Letters To The Editor

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Thanks Doc

I would like to congratulate the NR Division of GPs who recently celebrated the rst birthday of their NR Family Care Centre.Th anks also go to St Vincent's hospital for providing the venue and the NRAHS for their support of the project.

This facility allows families experiencing difficulties with parenting in the first 12 months to get help in our local area.

Before the centre was established, families had to travel to Sydney or Brisbane and so many did not receive the help they needed.

Now those who need help with breastfeeding or settling and postnatal adjustment or depression can spend a day at the centre and receive specialised help.

Already hundreds of families have been helped and are happier members of our community because of it.

Families who need help can get a referral from their GP or Child and Family Health Nurse.

Happy First Birthday to all who've been involved in making this facility a reality.I hope funds are found so that this service can celebrate many more birthdays.

Ros Fleetwood
Australian Breastfeeding Association

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Ulterior motive

I have just witnessed how easy it is to remove your head of state by using innuendo and media manipulations.

I wonder what will happen to manipulate Australian's government next.

I noticed also the republican debate begin the next day.I wish our people had enough understanding to see what is actually happening.

Keith Albert Stone
North Lismore

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The fundamentals

In my book, the fundamentals of a civilised society include the provision of education and health care for all its inhabitants.

In the autocratic Howard government's recent budget proposals the last pretences of maintaining these fundamentals died.

Fortunately for us, this government does not have a rubber stamp for a Senate.

Under no circumstances will the Australian Democrats in the Senate support higher fees for Australian undergraduate students or allow this government to attack the fundamentals of Medicare.

It is clear the government will again ramp up the rhetoric about an 'obstructionist' Senate.

It is worth pointing out in response, that the only political party that has ever blocked supply is the Liberal Party, and the only political party that has used the budget to bring down a democratically elected government is the Liberal Party.

The Democrats will do what we have done for more than a quarter of a century:examine the budget proposals in detail with an aim to make them as fair and environmentally responsible as possible.

The fact is that budgets have rarely been passed in the version they were originally presented in.

Julia Melland
Australian Democrat
Goonellabah

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Aquarius thanks

I wish to acknowledge the people who successfully delivered the 30th anniversary Nimbin Aquarius celebrations.

Firstly to the Nimbin Aquarius Foundation Incorporated committee, led by Katie Cawcutt, assisted by Franca Wolfe, Mike Shegog, Wal Davis, Mirranda, Judi the master cakemaker serving us good food and drink each day.

To Alex Graphic in designing the certificate for the Mayor's greeting to the Woodstock Board of Supervisors.To the Michael Jack and the Rainbow Chai Tent crew for their services throughout these celebrations.

To t he Mayor of Lismore in greeting the Woodstock ambassadors together with Diana Roberts and David Hallett, creator of the wonderful Aquarius Ball.To the Nimbin Hall committee for generously allowing us to use their facilities.

To Skye Davis in setting up our web site together with Paul Joseph the Aquarius troubadour and designer of our poster.

To t he Channon Market committee headed by Robyn Kelly for a superb setting in launching these celebrations.

To Nat han Koenig and Shelli Lipton from the Woodstock Museum in teaming up with Robyn Francis in creating the Woodstock Film Festival.To Graeme Dunstan for decorating us with his banners and lanterns.He played a major part in the workshopping events together with Culture Lab International.

Culture Labs were superb in staging street theatre events throughout these celebrations.

To Jilli Jackson of Lismore Lantern fame, bringing light sculptures to our events and Elli for building the Mother Earth lantern.To the Nimbin Community centre, via Lisette, in purchasing the Peace Pole.

To Vernon Treweeke for pioneering Nimbins muralscape and painting the 30th anniversary mural.

To t he Nimbin Environment Centre and Dudley Leggett in bringing the Byron Peace Council to Nimbin and to Sandy Wise for facilitating the Festival of Water festival at the Bush Factory.

And to all those wonderful souls I have not mentioned in this list that made these celebrations a great success.A more detailed report will come out in the next edition of the Nimbin News.

Benny Zable President, Nimbin Aquarius Foundation

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World gone mad

So the resident Priest at Yarralumla remains pompously petulant to the end.

Australia continues to reap the rewards of its 'Gulf War Dividend'.

Terrorism. Threats against Aussies are up.

No Weapons of Mass Destruction are ever found.Our SAS troops have stolen a MIG jet from the Iraqi people as a war trophy for the Australian War Memorial.This has the blessing of our morally bankrupt federal Government.

Weekend soldiers are going to patrol the city streets and significant buildings.George Dubya is coming to Oz to pin that gold Deputy Star on Lil' Johnnie.Inbound tourism arrivals plummet 46 per cent..

Tyr offt our i s m minister Hockey blames Harvey Norman.The Australian Red Cross has been less than honest with those who donated generously after October 1 2 in Bali.

Millions of dollars have not been accounted for.

Pan Pills has gone to the wall.

King Bros quivers in its death throes.Murray's is rumoured to be the next to falter.BHP is throwing millions of shareholders funds at its executives.The NRMA still acts sans ASIC control.The rich get richer.The poor are further disenfranchised from both Health and Education.The ALP is now, federally, the Aussie Losers Party.

