Issue 732

Letters To The Editor

Septic Laws Land Rural People in it

I would like to share a story with you. I have a farm in the Rosebank area and moved to Sydney a little over a year ago.

I got a letter from the Lismore Council's sewage personell. It seems that my septic tank was playing up and under the amended NSW septic legislation (which effects everyone with a septic or other home sewage treatment system) I am required to upgrade my system. All work is to be carried out by a licenced plumber so a typical septic retrofit will cost between $6,500-$18,000 (a local plumber told me this)! Councils are required to inspect every septic tank (which owner's have to pay for).

If your septic is playing up and you call in a plumber, don't let him call the Council (this is how I was dobbed in). The Council will give you a certain amount of time to carry out the improvements or you're threatened with fines (which I received). The Council does not care if you do not have the money to carry out the retrofit. Supposedly this affects every on site sewage treatment device in NSW.

By chance I was talking to a colleague about my woes. She lives in Hornsby Council (an outer suburb of Sydney) where a number of households have septic systems. A group of angry residents formed to fight the amended legislation. To make a long story short Hornsby Council has put a 3-5 year moratorium on any upgrading of septic tanks.

My question to Lismore and Byron Council is why aren't they trying to give your residents a similar reprieve?

Lastly, why is the rural sector singled out to clean up our act while far more dangerous and larger quantities of discharge and effluent are created by cities and industries.

An Auditor General's report on the EPA, 'The Performance Audit Report', found that the EPA had a long way to go in effective control of pollution emissions and discharges (of industries).

The report found that the EPA had issued 2,847 licenses, but had only checked about 1.3% to verify if conditions were being met. The report suggested that up to 65% of the licenses might be breached, but the EPA relied on self-reporting by the companies and industries and rarely verified those vested interest reports. So here we have industries monitoring themselves (who discharge huge and more toxic materials than households), while households have to have to council monitor them.

You may all sit complacent (on your dunny) not wanting to lift a political finger, but this literally affects all of you/us who use an on site system. Contact your local member and demand that a moratorium be placed on this legislation until all sectors of the Australian community are treated equal. After all the floods, droughts, deregulation, GST etc we don't need a hefty $6,500-$18,000 plumbing bill to boot.

Or another solution: householders could do self-reporting on their septics or Councils could carry out reviews on 1.5% of the septic systems…

Tlaloc Tokuda
Sydney

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ALP Con

It's hard to see how Terry Harvey (Echo, Aug 11) or indeed anyone can view the ALP as representing social justice, with Hawke/Keating Labor beginning the turn to privatisation and deregulation, Carr Labor attempting to privatise electricity supply and succeeding in destroying workers compensation, and Beazley Labor too gutless to even commit to repealing the hated GST.

It should now be obvious that the ALP is a slavishly pro-corporate party different only in degree from the conservatives.

It's also hard to buy Terry's defence of the ALP's democratic credentials, when we're talking about a party bureaucracy renowned for branch stacking, thuggery and a long history of blatant disregard for its members' and the public's (but not big business') views on issues such as East Timor, uranium and workers comp.

There's always been a radical alternative to the decrepit bureaucracies of social democracy and Stalinism. In the coming elections the newly formed Socialist Alliance will be fighting the conservatives' and Labor's plans for continuing privatisation, the GST, erosion of the public sector and attacks on indigenous people and refugees.

That is, unlike the ALP, we will be putting forward a real alternative that puts people and the environment before the corporate profiteers.

Nick Fredman
Lismore

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Bad Sports

I noticed that the netballers were back in their usual parking spot last Saturday, August 11. Of course everyone else knows it as the travelling shows ground. The previous Saturday was one of the rare times that the ground was actually used by such a show – I hear that Grease was a wonderful show, but unfortunately tickets were out of my price range.

So what did the netballers do when they found someone else on their usual parking area? In a wonderful display of pettiness, they parked on every vacant spot within the area covered by the show tent and vehicles including the roped off area in front of the main entrance as well as the disabled parking area which the show was required to provide.

The roped off area at the main entrance, as well as allowing easy assembly for admission, is also required to allow patrons to evacuate the tent area rapidly in the case of an emergency. Just as well there was not one because there would have been a catastrophe due to the area being full of parked cars.

One of the show workers told me he asked people not to park there but was told in very plain language that it was their parking area they were using.

Grease has just begun touring and what a wonderful impression of Lismore they are taking with them.

Thank you netballers you have done us proud – not!

I would ask that my name be not published as it appears to have become common for people who dare to criticise Lismore Park sporting groups to have their property vandalised.

Name withheld
Lismore

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Nursing Shortage

There is much discussion about why there is a shortage of nursing staff in NSW and why it is has not been possible to lure some of the 10,000 qualified nurses who are out of the industry back into filling the huge number of positions vacant.

According to the NSW Health Department, 2,700 agency or casual nurses are being used to fill vacancies across the state. Hospital beds are being closed in the big smoke, country towns and villages.

