Letters To The Editor

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Less costs

Re: Christine Russell's "School Concerns" (Echo, Jan 22).

I was in Goulburn in 1965 when the Christine Russels' of Goulburn got a Catholic school closed because it had one less toilet than was required under Education Department guidelines for the school population. On the following Monday morning 2,000 children turned up at the doors of the local State schools looking for admittance.

Needless to say panic reigned supreme as it was very obvious to all concerned there was not the infrastructure available to accommodate such numbers and would take months to plan some let alone implement it. The toilets soon became a non-event.

The basic problem with Christine's scheme is the same as it was in Goulburn 40 years ago, only more so.

Christine says that 70% of children are educated in the State system. Forty years ago it was about 80%.

I am sure that Christine would shop where she can buy her merchandise for 75 cents and not pay $1 in the opposition. That is exactly the position in Education. Politicians can educate children in private schools to exactly the same standards as in the State system by spending 75 cents per child as compared to $1 for a child in the State system. The parents pick up the shortfall in the private system.

Even politicians can work out that this is a vast saving to the country as a whole. Maybe there are some of us who can't work that out.

M G Hogan
Alstonville

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Bad example

Although the police must pay a lot of money to ask everyone that watches TV to slow down, I had a highway patrol overtake me at the beginning of an overtaking lane. I was doing 100kph and the police left me like I was standing still.

My 14 year old son called it to my attention that there were no lights or sirens on and asked me if the police were breaking the laws they are paid to uphold. At the next overtaking lane a double trailer rig that had been only three meters behind me for the last kilometre, with nowhere to pull over and let him by, overtook me while I was going the 100 kilometre limit and proceeded to gain speed away from me while my son read the notice on the back of the trailer that said the truck had a 100 k/ph speed limit! As we were on level road between Iluka and Woodburn, I found this hard to believe.

I have always told my children that the police are to be respected as they are the keepers of the law. I'm having a hard time trying to justify the dangerous and blatant abuse that the police and the huge, from the view in my rear view mirror, trucks are costing the nation in lives and insurance money so they can get from point A to B faster than the other citizens on the road.

Fines aren't everything, safety first please.

Michael Wright
Mt Nardi

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Protect kids

I would like to congratulate Council on the beautification and expansion of public access to the waterfront in central Ballina.

I visited the lovely sun-shielded children's playground with my granddaughter and was astounded to find that the playground is not enclosed by a childproof fence. Many parents of small children commented that they would not return as the playground is so close to the sheer drop to the water that they have very little time to catch enthusiastic children before they fall in the water or at low tide crash onto the rocks below.

Ballina Council must provide a fence before it is too late and a terrible tragedy occurs.

Victoria O'Connor
Lennox Head

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Good values

Parents, students and teachers from public schools have every right to be angry and upset at John Howard's attack on our schools.

As a public education ambassador who has spent time in 100 north coast government schools every year for the past 11 years, I can assure Mr Howard that values are alive and well. Everyday our teachers instil the importance of tolerance, respect, rights and responsibilities, pursuit of excellence, care for others, social justice, inclusion, trust, honesty and ethical behaviour in their teaching and their treatment of students.

I would suggest, however, that these are not the values to which Mr Howard refers. He seems to be reminiscing of the views of 1950's white-Australia with its picket-fenced view of our nation's position in the world. These are not values - they represent a mono-cultural, conservative, dated, non-inclusive and blinkered view of society.

True values stand the test of time. They have always been evident in our public schools that are by definition, inclusive. I suggest that Mr Howard should do his homework and spend more time in public schools before he makes his outrageous claims.

If Australia is to regain its reputation as the land of the fair-go and equal opportunity for all, it is essential that the role of public education in that process is expanded and supported by federal and state governments. One would expect that our Prime Minister should be leading the way rather than denigrating it.

Jenny Dowell
Goonellabah
* ALP council candidate

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That'll learn 'em

If the Howard government are upset about the curriculum being taught at public schools then we can rest assured that we must be teaching our kids something right.

Andy Gough
Larnook

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You're joking

Come off it, Shaggy - we all know by now that "G.Wallace of South Lismore" is just a figment of your doggy imagination!

No real person would be game to expose his/her ignorance, bigotry and prejudice to the world in such a blatant way!

Good try, though, stirring up the local writers to add to the debate. Except that the joke is becoming stale.

I suspect most readers are now skipping G. Wallace's contributions and reading only the interesting and relevant letters.

Rosie Gibbons
Lismore Heights

George is very much alive and well and has the right to have his voice and opinions heard as much as anyone else. - Ed

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Schools concerns

I agree with the letter by Christine Russell (Echo, Jan 22).

I find that the terminology for private schools is misleading because mainly they are Christian schools. A teacher should have a responsibility to teach children only what is truth. All teachers should be prepared to re-assess, as new facts appear to alter events of the past.

