Issue 744
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Letters To The Editor
The Lost VotersOn Saturday November 10, the residents of this area are required to vote in the Richmond electorate, they are required to make their choice from a list of 11 candidates. The question foremost in the minds of many the residents is 'who are the candidates and where are they?' We recognise that the National Party's Larry Anthony has visited this area several times but where are the other 10 candidates? It appears that this area of the Richmond electorate has been declared a no go area by all candidates, in particular those of the other major parties. We are the forgotten black hole of the NSW State Government - we don't want to be the black hole in the Richmond electorate. Do any of the other 10 candidates support the by-pass? The National Party has made a commitment. A straw poll has found that most do not recognise the names on the voting card. What does this say about the desire of the candidates to be known? Bob Wilson and Merrilyn Stokes Click here to comment on this letter.
Change NeededThe people of Page have been shockingly represented these past six years. Ian Causley, you have been a total embarrassment. You have done our electorate a profound injustice with your rabid views, and your failure to bring any useful benefits to our economically deprived area. In your stead, the Labor bloke, Tom Cooper, Doug Behn or the Democrat would do - in fact, almost anyone else. If the electorate of Page wants a real fighter, with a proven track record of winning important battles, then we should vote for John Corkill. What a strong voice he could give our seat. But whatever we do with our vote, let's get ourselves a new MP. Surely the good people of Page deserve better than the present deadbeat? James Bennett-Levy Click here to comment on this letter.
Council ExplainedIt was interesting to watch Lismore's Mayor in action chairing the meet the candidates meeting on Monday night. Some audience members were permitted to make what amounted to a speech after being told that they would not be able to, one person was permitted a second (long) question before several other people had been recognised at all, some answers were permitted to wander at great length far from the point of the question, and others were curtailed by recognition from the chair of the next questioner. The meeting was closed as soon as it threatened to degenerate into a discussion. I am grateful for the opportunity to observe this exercise in democracy. I now have a better understanding of the manner in which our Council reaches its decisions as well as what I have up to now found mystifying, the decisions themselves. Jonathan Chance Click here to comment on this letter.
Ballina BypassThe Deputy Prime Minister is prepared to support the $12 million contribution to the Alstonville Bypass even if Larry Anthony is not re-elected (Echo, Nov 1). To us it is a main street dangerously congested with through traffic, but to the John Anderson it is an avoidable congestion on the highway from his electorate to the coast. Monday night's accident on the Pacific Highway at Ballina's Tintenbar hill (still partly blocked Tuesday morning) reminds us that it would be saved by the Ballina Bypass. This will be a frequent occurrence as the Pacific Highway through traffic continues to increase, but not a word from Ian Causley to help rescue Ballina from the disaster of the delay to 2010 for its bypass, condemning Ballina to increasing congestion in Kerr Street and a rising accident rate. Doesn't he care for the new bit of his electorate? Nat B Wheatley Click here to comment on this letter.
Vote TampaVoters concerned for the plight of refugees and distressed by the lack of choice on this issue can do something about it. According to the Australian Electoral Commission, political parties will 'earn' $1.79 of taxpayers funds for election campaigning per primary vote in this election. Those 'rusted on' Labor supporters who are very upset about the Howard/Beazley Tampa tantrum can make their voices heard by voting Green or Democrat first and then sending their preferences to the Labor party. (While 'Liberal with a social conscience' has become an oxymoron, the same could apply to conservatives distressed by their party's policies.) If we all write the simple word 'TAMPA' neatly at the top of the ballot paper, it will not interfere with the vote and Labor's scrutineers will definitely notice. If 100,000 people feel this way, Howard does not get their vote, and Labor is hit in the hip pocket to the tune of $179,000. The end result could mean more Green and Democrat senators, possibly Green and Democrat lower house seats, but ultimately a big message to those with no human compassion who run the Labor Party. It will not benefit the Liberals. Andy Gough Click here to comment on this letter.
