Issue 810
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I am astounded that Councillor Gates, our Mayor, cannot see the divisiveness in his letter (Echo, Mar 7).
At the multicultural Christmas Party held late last year the Mayor, representing the Lismore community said that it was good that the Northern Rivers had only a small migrant population as it forces them to integrate, unlike in Sydney, where they can take over whole suburbs and frighten away Australians with their crime. He also said that migrants don't mix and they do their own thing. The Mayor also made partisan political comment in support of the Liberal Party's policy on the management of refugees (a policy which is receiving less and less support each day).
I wrote to all Lismore City Councillors regarding this appalling behaviour and asked for a response regarding Council policy on cultural diversity. I received only two satisfactory responses from councillors Irwin and Roberts. Other letters were sent to Council about the event.
The response of Council, rather than requesting an explanation from the Mayor, was as appalling as his gaffe. The Council's response was to disingenuously reaffirm its policy on multiculuralism.
This Mayor, at the multicultural Christmas party, was in breach of Council's policy. This required a vote of no confidence in him, not political expediency.
At the very least the Mayor and Council needs to apologise to the Lismore community for his statements. And he should resign immediately. In any case this dreadful matter should be referred to the appropriate bodies.
Stewart Hase
Goonellabah
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To all non-golfers on the North Coast - some cheers please for Michelle Ellis of Casino our new champion.
Her results over two consecutive weekends competing against most of the top World's Lady golfers prove her to be the second best (next to Karrie Webb) Australian lady golfer.
Colin Campbell
East Lismore
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The letter by B. Hoskins needs a reply. There are I believe 15 species of Storks in the world. One of them, known officially as the Jabiru, lives only in tropical South America. That is why our ornithologists have been trying to make us call our stork the Black-necked Stork, and not the Jabiru (even though some people think wrongly that it is an Aboriginal name).
Other species that we sometimes hear of are the Marabou Stork of West Africa, and the Adjutant Stork of India.
Now it is true that the Black-necked stork does range through South-east Asia, as well as Australia. I do not know how numerous the species is in Asia, but I do know it is on the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act, Schedule 1, and listed as endangered for this state.
Many of our water birds prefer the habitat of swamps, lakes and lagoons where water is not fast flowing or too deep. The Black-necked stork is in this category, so is the Comb-crested Jacana.
I do agree with Mr Hoskins that powerboats cause erosion of riverbanks, and that 'howling high performance engines' (his words) scare off all wildlife.
Mind you those boats already use the stretch of river near the Lake, but I still hear the bird called the Darter calling from the river and have watched a hawk fly into a tree on the bank.
Molly Crawford
Goonellabah
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After 18 months of phone calls to Mr Col Cooper from Lismore City Council, who is in charge of the Government funded Blackspot Television reception, I still get the same old message ' we have sent the paperwork away and waiting on the Minister's report'.
I would imagine if a councillor lived in any of the blackspots in the Lismore basin, we would have had clear TV reception along time ago, but not all of us want to, or can afford to live on top of the hill.
Why not put up the transmission tower and this will give the birds from the Lismore Lake a new home to roost if the lake is used for what it was made for?
Brad Lancaster
East Lismore
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It seems that our society is becoming more and more litigious. What is it that drives people? Self interest? The idea of a quick buck?
Have a look at this. The Governor General, putting his personal ambitions over the interest of his office, defining himself as standing above the law. A Prime Minister, cheating and lying his way through office by sacrificing any moral values he may have for being re-elected.
Senior politicians, rorting the system with inflated travel claims.
Ministers, using their office privilege to secure highly paid consultant jobs after their term in office. Corporate bosses, unashamedly filling their private pockets with pay packages completely blown out of proportion, no matter whether they are performing well or not.
Senior police officers, apart from being grossly overpaid, getting caught in private feuds, resulting in dismissals with huge payouts. Local councillors, not giving a damn about declaring an interest in council matters. Sport 'heroes', fixing games for private gain. The list goes on and on.
Now, who can really claim the smart ordinary person for trying to get his or her share in the general rip-off? Or the smarter lawyer for taking advantage of the smart person? 'The fish starts stinking from the head'. We should remember this before laying we start to lay blame on anyone. After all, we've been taught to follow role models, haven't we?
Michael Qualmann
Modanville
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As most people doubt the PM and his government's honesty ever since the children overboard issue and other matters, we must ask ourselves what about any other dishonest actions by this government.
Well in my view one of those is the Capital Gains Tax. They changed the law in such a way - as from September 1999 - you will have 50 per cent discount on your capital gain. This is okay in the short term or if we have zero inflation, but not in the long term when the asset is held for several years, like farms, businesses, holiday homes etc.
Previously if an asset had been held for 12 months or more, the cost base can be increased to take account of inflation, which greatly reduced or even eliminated your tax liability. But as from 1999 any property purchased and sold several years later, the cost cannot be indexed to inflation.
