 3877; Jackson; Georgia 30233.
N.B: the prison will only accept mail with a return address on the envelope.
Mike Birch
Nimbin
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Inspiring view
Bobbi Allan (Echo, Jan 15) presented us with an inspiring vision of Australians working for the welfare of other human beings, in this case refugees. Despite the rhetoric that people are innately selfish, altruism seems to be an important part of our makeup.
In the same column, Tom Murdoch delivered a diatribe against three individuals who have recently expressed positive opinions about refugees. Sadly, he has developed such a jaundiced view that he appears unable to see the good in anything. I suspect he is irked by humanitarian groups such as the Red Cross and Medicins Sans Frontiers in addition to those people improving conditions in Australian concentration camps.
'Fortress Australia' is as much about winning elections as keeping out refugees. Eventually the Coalition's pollsters took notice of Land Rover's Defender model, and observed the proliferation of 'Keep Out' signs across the country. According to the theory, voting for Howard's refugee policies and fencing out one's closest neighbours insulates soap-using taxpayers from the rest of the world and its pain. A man has been held in solitary confinement off PNG, but Tom is safe and can sneer because he's too respectable to be a refugee.
We can continue on our present trajectory. When society collapses, this can be partially managed through a mammoth prison-building program. Environmental collapse will be more of a challenge. When whole populations are obliged to migrate across Australia as refugees in order to survive, will they encounter razor wire fences and 'Keep Out' signs?
While Tom does not subscribe to flying pink elephants and unicorns, perhaps he was taken in by far more dangerous myths such as 'children in the water' and Iraq's weapons of mass destruction.
Maybe he could benefit from being one of the 'people dancing around in circles, holding hands with daisy chains in their hair'. Such a wonderful vision however fails to equate with life as it is generally lived today, and Tom is someone who is Living In The Real World. He is certain that the Northern Rivers region is not Utopia, and rather than believe in peace and harmony, he would rather negate them.
I hope he is looking forward to the alternatives.
Martin C Oliver
Lismore
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Kids law
Richmond Valley mayor Charlie Cox is now pointing the finger at parents for the current problems with delinquents at Evans Head.
Charlie, the problems at Evans Head and everywhere else for that matter are directly caused by Government legislation, which was initially aimed at protecting children from abuse, but had the ultimate effect of stripping parents completely of all authority.
Parents, or Police for that matter, can't do anything Charlie, to stop children under 18 doing whatever they want, whenever they want. Misguided bureaucrats have made it that way by introducing knee-jerk reaction legislation to such a complex area which directly affects parenting.
Our daughter was 15 when she decided that she didn't want our protection and guidance. She went to government departments and was actually paid money to leave home, via a youth allowance. All she had to do was lie about her situation at home. It's one of the biggest scams going, and most kids know about it.
Until the young people involved in vandalism and other criminal behaviour are held accountable, until our society upholds the basic reasoning that a child's freedom should be equal to the amount of responsibility they show towards their actions, and until the government stops interfering with parenting, by paying kids to leave home, we are going to see this sort of problem a lot more often.
In past generations, these sorts of problems were uncommon. I can only surmise that it's because parents then were backed by the community, society and government on their rights and authority to guide and protect their young. Back then young people knew who had authority. Authority, of course, has to be enforced to be any deterrent so its no wonder delinquents laugh at the situation today - there is no one able to enforce it!
If somehow we can strike a careful balance, by handing back parental rights and authority, whilst at the same time protecting children from actual abuse, we would definitely be heading down the right track for the future.
Government authorities have created the current and future nightmare with child delinquents and as far as we're concerned... they can fix it!
As parents we have had our hands tied.
Daryl and Wendy King
Hogarth Range
Lake view
Apart from the personal dislike Ross Greenwood (Echo, Jan 8) apparently has for me and people who care about the environment, and the rather unfortunate way he has of stereotyping these people, he clearly does not understand the issues about Lismore Lake or the Goondiwindi water park.
First, Lismore Lake was closed to water craft and other aquatic activities because it has blue-green algae, which makes it poisonous to people. When it was created it did not, and does not, have any flushing capacity and its shallow depth, exacerbated by motion caused by motorised craft, means that unless the lake is drained, the bottom dredged and a flushing capacity introduced, it will always be subject to algal blooms. As a result, it would have to be tested continually and warnings given and changed on a regular basis, there would be no capacity to plan water-based activities with any certainty and there would be a continuing risk to the personal health of those who chose to ignore the warning signs. This would be a public liability nightmare for Council to oversight.
