Letters To The Editor

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All aboard

Readers attention is drawn to the short time span for submissions to the Legislative Council Inquiry into the closure of the Casino to Murwillumbah rail services, being Friday June 4, 2004, with representatives from the Parliamentary inquiry visiting Lismore on June 9 and Murwillumbah June 10.

Support the efforts being made on many local fronts for the restoration of this service. The Lismore CPSA is forwarding a written submission and I urge all Seniors Groups, indeed all the community, not to be complacent and leave it to the other fellow.

The matters for comment in a submission have been advertised.

Contact me on 6624 5457 or Northern Rivers Trains for the Future (NRTF) on 6622 3053 for assistance with your submission.

Just do it!

Gordon Moody
Goonellabah

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Child abuse

It has always been insinuated that some welfare recipient families have so many children because of the government payments they are entitled to. In fact, living on the dole as a single person without children comes close to being starved to death, while being a single parent at least allows subsisting at a very basic level. Who are we to blame someone for trying to stay alive, even if the children out of this situation might not always be the most happy ones?

Now John Howard's government has topped it, has created an even greater incentive to put children into the world for all the wrong reasons. $3000, $4000 or even $6000 in government handouts are a huge incentive for those who are constantly cash-strapped or otherwise deprived - it might mean getting out of desperate debt, being able to afford a car or to pay for luxuries otherwise unaffordable. For some it might only mean being able to pay for grog and drugs for a short time.

How many children will be born because their parents do not care about what lies more than a week ahead? Is it not the duty of any government to protect children from volatile families? Do we need an even heavier load of future DOCS clients?

I think that putting a short term, election focused policy into place without any regard for the misery it is likely to create is criminal behaviour. It is child abuse on a giant scale. If we as a society prosecute those who incite others to violence, what should we do with a government that encourages mass child abuse?

Name and address supplied

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Homecoming

Earlier this year I visited Alstonville with the main purpose being to find my parents, Tony and Janie Knowles', first home.

I was so delighted with information from an elderly identity that their house is still there, on the corner of Park Ave and High Street. When seeing the front which faces the main road, I felt I had finally found their home. I have photos of this house dated back in mid 1925s which I intend forwarding to the Alstonville Historical Society.

Their eldest daughter Phyllis and son Neville were born in Bangalow, with a third child, Elaine, born at St Leonard's Private Hospital, Alstonville. The family moved to the Atherton Tableland 1932, with two daughters born in Atherton - Margaret and Beverly (yours truly).

I would sincerely like to thank the ladies at the next table in the coffee shop, the Library, all the phone calls, in particular Dorothy Crawford, thank you so much. We will be visiting Alstonville again.

Bev Bandiera (nee Knowles)
Innisfail

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Happiness is a warm gun

Re Jim Lee's bilge (Echo, May 13). I feel like a duck in a shooting gallery. Up I pop and out comes Jim, rifle at the ready. His habitual anti-Christian red rantings are becoming painful to read and a tad boring. As for expletives, I've never heard any of the list of Egyptian, Greek, Hindu etc names, or even "Buddah" (sic), used as an expletive.

As we know, Catholic just means Universal so regardless of the splintering of the Church founded by Christ, most are still 'brothers' in that same Christ.

Peace will never come through secularism Jim, it requires love and forgiveness, otherwise every communist country would be experiencing it would they not? So, as you snuggle up to secularism and it's own brand of science, remember how fortunate you are to live in Australia where you are afforded a personal 'view', however warped, at no risk of having your head separated from your body, a bullet in the brain or worse. Every year approx. 140 - 170,000 Christians in 63 countries from Algeria to Zambia, suffer such a fate according to American statistician David Barrett, German scientist Thomas Schirrmacher, who works for the 'International Society for Human Rights' in Frankfurt and by the German Evangelical Newsagency I.D.E.A. Doubt it? Look 'em up!

Mary B Mason
Lismore Heights

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Poor Tom

Poor old Tom Murdoch, doing battle against a sea of left-wing hippie loonies about the Tortures of Saddam and the Tortures of George.

Of course he's right: two Wrongs do make a Right and the Ends do justify the Means: the crimes of Hussein entirely justify the crimes of Bush and the heads-in-the-sand attitude of Howard and Downer.

Hicks and Habib have no rights because they are obviously guilty. End of story.

Paul Mason
Lismore

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Truck rage

It is good to see brave people like Norm Mann from Urunga step up and call the shots as he saw it when faced with the dangers that 'cowboy truckies' cause on our roads (Echo, April 29).