A Silly GameRegarding the police raids on the Hemp Embassy. This is the second major police raid in six months and it will no doubt have similar results to the first, that is an increase in street violence and a stimulation of the black market. The foot patrols promised by Detective Inspector Brian Boulton didn't eventuate. The amount of broken shop windows and abused visitors is and will increase and the continued desperate cycle will continue on its remorseless round. I think we all realise the police will only exasperate the situation and we must consider alternative means of action. In Holland there was a similar situation. The cafes opened and were closed, opened and were closed repeatedly until the police became bored with the silly game. Take heart, be patient, and we will surely wear away the stone that our law enforcers have put in our path. Gerald Taylor Click here to comment on this letter.
Minor HassleMinor political parties should be provided with equal rights, guaranteed through the integrity of the Australian electoral process. At best it was an inept decision by the NSW Police Force to raid the headquarters of the Australian Help End Marijuana Prohibition Party, at Nimbin, 10 days prior to the federal elections. At worse there is the question whether approval for the raid was politically timed consciously, raising serious issues for the civil liberties of minor political parties in Australia. The question begs: who authorised this raid on the HEMP Embassy and HEMP Party so close to the Federal election? NSW Police could have raided these premises any other time. A detective inspector is reported in the media as saying that the raid was partly in response to a prior complaint from State National Party MP, Thomas George. This only adds to the ambiguity because the HEMP Party has candidates standing against Mr George's party. The Hemp Embassy, where the HEMP Party is based, has always been overtly transparent about its political role on the issue of ending marijuana prohibition. The Embassy's behaviour is totally consistent with political dissidence, not standard criminal activity. While the NSW Police have denied that the raid was politically timed. The Australian Electoral Commission should investigate, although the issue requires examining the activity of a State authority. The AEC informed the HEMP party that this is outside their jurisdiction! However, interference in an electoral process is unacceptable, regardless of who does it. If the issue is not addressed adequately by the AEC the impression may linger that it's okay for police to harass minor parties. Michael Balderstone (Senate candidate and NSW HEMP party president) Click here to comment on this letter.
Funny meetingI would like to thank The Northern Rivers Echo and The Northern Star for providing an entertaining 'Meet the Candidates in Page' evening at the Lismore City Hall. The Bloke from Bonalbo and the Cannabis Grandma really provided some very good acts. Now, why would I vote for Labor's own Terry Flanagan who read his speech word for word (obviously written by a party ghostwriter), or Hopeless Cause Causley who was aided and abetted from the front row by none other than my old sparring partner, Ballina Councillor Avis Kennedy? Kathryn Pollard O'Hara, got quite stroppy with some of the hecklers. This aspiring politician, who vows never to fly Virgin Airlines on account of its name, may be cut down to size, despite drawing pole position on the ballot card! Quiet Felsch from the Christian Democrats, paled into insignificance like a field mouse lost in a barley field, compared to the flamboyant Cannabis Grandma of Nimbin's HEMP Party. So who would I vote for if I were in Page? Probably the Bloke from Bonalbo, Tom Cooper, who seems to be grass roots, down to earth, and a person we can all relate to. I could never imagine giving my vote to the National Party who gave us all these GST hassles, made us a party to war, lost so many jobs then juggled the unemployment figures with training schemes, sold off our essential services, led by a Prime Minister I wouldn't give two bob for. Cr Margaret Howes Click here to comment on this letter.