Second, Goondiwindi's water park incorporates the Serpentine Creek, a branch of the Macintyre River. The Park has, amongst other things, a waterski and boating channel of approximately 50-120 metres wide and 3.2 kilometres long. This contrasts with Lismore Lake, which as mentioned before, is only several hundred metres in diameter. Of course, Lismore also has the river and is close to other locations where aquatic activities can occur, which is not the case in Goondiwindi.
Third, Council's extensive consultation with all the stakeholders on this issue showed that support for retention of the Lake as a water bird sanctuary far outweighed support for reviving water sports. It is sad for many that these activities are now no longer possible, but there is now another opportunity to make something worthwhile happen at the lake.
Mr Greenwood might consider the many bird sanctuaries around NSW which attract tourists in their thousands and significant economic benefits to their communities. With some foresight and low-cost development at the Lake, the same could occur in Lismore.
Cr Ros Irwin
Lismore
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School concerns
Mr Howard states that public schools are losing students because teachers are too politically correct.
It made me think. What about schools that favour one religion above all else, which allow only students who are able to afford their fees, accept only students who gain a favourable score in a basic skills test. It is the private schools that are too politically correct
There is a darker side to this political correctness/economic rationalism. Young people in state schools are being denied opportunities because money is being channelled into private schools. Yet it is the state system which accepts all children, including children the private system has refused to help. Many difficult children have learning difficulties that can be eliminated with remedial teaching allowing the children to flower.
John Howard denies the state schools this money. He would rather pour money into private schools. Many private school pupils have parents with degrees. They know how the education system works, the parents know how to help children. Teachers are not breaking new ground.
70% of Australian children go to state school. Lets support the education of the majority, a system that allows us to embrace tolerance and a fair go for all including people of different religions, different socio-economic backgrounds, different abilities. The state schools should be encouraged by the federal government for fostering such basic and important social skills. But no, politicians support the system that produced them.
Do we want our children to be like them? No way. I would be interested in hearing from any groups who have been formed to support state schools.
Christine Russell
Dunoon
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Greens reply
Julia Melland (Echo, Jan 8) asserts that The Greens opposed attempts to require local government candidates to disclose their membership of political parties.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
As Hansard makes clear, when Arthur Chesterfield-Evans moved to amend the Local Government (Elections Bill) on 26 June 2003 to require this disclosure, I said, in part:
"The Greens support the Democrat amendment... I think it perfectly appropriate that people ... be prepared to stand by their convictions, rather than ... hoodwink the electorate by using that all-encompassing, very useful but totally uninformative description of 'Independent'."
When it came to the vote, the amendment was lost with only Greens MPs Ian Cohen, Lee Rhiannon and myself as well as Arthur Chesterfield Evans voting for it, and all other MPs against. They, not The Greens, are the ones who have something to hide.
Sylvia Hale, MLC
Greens local government spokesperson
Sydney
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Ultimate truth
In 1995 John Howard unwittingly warned Australians what it would be like living under his government. He said "Increasingly honesty in politics is being swamped by cynical election campaigns based on fear or the big scare or the massive lie" (Pegler A 'John Howard's Little Book of Truth' 2003).
Be forewarned when he announces the election date later this year.
Christine McNamara
Evans Head
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Gallery turns 50
Lismore Regional Art Gallery's 50th anniversary is being celebrated this year.
A regional gallery is many things. It usually, but not always, houses a permanent collection of works that is acquired within stated policy guidelines, either by purchase or by donation. If there is a permanent collection then it must conserve that investment made on behalf of the community. It mounts regular exhibitions (some local, some travelling), which are interpreted and hung for the enjoyment and education of the public. It also provides educational activities for school students and training and sometimes exposure opportunities for emerging local artists. In short, a regional art gallery is a significant asset in the cultural life of any community.
The success of Lismore Regional Gallery over these past 50 years (I hope you have caught the current exhibition Flood - quality quirkiness at its best) has been attributable in very large part to imaginative and energetic professional directors and their ability to attract diversely skilled volunteers.
It is a sad matter of fact that on just about any input measure be it space, staff, acquisitions, exhibition budget etc. our gallery falls far behind most regional galleries in NSW.
Faced with such evidence, a 'bricks and mortar' approach is the one most councils feel comfortable with to improve matters. Art in the Heart, the project which is underway to redevelop the old Lismore High School site into a cultural precinct, will certainly go a long way to solving the gallery's present premises' shortcomings.
Art in the Heart has the potential to secure Lismore a foothold in the creative industries, thereby creating jobs and economic development, revitalising Lismore's CBD, enriching our cultural life and increasing our attraction as a tourist destination.
Lorraine Vass
Lismore Regional Art Gallery Advisory Panel member
-Edited for length
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