Last year when 15 beds were closed at the Campbell Hospital in Coraki there was a silent complicity or was it just indifference on the part of the local MPs. My letter to this paper, 'Where's Harry Woods?' (April 20, 2000) rebuked the Minister for Local Government for his failure to attend a protest meeting in Coraki.

'It's too far off an election,' is that what he said behind closed doors.

Meanwhile, the state government has refused to offer pay increases to nurses. Premier Bob Carr knows that he and his government are not dealing with ‘whatever it takes' gung ho tactics of automobile or waterfront workers. He probably thinks women will put the care of their patients ahead of the tactics necessary to get a proper hearing in this state.

Women are not supposed to care about money. Is that what MPs say behind closed doors?

When the shortage of nurses was highlighted last year I spoke out about ways to confront the problem. I asked why places in nursing courses at SCU could not be expanded because the local catchment area has such high rates of unemployment. I suggested that incentives such as reduced fees be offered and fast track training of nurses aids.

I noticed recently that there are plans afoot to provide 18 month training courses to meet the shortage of teachers in particular subject areas. Why can't the same course of action be taken to meet nursing shortages?

I think women need to catch on – the days of brawn power being more important then brain power are ancient history. New times call for new tactics. Women need to use their electoral power.

Nurses are taken for granted and will never earn the same money as builder's labourers until they stand up and flex their electoral muscles.

Kathryn Pollard O'Hara
Lismore

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Solo Man

Weekends in Lismore are like walking through a ghost town that calls its self a ‘'city''.

Michael Philp
Lismore

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Safer Roads

I am asking for all Bangalow road users to write to both Lismore City council and RTA to request that Howards Grass Road and Bangalow Road intersection be fixed up the same as Lagoon Grass Road intersection.

Before they spent $250,000 on Lagoon Grass Road there was room to pass a vehicle on left when it was turning right into Lagoon Grass Road but at Howards Grass Road no such space.

So before someone is injured or worse, killed trying to turn into Howards Grass Road, please put pen to paper and urge our over paid Bureaucracy to fix this to the same standard as Lagoon Grass Road.

Together we can make a difference in this our voting year, please write and make our roads safe for everyone

Michael Wawn
Lismore

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CHOGM Protest

I was part of organising and participating in the 'What's CHOGM' forum at the Winsome Hotel Lismore on Saturday, August 11. Over 50 people participated and speakers talked about an array of issues relating to capitalist globalisation.

The more pressing of these issues being the possible pushing through GATS (General Agreement on Trade in Services) which CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) and WTO (World Trade Organisation) will be signing in November. GATS will undermine public services, especially in poorer countries, where governments need to subsidise a business providing the same service as a publicly funded service or they will have to sell off the public service.

CHOGM is not democratic with many of its member states dictatorships. Even in Australia, the existence of true democracy is questionable.

Stanley Iko, a speaker from Papua New Guinea, spoke of the amazingly strong struggle against the IMFs structural adjustment program and privatisation in PNG, Australia's support for this, and AUSAID money financing the police and military.

Dave Charlton gave an eyewitness account of the recent G8 protests in Genoa, and talked about the strong public support for the protests.

The Brisbane Stop CHOGM Alliance spoke of the success they are having in organising and the diverse range of people and protest that will happen in Brisbane on October 6.

The discussion was all very positive and many people including myself were inspired to get as many people involved, informed and there in Brisbane voicing there decent and building the movement for a true democracy that is not chained in debt.

I urge everyone to checkout the website www.stopchogm.org and come to the new Global Justice Alliance meeting every Wednesday at 6pm at the Lismore Workers Club and be part of this exciting movement.

David Basnett
Lismore

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Party Rubbish

As the character in the ABC TV series One Foot in the Grave used to say 'I don't believe it'.

Over some months I replied (ad-nauseum) to the letters by Bob English and JP Baker.

These letters contained assertions and allegations that I could not ignore, such as events they claimed had taken place in the electorate of Richmond, and also that unions are not necessary and are being controlled by radical left-wing thugs.

I thought we would hear no more of all that, with the Editor having declared the debate closed.

Now James (JP) Baker has written (Echo, Aug 2) more rubbish about left-wing thugs taking over the Labor Party and also repeating his allegations regarding goings-on in the electorate of Richmond, blockading of Parliament and so on.

Does Jim believe that all those groups who have done so over the years are all commies? Farmers, loggers, truckies and unionists. Even one man, some years ago crashing his four-wheel drive through he front doors of the new Parliament House.

For the last time, Jim, Enough.

Doug Myler
Lismore Heights

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No Tolerance

Once again the federal government is patting itself on the back for its excellent policing of drugs coming across our shores.

For the small price of $335 million the police have kept 10-12 per cent of drugs from entering our country. Is this really cost effective?

The govermnment has also said that they have caused a drought of heroin and that overdoses are down. This may be true, but how many people have been attacked by speed and cocaine users and have gone to hospital for these injuries. Also when people use heroin and throw their needles away, this is only happening twice a day rather that 4-5 times a day when injecting speed or cocaine.

If I was only 10-12 per cent effective in my job I would be fired. Even if I was five times more effective than that, I would still be looking for another job!

Michael Wright
Nimbin

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