Jobs Not SolutionContrary to what we are led to believe, the answer to 'the unemployment problem' is not to create more jobs. If we were really serious about ending unemployment then the solution is a simple one, just share it around. This is not something that the big corporations that control our government and media are keen on doing though, as it could have a profound effect on their profitability. Having zero or negative unemployment rate would mean that employers have to compete with each other for employees, rather than employees competing with each other for jobs, which in turn would mean that the workers would be paid what the job is worth, not what the employers get away with. There is of course a danger of employees, and maybe even unions, pushing wages up to the point where businesses go bankrupt and fail, but this is easy to prevent. If workers were paid a flat rate that they could survive on, plus a percentage of the profits their company makes, this would then ensure that the company has the best chance of the surviving market fluctuations. It would probably increase productivity as well as it would probably increase productivity as well as it would encourage staff to work harder, because they are working harder for themselves as well as their boss. The fact is that countries with a strong economy such as Australia and the USA have shown that they can maintain unemployment rates have shown that they can maintain unemployment rates between 5-10% so well that there is no doubt they could maintain an over-employment rate of the same. To do this you reduce the average working week by twice the unemployment factor. So if you have a 10% unemployment rate you reduce the average working week by 20%. It may even stop the gap between rich and poor from continually widening, although to do that I think that we would also have to remove the tax loopholes that allow the mega-rich to get away with paying a lower percentage of tax than the poor. Peter Everett Click here to comment on this letter.
More NothingI was interested to hear that Mr Causley supports the future development of a clinical school at Southern Cross University. Why is it that the submission to the Howard Government for a clinical school, which was prepared by the Southern Cross University, the Northern Rivers Area Health Service and the Northern Clinical School of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Sydney, was unsuccessful? Why was money given to Coffs Harbour and Tamworth for clinical schools, and not the Lismore, Tweed and Grafton proposal? These hospitals have a wealth of clinical experience for training young aspiring doctors, Lismore Base Hospital in particular would arguably be one of the busiest hospitals of its kind in NSW offering a diverse range of experience with an excellent medical staff. Another matter, North Coast Radiology has recently installed a state of the art MRI scanner in Lismore and has been refused a licence for Medicare rebates in the Commonwealth allocation. A new scanner will go to the Gold Coast instead which already has two MRI scanners one of which has Medicare rebates. As a result, many Northern Rivers residents will have to continue trekking up to the Gold Coast or Brisbane which already has six publicly funded scanners. Could it be that Mr Causley is regarded as a lost cause? If so, a vote for him would give us three more years of the same, precisely nothing! Dr Peter Stanley Click here to comment on this letter.
MugwumpedTom Cooper in his television advertisement states, 'I will. vote, Yes for good legislation and No to bad legislation'. That is a commendable statement, but what criteria will he use? In these times not everyone agrees that all legislation is either good or bad. Tom, be careful mate, you might end up as a 'mugwump', that is your mug on one side of the fence and your wump on the other. In the end that could be excruciating! Margaret Hains Click here to comment on this letter.
Bank Closures27 Bank Branches Closed in Page - no wonder the queues have grown! It comes as no surprise to your readers that the cost of everyday banking has risen dramatically while the service has declined - just look at the queues in peak times. But you may be surprised to know that 27 branches have closed in the Federal seat of Page in recent years. That's a lot of jobs and a lot of service lost in your community. You may also have seen the massive profits being announced by major banks and heard about the $billions paid in fees and charges by ordinary customers. As the union representing bank employees, we have developed a Community Charter for Better Banking. We have called upon all political parties to make it clear that they will support laws making banking fairer, better and more accessible. So far Labor, Democrat and Greens parties have pledged support for legislation to bring banks back into line with community expectations. In the interests of better service, jobs and access to important financial services, we ask voters in Page to consider this when making your vote on November 10. Anthony Beck, National Secretary Click here to comment on this letter.
Not So SmartI would appreciate if someone would let me know, what is so intelligent about dropping 'smart' bombs that mutilate and kill completely innocent babies, children, men and women, or even Red Cross workers? I would've thought that the intelligent thing to do would be to say 'Hang on a minute, these smart bombs are really bloody stupid bombs', I won't drop them! But then again, I suppose you do consider that the USA nuclear bombed Japan when it was already defeated. And just to prove a point, the USA dropped another nuclear bomb on Japan's devastated innocent civilians a few days later - instant unimaginable human misery. Ah yes! Never forget the 5,000 lost in the WTC bombings, but never ever forget the atrocities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki! God Bless America? More like, God forgive America! God seems to take a lot of time off from his work. You'd think God would've been a bit more considerate and gone to work for a few minutes to work for a few minutes to disable a couple of nukes. God could have saved 100,000's of lives in one go. But no, he couldn't be bothered. Frosty Grego Click here to comment on this letter.