Norm is a person who has been there and done that as a truckie himself for 39 years so does he know what he is talking about - who would be better qualified?

Having driven to and from Sydney four times recently in daylight and late at night I can confirm every word of Norm's account and add much more. I too have had much experience driving heavy vehicles and buses.

You would not be able to find a more dangerous place to be than the dice with death situation on that Highway at 3am on any morning.

If you try to do the right thing, you can have 70 tonnes of death riding within 2 to 5 metres from your tail lights at speeds from 60kmp/h to 100kmp/h for 10 to 20 kilometres at a time.

These drivers are terrorists of the roads with lethal weapons and apparently go unchecked. And if by chance there happens to be a Police car around, every truckie within 100kms knows about it by CB radio within 10 seconds.

It is nothing to do with bad roads, that is a given for all drivers, it is all about attitude and little fear of prosecution. Politicians and Police Chiefs are quite happy appearing on camera boasting as to what they are doing for public relations reasons. The fact is they are a party to the Highway death toll by doing nothing effective to stop this deadly driving attitude.

There needs to be an all out war, something these killers will respond to.

Where is the pool of unmarked old model Police cars rotating around the State to catch these idiots, the immediate suspension on the spot of drivers licenses, the impounding of trucks, the roadside drug testing and very heavy fines to owners which are enforced by the Courts?

Trucks that perform and are driven like sports cars, owners chasing the dollar, drugged and ratbag drivers are a reality we all are forced to live with and should not have to.

I admire most truck drivers for their skill, the hard family life they live, their ability to save lives by their driving skills, their willingness to help others when they can and their wonderful Aussie spirit. They too are confronted with this madness but will not speak out or they would suffer the same threats, condemnation and black listing from their peers as Norm has.

There are thousands of locals who have witnessed this type or driving and many who have lost family and friends to it. Contact Norman Mann c/- Urunga Post Office or Email truckr age@hotmail.com and help support him to change this situation.

Geoff Harris
Tuckombil

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Give Khazal back her name

Australia's youngest political prisoner has a number - BX390. At her birth, eight months ago, her parents named her "Khazal" - an ancient, lyrical Persian name meaning 'ecstatic song'. Like a bad fairy, the Australian Government has cursed her with the number BX390. Ah, where is the prince who will wake us up from this nightmare?

On May 10, when the Government released the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission Report into Children in Detention, there were still around 170 children in Australia's Immigration Detention Centres. Nice timing, Mr Howard. The Report managed only a small wave of its hand, before you sank it beneath a sea of Budget data.

The report details vivid accounts of violent physical abuse of children, isolation in padded rooms, calling children by their detention number, the use of racist taunts and verbal abuse, holding children in areas with unknown adults, exposure to tear gas and water cannons. Children as young as nine have attempted self-mutilation, suicide and other acts of self-harm.

The Report's strongly worded final statement is:

"Children in immigration detention centres and residential housing projects as at the date of the tabling of this report should be released with their parents, as soon as possible, but no later than four weeks after tabling."

In other words, get all children out of detention by June 10.

Vanstone and Howard say 'no'. They say the indefinite detention of children deters people smugglers. What should be a matter of morality, is seen as a matter of 'efficiency'. (There are strong arguments that it's not even efficient).

The path called "the end justifies the means" rapidly becomes a slippery moral slope. In the name of 'efficiency' the rule of law is subverted. As Malcolm Fraser said recently, "Australia has sought to deny refugees access to the rule of law. We are prepared to place people, including many children, in what we call detention, sometimes for many years, without access to the law, without any charge being made against them."

In the name of 'efficiency' baby Khazal, whose cultured, educated and loving parents are in their fourth year in detention, will be subjected to the litany of abuses reported by the HREOC. Her greatest abuse has already occurred. Her name has been replaced with a number.

Of course, there's a certain 'efficiency' in abusing people. That's why we are currently being bombarded by images of torture and humiliation from Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. If you hold a narrow view of your national interest, you might think abuse 'works' to benefit that interest.

But there is such a thing as a moral national interest. In the end, the argument that 'the ends justify the means' turns human beings into monsters. If something is morally wrong, you don't do it, if you hope to remain a moral society.

Let's remain a moral society. You are the prince(ss) who will lift the curse, who will give baby Khazal back her name. Don't turn away. Everything you and thousands of other people around Australia have already done has almost broken through the hedge. Keep going - we're nearly there.

Call Ian Causley's office on 6621 9909, or Larry Anthony's office on (07) 5524 2466 and make an appointment. Or write a letter to Ian or Larry and copy it to John Howard, Amanda Vanstone, Mark Latham and Stephen Smith. The address for all of them is c/- Parliament House, Canberra, ACT, 2600.