There is no opposition left in Canberra.What a great nation we have become under this Prime Miniature.

John X Berlin
Maclean

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Right thing

John Howard believes that the Governor General, having failed to properly handle a reported incident of paedophilia, did the right thing by resigning.The PM said so in Parliament on Monday.

Phillip Ruddock is the Minister responsible for Australia's immigrant detention centres.A child was allegedly the victim of a serious sexual assault in Woomera detention prison (sic).The child was denied medical attention following the attack and no proper enquiry has taken place.

According to Minister Ruddock it's 'history' and he intends doing nothing.

So one child is more deserving of justice than another?Girls more deserving than boys? Whites more than non- whites?Christians more than Muslims?Justice for all? Ruddock should resign immediately.It cannot fail to gain Mr.Howard's approval.Or are they both consummate hypocrites?

Cloud
Horseshoe Creek
via Kyogle

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Great service

Through your columns I wish to publicly thank Greg, Petria and the other friendly staff at Budget Eyewear for a ording me a miracle.I've always thought of Sydney as ravenous, rapacious and ruthless.Yet Budget Eyewear's Sydney-based contractors replaced not just the crushed lens of my specs but also has apparently stained one-at their own cost.I'm amazed and deeply grateful.

Charles Lowe
East Lismore

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Unholy Trinity

We Aust ral i ans live in a country that helps promote world wide universal deceit, perverters of truth whether is be the lies of government, corporations, or religious bodies.The man in the street has no idea about the truth of the war in Iraq or the events surrounding the Governor General.

Many views are aired in letters to this paper alone.It is common knowledge that governments are mistrusted and do not always tell the truth and the same applies to the institution know as the Church with its many denominations and supposed sects and or cults, which in turn attempt to manipulate governments.For any of these institutions to tell the real truth would involve monumental changes within society.

As the Bob Ellis weekly feature mentions "It is the big lie that moves history " (Echo, May 15).

Has any reader ever stopped for a moment to realise that George Bush, Tony Blair, and John Howard are all Christians?These three Christians instigated an illegal war in Iraq.

Is this an attempt at Christian theocracy? Theocratic societies are the most destructive societies known to man.

Theocracies are not peaceful societies living in a utopian oasis, but are the anti-thesis of everything that is good, moral, and just, and just for the record for those who may believe di erently, Australia is not a Christian nation because this implies theocracy.Theocracy means a National State religion and there is no such thing in Australia.

Therefore we are not a Christian nation but a secular one.

Documented Church history reveals the Church has been war manipulators for centuries, but they attempt to disguise the truth from the general public.

The Church sweeps under the carpet that the crusades destroyed an entire democratic society in Southern France in the Middle Ages, (12th and 13th century) many thousands were murdered.The Church also seems to have amnesia about the Protestant versus Catholic war in Ireland today which has created chaos.

The Balkans has been a tinderbox for centuries starting with the Serbs and the Turks and no one mentions the Eastern Orthodox Church versus the Muslim problem.

The Church also turns a blind eye and a deaf ear to the Spanish Inquisition (15th century)where thousands died over the notion that people might want to chose their own supposed god.

John Calvin (Geneva Catechism 1542 ) attempted to make Geneva a perfect Christian city but what ended up happening was what perfect Christianity is good at doing, suppressing the truth from all that is good and decent.

Michael Servintus, an apostate Protestant with unorthodox teachings was condemned and burnt alive for heresy by Calvanists at Champel in October 1553.

Quakers in New England about 400 years ago were hanged and burnt when a total Christian society was established.

East Timor was much about a Muslim majority versus Catholic minority as it was about elections of "so-called " Independence.

Israel tries to avert nuclear war by keeping the religious right wing from gaining control.

The Church cannot wait for the time when the supposed god rules and the bible reigns supreme.

Is this the utopia people are looking for, and will it solve crimes, eliminate gangs, and bring prosperity to all? Theocracy is an evilness that the world can do without.

Jim Lee
Alstonville

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Fair share

We i n t he bush often read and hear of our city cousins endlessly complaining about 'whingeing cow-cockies'.It is alleged that, every time something goes wrong, be it drought, ood or bush re, we country folk hold out our hands and expect taxpayers to come to our rescue.

A good example would be the $700m rural relief for the next four years contained in the recent Federal budget.This represents the payment of $200m per year for the whole of Australia.Of course, we in the bush know that we will never see any real money.The Government's promise is nothing more than creative accounting and money shu ing between government departments.We are unlikely to see a single sandwich on our dinner tables nor a new pair of pants to cover our son's threadbare backside, let alone Christmas or birthday presents.

Yet I read in the papers today that, we, the taxpayers of NSW, that is all of us NSW taxpayers, hand out $1.2 billion per year to put backsides on seats in Sydney rail, buses or ferries.Yep, that's right.

While we in the bush get $200 million (for the whole of Australia) per year to subsidise us, our city cousins get $1.2 billion per year to freeload on our Sydney public transport system.Th at represents real money, not just a creative, government money shu e.It's time we in the bush started demanding our fair share.Th ink what $1.2 billion per year could do for us rural folk in NSW.How about it, Bob Carr?All we want is a fair suck of the sav, mate.

Dr Tom Henderson
Urunga

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