Water and politicians
Water everywhere and not a drop to drink. Well, it depends on where the water is, as we shall see. At Elbow Valley, Queensland there is a resort that is tapping into the aquifer for bottled water. Bottled water has been the craze for a long time now. But the water from Elbow Valley is being extracted for the Chinese market. Then there's the selling of water from the Murray Darling River system.
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These goings on have been proliferating since council amalgamations. Peter Beattie said it would save money and wed need fewer workers. Now its seen as a huge failure with cost skyrocketing as well as our rates. But never mind, councillors are enjoying an easy ride on the gravy train, with good benefits, while rate payers suffer.
Instead of Peter Beattie being held accountable for his failings, he's had appointments: running the Commonwealth games, a failure but no accountability. When I reincarnate can I come back as one of the protected species, like a politician? Democracy is supposed to represent the people, however, it doesn't seem to work that way.
Jay Nauss, Glen Aplin
Council water trial
Your paper states Mr Murray and council management saying it is only an idea to to put poultry farms on town water after the treated water to the Peel River exercise failed. It does not take a scholar to think or say 'ah l suppose, er ah, may be we could come up, er ah, with the proposal that, er ah, the chicken farms could, ah er, pay for a pipeline to their farms, and er that could help solve the problem'. Thank heavens Mr Murray is retiring hope he takes a lot of his mates with him.
David Davis, Manilla
A Golden Example
The Golden Globes, a celebration of the best of TV and films, was a great success. There were a number of mentions of the fires in Australia with many generous donations as well as a message from Russell Crowe who was actually fighting these fires.
It is interesting that people who spend their whole working life being fake people, the nature of acting, have such real compassion and concern for people that they may never meet. It's a pity that not all follow their example. Their kindness and generosity will continue to help.
Dennis Fitzgerald, Box Hill
Cultural learnings
For thousands of years, Aborigines have been burning parts of Australia. They have learned when, how, where, and why to do it.
Might it not be worthwhile asking some of those experienced Aborigines to share their secrets and their methods?
Certainly, nobody can stop dry lightning. It has caused quite a few bushfires of late, but controlled regular burning, Aborigine style, would reduce the dry undergrowth, save some houses and quite a few animals.
Bill Forrest, Tamworth