Drugs v MurderOnce again, Nimbin has been attacked by selective policing at its best. Just a couple of days earlier the police were using civilian volunteers to help locate a body at Tuntable Creek, but managed to get 28 police officers to go to Nimbin with search warrants for two businesses that were located side by side on one of the five streets of Nimbin. That means that 28 police were being used to issue two search warrants for the victimless crime of marijuana possession, while 14 different victim crimes could have been under investigation with two officers per victim crime! I must agree with HEMP Party advocates that this behaviour seems very, very wrong. I realise that the police are responsible for policing, but it is at this election time that we have to take a serious look at our legislators and hold them accountable for the laws that exist and the heavy handed tactics used to enforce them. Michael Wright Click here to comment on this letter.
No HumanityOn Saturday, October 27, I listened to the details of the Federal Government's latest descent into the depths of inhumanity. I was absolutely disgusted but not at all surprised by the callous appeal to xenophobia. Not only have they restricted the rights of those granted asylum in Australia but then (with the collusion of the Labor opposition) they introduced laws to deny innocent people, not pre-judged 'illegal immigrants' but any person, the right to even claim asylum in Australia (or part of is). They have used half the Navy to ship asylum seekers around the South Pacific to any nation that can be bribed to set up a detention centre. This costs far more than assessing boat people's asylum claims here in Australia, but the normal budget constraints do not seem to apply. Immigration Minister, Mr Ruddock says get in the queue to claim asylum with the United Nations in Indonesia. Some of those who died when the Indonesian boat sank last week, killing more than 350 passengers, had done just that. What's more, the UN had found them to be genuine refugees with a valid claim to asylum. What good did it do to them? How long did they have to wait? Why would they risk their lives with People Smugglers and Indonesian Police? A number of people who have already been granted asylum in Australia lost family members when the boat sank. Now the minister says they do not have the right to return here if they go back to Indonesia to be with surviving relatives or to attend funerals of family members. What about the government's cherished family values? It seems to me what they care most about is the value of their family trusts. Isn't that right Mr Anthony? Mike Trevaskis Click here to comment on this letter.
Protect SeniorsYour last issue (Echo, Nov 1) carried a report that the Ballina Shire Council is insisting that developers eyeing off Tinkerbell Caravan Park must prepare a social impact statement. Through your columns may I advise your readers that the Combined Pensioners and Superannuates Lismore Inc. have made representations on behalf of the residents of the caravan park to the Ballina Shire Council and Don Page, MP in respect of this proposed re-development site. In its representations the Association has drawn attention to the fact that the majority of the present residents are in the 60-93 years age range, that they have made the site their retirement homes with prime consideration having been given to the proximity of shopping, medical and hospital facilities. Further, in the event of dispossession that a future site developer could not relocate these people to a suitable site in respect of their present and future needs, and additionally, health statistics show that moving house, particularly for the aged is very high on the stress indicator and therefor could be detrimental to these persons ongoing welfare. The Association has asked the Ballina Shire Council and Don Page MP that in the event for any further progression of the perceived application for the rezoning of the site that they remain mindful of their responsibilities to these valued and respected citizens. In the light of this proposed development we all should be aware that we be able to look forward to quiet and stress-free retirement years. It behoves those with a mind to unacceptable development or charged with the welfare of its disadvantaged citizens, whether it be disability or attaining senior years, that they be assured of quiet enjoyment of their chosen home. Gordon B Moody Click here to comment on this letter.