I believe that in reality the Christian school is out to teach the youngster the dogmas and superstitions of its beliefs. There is nothing academic in this type of tuition. Christian schools also do not tolerate other belief systems, as they believe that the supposed Jesus is the only way to a supposed heaven. Is this democratic teaching? Doesn't the law of our land state that we have freedom of religions? This dogmatism is divisive and fosters bitterness and intolerance and is a form of domination and control. Christian education is designed to foster obedience to Christian authority, and it teaches children to suppress natural desires and to abandon secular reasoning and to focus solely on the bible. This actually instils fear and is a form of mental abuse.

We need secular public schools today more than ever, to educate the children of today on the history of violence brought about by religion. Christian schools suppress the truth of religious history such as persecution, torture, and the burning at the stake and today they promote themselves with a clean image. They don't want you to look into the past history of the Church, because you would find such things as bigotry, slavery, discrimination, repression and endless violence in the name of a Christian God. It's unfortunate that most Christians never question the roots of their belief outside of church structure. I'm sure that non-believers who send their children to private 'Christian' schools have no understanding of the implications involved. The same applies for Christian Scripture teachers in public schools.

Jim Lee
Alstonville

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Smears & jeers

Returning from six months travel, I eagerly turned to the Letters page and was astonished to read that poor Tom Murdoch (Echo, Jan 15) is still confused about the difference between migrants and refugees.

He is not alone in his confusion and I can't help but suspect that fear, kept alive by Howard and his cronies with the help of some sections of the media, is what keeps Tom and many others in prejudiced ignorance.

A symptom seems to be a regression to name calling and insults, so often used to disguise ignorance and fear and to cover up the lack of logic in poorly presented arguments. In the refugee issue, it is interesting to observe that labels, such as 'bleeding hearts' and 'dewy-eyed do gooders', are intended to be derogatory, but fail in their intent and could be taken instead as a badge of honour signifying compassion and respect for humanity.

M McDermott
Alstonville

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Bag woes

Last week at a major supermarket in Lismore after purchasing four items, one of which was onions, in separate bags, at the checkout I requested only one plastic bag the checkout operator commented "won't fit".

In town the next day, outside the same supermarket, I watched a number of people coming out of the eight items or less with an average of 2 items per plastic bag including vegetables which were in a separate plastic bag yet in a plastic.

What are checkout operators taught, only to collect money and not how to pack?

The four items I purchased were toilet paper, 1kg cheese, 1kg flour and some loose onions.

Stan Heywood
Rosebank

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Good values

Re our National Leaders' assertion that parents are enrolling their children in private schools to learn better value systems:

Australia proves itself on being an equalitarian society, a value system forged in the playgrounds of government schools, the only authentic arena in which it can be taught or learned.

We are recognised and recorded as courageous contributors in peace and progress throughout the world, Australia's adaptability, acceptance and respect for other cultures has been legendary an honoured value system.

Don't jeopardise this value system by starving government schools of financial resources, contributed by all the nation's taxpayers.

Government schools cannot compromise their integrity by accepting financial assistance from other sources.

M J Siebert
Lismore

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Popular with voters

Martin Oliver makes a point in his letter (Echo, Jan 22). The stakes, with regard to the actions of John Howard, that 'Fortress Australia is as much about winning elections as keeping out refugees'.

In fact Mr. Oliver has, without realizing, hit the proverbial nail right on the head. John Howard's treatment of asylum seekers has angered a vocal section of our community. However, ongoing Liberal party research of the border Australian community shows that up to 76% of voters agree with his current hard line on boat people. In an election year, rather than anger a large proportion of grass roots voters our spineless Prime Minister is simply competing in a popularity contest as usual. Disguised behind a façade of patriotic rhetoric the actions of our Prime Minister and his flunkies are actually nothing more than electioneering.

On another note, if the US economy continues to spiral into a black abyss at its current rate crime and anarchy are sure to become the order of the day in America. If things get bad enough and desperate Americans start loading their families in leaky boats to escape persecution, tyranny or whatever and arriving on our shorelines claiming asylum, will John Howard lock them up as detainees on Nauru?

Would displaced George W Bush after having just arrived with the latest group of desperate asylum seekers, and caught walking along a deserted beach in an ill-fitting suit and bare feet, be locked up and refused a hearing? Maybe the answer to this question will depend on what the voters think at the time.

Richard Vigna
Wollongbar

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Green danger

Is it safe for children to climb on playground equipment, which has been treated with copper chrome arsenate (CCA)? How does CCA affect the soil and water table at a manufacturing plant? Why are strict remediation measures necessary, similar to those at toxic dip sites, when a manufacturing plant is being closed down?

All these and other questions of safety in the use of CCA products came to me recently in a bulletin, advising that the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (APVMA) has released a draft report on arsenic treated timber for public comment. I urge you all to read the proposed regulatory approach to the future use of CCA products and make a submission before February 29. The APVMA website is www.apvma.gov.au/chemrev/arsenic.shtml

CCA treated timbers are everywhere in Ballina Shire - in children's playgrounds, round car parks, along Lake Ainsworth and the Richmond River, by the beachfront - many have been installed by Work for the Dole recipients, or paid for (like the access ramp at Angels Beach) by a government grant.

Cr Margaret Howes
Lennox Head

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