As I am reading an ATO booklet on Capital Gains Tax, two examples are given; indexed method and discount method with identical expenditure description, give you a very surprising fact. That is in one hand they give us 50 % discount reduction with the other hand they take away cost indexation. So we get nothing!
Thanks John. So when we were told by the PM we will get 50% discount he forgot to tell us they abolished the cost of asset indexation, also we were told if you own assets more then 15 years no Capital Gains Tax applies. But John forgot to tell us you must be at least 55 years old to qualify! So much for honest Government!
Shane Stone got it right; Liberals are mean and tricky.
Andy Cselka
Ellangowan
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In January, my family arrived for six weeks holiday. While exploring a property I slipped and injured my arm.
The reason for this letter is to thank Lismore Base Emergency Department nurses and doctors and all the staff. Also the Operating Theatre doctor, nurses and helpers on Ward C6 where I stayed for one night and received so much care and kindness on January 29.
That's not all. On February 4, on way to a picnic I experienced terrible pains and had to stop the car. I went to Goonellabah Medical Centre, then to North Coast Radiology for X-Rays. Thanks to all involved there, I soon found myself back at Lismore Base Emergency department where these wonderful people were so kind and encouraging as all manor of things were happening - needles, wires, blood taken, cat scan, pain killers etc. My most grateful thanks you saved my life. I then spent three nights in Ward C4 receiving great kindness from doctors and nurses and careful explanation of my condition - Pulmonary Embolus.
I am sure there are no better hospitals or clinics in the whole world. You all deserve highest praise and endless gratitude.
Shall be returning to England soon.
Kathleen Mary Trott
Nimbin
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Regarding B. Hoskins letter (Echo Mar 7, 2002), his final comments - 'The Black-necked stork is found around the planet and not indigenous to Australia. Jabiru is its South American name' need some clarification.
Firstly, the Jabiru (Ephippiorhyncus Mycteria) occurs from Southern Mexico to Northern Argentina, and is a different species to the Black necked stork (E. Asiaticus).
Secondly, the Black necked stork is indigenous to Australia, ie it occurs here naturally and is not an introduced species. It is not unique to Australia, and is also found in India and South East Asia. It is not 'found around the planet'.
The name Jabiru has long been used in Australia for our only native stork. You can probably blame this on the explorer Ludwig Leichhardt, who in his 1847 journal wrote 'We saw a Tabiroo and a Rifle bird' (His spelling not mine!). Early explorers and settlers tended to bestow familiar names on unfamiliar fauna.
Hence we have Magpies, Robins and Wrens here which are not related to their European namesakes.
As far as the actual debate is concerned, the power boaters will probably win out, as there is more money to be made out of them, than there is out of bird watchers.
Peter C Dearie
Lismore
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The fear and resentment of not only refugees, but also of the so-called 'do-gooders' who express compassion for them, which permeates the recent correspondence of people such as D. Eistreich and G.Wallace (Echo, Mar 7) is saddening and alarming.
Of course we need to take steps to preserve the integrity of our nation, otherwise we'd have social and economic chaos, but surely there is no need to vilify those who are prepared to open their hearts and minds to the pain and trauma of the asylum-seekers, and to new perspectives on the issue.
Understanding of one another's views, and cooperative discussion of them, without inciting further ill-will, would go a long way towards solving Australia's moral dilemma.
I am equally saddened and alarmed by Bob Gates' views on what he terms the 'success' or otherwise of multiculturalism. I venture to suggest that we should not measure the success of multiculturalism by the degree to which people of different cultural origins gather in 'enclaves' and practice their own religions, but rather by how well our society as a whole is able to embrace and celebrate its diversity whilst still embodying the principles of freedom, equality and goodwill for all people.
Our world is in crisis today: conflict, economic disasters and inequity abound everywhere. We need a healthy, resilient society to withstand these pressures. If we build a monocultural society where we expect all people to follow identical cultural practices, have the same religious or philosophical beliefs, and value certain things above all others, then that society becomes more vulnerable to collapse in the face of crisis.
Just as farmers diversify their production to protect themselves against the effects of market downturns for any one crop, just as any ecosystem depends on biodiversity to remain healthy, so too does our society need to be comprised of people with different beliefs, different lifestyles, different values so that it will be resilient and able to survive the inevitable crises it will face.
Our problems don't lie with the different people who land on our shores. They lie with our attitudes towards them and towards one another.
Jill Garsden
Goonellabah
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As Easter approaches I'm sure there will be a rush of religious letters again. I think it's great to discuss religion as long as those preaching take time to contemplate what others have to say.
I can't think of any culture or civilisation that has run for any length of time without a religion or sense of spiritual values. If we really want to live in harmony in the world I think we have to contemplate and understand what religion is.