No Crean SkinAs the Federal election polling day is drawing near remember who was Finance Minister in the Keating Government, Kim Beazley, also with him was Simon Crean, an ex-AWU leader now joined by Jenny George and Martyn Ferguson. So we know how powerful the unions will become. None of the above Labor union leaders have been called into the election action by Beazley but the NSW Premier, Bob Carr, followed by Neville Wran, has been recruited to try and help the Labor Opposition to win. So remember everyone if Labor was to win the coming Federal Election, we will have Mr Crean as Treasurer. The Senate. Remember also that both the Democrat leader and the Greens leader say that if they retain balance of power in the Senate, they will block Beazley's GST roll-back on gas and electricity due to environmental concerns and they will also block any legislation they don't approve of using their balance of power. So voters combat this misuse of power and only vote No 1 for electing only senators only to the two major parties. Dick Scott Click here to comment on this letter.
Pot PoliticsThere is some evidence that the far north coast contains a lot of pot smokers; pushed, I'd suggest that at least six in ten adults have some experience with cannabis, and they tend to be younger, more recent arrivals, often well-educated and generally environmentally-aware. Recent voting patterns reflect this large segment of the north coast population, but the potential voting power of this bloc has not been recognised by the major parties, and will probably be split among a number of (leftish) parties in this election. Meanwhile, otherwise law-abiding and productive members of our community continue to be hauled off by veritable armies of armed police (some even wearing camouflage gear). Perhaps because of the irrationality of this particular drug war, an unprecedented number of people have stepped forward to offer political representation to one of Australia's largest 'minority' groups. So, in the interests of justice, I urge north coast cannabis users and their supporters, just once, to flex your collective muscle and give the HEMP candidates your first vote, and then tick/number your favourite party second. Carol de Launey Click here to comment on this letter.
HEMP RaidWhy did the police raid the HEMP party headquarters 10 days before an election? Do the authorities think the HEMP party are naïve enough to finance their political campaign by selling pot through the Hemp Embassy? No fear, but they're an easy target. The police don't pretend to be their friends anymore - they threw out the baby with the bathwater after betraying their confidences with the café raids. Community consultative policing no longer exists and we've gone back to the paranoid days. 28 police officers descended on the Hemp Embassy and closed the doors for two hours, emerging with one (not very large) person, a bit of personal pot and some coffee money, to a large angry crowd ripe for a confrontation. Was this a political act? Think about it. Should we expect the Greens to be raided next? As a taxpayer I expect that the person responsible for the planning of this raid be brought to account for the disgraceful waste of police resources and the further disrespect for the law that this situation creates. Inez Price Click here to comment on this letter.
Irritating AdsOne of the more irritating things about the election campaign has been the constant barrage of political campaign advertisements on our much-loved local FM radio station here in Ballina. Most of these ads seem to emanate from the Nationals‚ Ian Causley. One expects this sort of thing at election time, of course, but I do think it a great pity that Paradise FM Radio has chosen to describe Mr Causley, after each ad, as 'a Paradise Radio sponsor'. In calling a political candidate your sponsor, you are to some extent associating that candidate with your own good name, and many of Paradise FM's enthusiastic listeners may feel that its good name is too important to be dragged into politics in this way. The proper thing to do would have been to follow each ad with some statement such as 'this has been a paid political advertisement'. None the less, one can derive a certain innocent amusement from some of the corkers that Mr Causley comes out with in his somewhat scattergun approach to the issues facing the electorate. I heard him the other day blaming Labor for all that money that was spent on the Olympics! Come now, Ian - don't you remember who it was that got us into the Olympics? Remember a guy named John Fahey? You should - he was one of your Liberal Party bosses for much of your Parliamentary career. (Oops, sorry; you're not a career politician, are you? I forgot you'd said that. Another of your corkers.) And since I've mentioned charitable organisations, let's not forget, that the Howard government will go down in history as the government that turned the charitable organisations in to tax collectors, and made them spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on gearing up for the GST paperwork. Mr Causley doesn't boast about that in his ads, I notice. Peter Bowler Click here to comment on this letter.
Forum ThanksThe Meniere's Support Group is most appreciative of the publicity you gave us for the forum on October 20. Thank you so much. It was an excellent meeting, with three speakers and a video presentation. The hall was packed with 132 people. These are all people we can help through the Support Group, but without publicity such as yours, they cannot know we exist! Juliet Kirkpatrick Click here to comment on this letter.
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