Say that you know there are still around 170 children in detention. Tell them it's just not good enough. Ask what the Government's plans are for their release by June 10. When they send back the usual pat answers, tell them it's still not good enough, and ask again for their plans to release the children by any date. The election approaches. Let them know this will affect your voting choice.

You won't be doing this because you're certain it will be 'efficient'. You'll be doing it because it's the right thing to do. Thank you.

Bobbi Allan
Rural Australians for Refugees

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Fine example

At a time when professional players are bringing the game of rugby league into disrepute, it is good to know that the junior version of the code is in such good hands.

Brian Rix, President of Group 1 Junior Rugby League and his fellow committee members are to be congratulated on the success of the NSW Country Under 13 and Under 14 Cluster Championships held at Oakes Oval on the weekend. Not only was the skill level displayed on the field of such a high standard, but the off-the-field behaviour of the players was a credit to their clubs, families and the game.

The boys and young men I had the privilege to meet on Sunday set an example that more senior players would do well to emulate.

Congratulations not only to the winning Group 2 teams from the Woolgoolga-Kempsey area but to the players from Groups 18 and 19 and our own Group 1 players who did us all so proud.

Jenny Dowell
Goonellabah

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The Keating effect

Is Mark Latham metamorphosing into Paul Keating? Day by day we are seeing more of the Keating factor in the new Labor leader.

It started with the dress sense. There was a time when Mark Latham remembered his Western Sydney roots and would not have been seen dead in expensive suits. Now days he is head to toe in the best Italian labels.

Two years ago Latham wrote in the Australian newspaper (12/02/02) that the Republic debate had no relevance to suburban Australia and politicians should focus on the bread and butter issues. Now he is using the republic as a key ALP election issue.

People have said that Gough Whitlam is Latham's mentor. However it seems he is much more in the Keating mould. It is only time before he starts collecting French clocks.

Bob Wilson
Alstonville

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Make your Mark

Dear Mr Latham. Why is it so, Mark? That you fail to attack the arrant propaganda sprouting from the mouths of John Howard and Peter Costello, that they and they alone have the credibility and aptitude to keep the Australian economy growing and healthy. Albeit, based on very selective and rubbery indicators sourced to the Dept of Statistics that the Liberal Party has in it's pocket, thanks to the corporatism of our bureaucracy and the fraudulent premise they use to produce their figures, eg. Unemployment; which of course should be, underemployment.

Peter Costello wouldn't of known the difference between the multiplier effect and accelerator effect when he got his ticket to Parliament. And yet you allow John Howard to get away with his mantra: "Can you trust Labor to run the economy?" Yes, your party's previous disasters into monetary policy via the stacking of the Reserve Bank Board is your Achilles' heel - Get over it! (Thank you Torpedo, Echo, No 14).

The general public is intelligent enough to know the RBA is a statutory authority and an independent tool of government, rather than a servant. Yet you still allow these party dinosaurs, at your very great cost, to put the fear of Lucifer into the electorate every time a Federal election transpires.

When my political party achieves power, and it will after the completion and publishing (Internet) of my book, referenda will be put to the people to finally destroy the communism of "professional politicians"; fixed, four year terms for any representative of a political party that achieves office. And for their generous pensions after this short service to their party, they will be upholden to teach the new member Parliamentary protocol. A ten-year term for the Mentor (President) will be put to the people when Australia becomes a republic.

Just what is the Liberal party hiding in its bookkeeping and direction from the Labor Party (which is why you are fated to fly blind with any policy initiative), that they would kill their own grandmothers to cling on to power? I for one would like to know. And I'm sure the greater percentage of Australian voters (those under $52k at least), are astute enough historians to understand the lessons of the French revolution, i.e. the unjust inequity of the nobility v working classes.

Make no mistake Mark. "Little" Johnny Howard is setting up a polarised society of privileged and poor by his policies of double whammy payments for use of Government services (leaving the poor perpetually out in the cold), whilst denuding the public education system of its funding and expertise to prop up a "new" class. And all so easy in today's environment of technological toys to keep the public nice and complacent.

What do Australians pay taxes for (and record ones at that), if they don't receive first class public services in health and education which they once had?

Are they to feed a vast, unsated, parasitic monster known as the political, military and legal sectors? The political wing too gutless to even introduce cashless welfare.

Yes. Then "they" would have a real revolution on their plate; without that really big carrot!

Arthur Dale
Lismore

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