While all the fundamentalists are stuck on creationism what if there is some psychic, spiritual energy and interplay in evolution? While the Catholics are stuck on abortion and sex what if there is some magical, spiritual energy released if women learn to master their own creation energy?
What if there was a floating, psychic, telepathic component in our brain that was available to be part of a Godhead that was evolutionary current for any society or culture at the time?
What if the use of ritual could be logically explained to set up fields of energy that effect everything?
Maybe all the Atheists, Christians, Muslims, and whatever other locks and forms people have participated in should be prised open.
There is that magical, spiritual, psychic energy in the universe and we're past superstitions and dogmatic fathers leaning out of the sky. What was good for one part of the journey in our evolution may not be right for the next. Upheavals and breakdowns do come when it is time for a shift in consciousness.
Let everyone make their own wisdom investigations in this free floating time of massive spiritual information coming through as the walls may surely come down again and if we have not done our homework we may find ourselves caught in a religious culture that is repressive and not the right one to unite humans with each other, the earth and the universe at a time when it is evolutionally really necessary.
Lynne Oldfield
Barkers Vale
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In his letter R. Mackey (Echo, Feb 25) made some comments about pools and the former aquatic centre joint venture project with the University that really need to be addressed.
The issue of aquatic facilities for Lismore has been really well researched over some 20 years. After being briefed extensively at workshops about how the community's needs could be achieved (particularly those of users who make these facilities viable financially), it was always clear that there were only two options. One was a joint venture project, where another organisation shared the capital and operational costs. The other was borrowing substantial funds and operating at a loss continuously.
The majority of the previous Council decided to support the joint venture option as it was the most likely to provide what the community needed with the possibility of paying for itself in the long-term. The University was the only organisation to submit an expression of interest in a joint venture, and the Council proceeded to develop that project. Of the current Councillors, Crs Gates, Gallen, King and Swientek never supported that venture.
After the current Council's majority decision to ditch that project four weeks into our term, Crs Roberts, Tomlinson and I supported moves to pursue an aquatic facility in Goonellabah, but that ends up being as expensive as a development at Memorial Baths, it would mean the removal of any aquatic facility in the Basin and it lacked support from the six-pack. Since then Crs Tomlinson and I have attended committee meetings and worked with our fellow Councillors to try to ensure that whatever happens at the Memorial Baths meets the community's needs into the future. Unfortunately that will mean spending more than the $4 million Council would have contributed as its share of the capital costs of the joint venture project with the University. However people in the community tell me, better to spend more in the short-term to get the best facility outcome for our community and to reduce the burden on ratepayers in the long term.
Instead of looking at what the likely users of the facility and much of the broader community have said they want, the majority of our current Councillors have supported the preferences of specific interest groups. Goonellabah or nothing, in the case of Crs Gallen and Swientek, or the Memorial Baths or nothing, in the case of Crs. Baxter, Chant, Gates, Hampton, King and Suffolk. The outcome for ratepayers, despite retaining an excellent project team, is a continuing financial burden for many years into the future for a facility that at best will be less than we could have had for half the capital investment and far reduced long-term operational costs.
Balancing the best interests of the whole community with the needs and wishes of smaller groups of people is always difficult, however when the long-term financial costs are significant to the whole community should sectional interests, often for small numbers of people, prevail? That doesn't seem to me like a good outcome for the community.
Cr Ros Irwin
Lismore
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A few weeks ago you published an article on Ross River Fever (Echo, Feb 28) - the symptoms and a warning about mosquitoes. I feel that it is more than time for the public (and many of the medical profession) to be alerted to the even more distressing Lyme Disease caused from ticks.
That tiny tick which invades our gardens in many parts of Lismore (and in many areas of the Northern Rivers) is responsible for a devastating complaint for which there is no cure.
The symptoms are very similar, but with Lyme Disease they do not go away. There are too many of us in NSW and Queensland who are victims with little hope of ever being able to lead a normal life.
Many sufferers with whom I have talked, or with whom I have exchanged letters, have had it for up to eight years and still so many of the medical profession insist that it is Chronic Fatigue.
We certainly have 'Chronic Fatigue' (constant and very distressing tiredness) but Lyme Disease is more than that.
Doctors at Sydney's North Shore Hospital are working hard on finding help for sufferers if not a cure. Lyme Disease is very prevalent along the Northern Beaches of Sydney (Avalon, Dee Why etc). There is also a Support Group in Rockhampton (Qld) and one in Newcastle where many new cases have been reported recently.
Please give us a little space - I literally have masses of information (some of it from America where it was first discovered) I feel that it is suffice to say, and I quote now from a Newsletter from Sydney N.S. Hospital which is in constant contact with American Medical circles; 'Lyme Disease is now one of the fastest growing diagnosed infectious disease after AIDS, worldwide'.
Please help us get some sort of message across.
Peggy L. Zietsch
Goonellabah
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Letters To The Editor