Taxing Times

Illawarra Mercury

Saturday August 30, 2008

Taxing times

Imagine the Big Boys in Canberra sitting in their comfort zone and seriously brainstorming, how they can squeeze even more tax out of the already overburdened Australian Taxpayers?

By paying a carbon trading tax of course! Brilliant! They presume the average person will never collate, that this climate change debacle maybe just a natural phenomenon. Or the Government Immigration Scheme is at its highest level in Australian history, or that we're importing nationalities with totally different religious beliefs and cultures to ours. They confidently presume to obtain the new arrivals vote, and that they will buy heaps of white goods and plasmas to boost the economy. Neither do they care if we're the second driest continent in the planet, or if we have a large population of say 50 million, we won't have enough water, fuel, electricity, housing or jobs. By introducing "the level playing field," (good one Gough) they have made sure our farmers and manufacturers can't compete with overseas commodities. Consequently most of our factories have gone offshore, (China is impressed), and we're eating imported products.

So fellow Australians, if we are totally responsible for stuffing up our climate, why is the Government in all its wisdom paying every woman $5000 dollars to have a baby!

Yvonne Anne Brien, Sussex Inlet

Glassing horror

Of all the vicious methods of attacking another human being, the act of using a broken glass or bottle to stab or slash a victims face must surely be among the most horrific.

Yet the punishment for a person found to be guilty of glassing under the existing NSW Law appears not to adequately reflect the viciousness and intent of the crime.

With any attack to the head and face involving the use of a blade, or other cutting implement comes the potential for lacerations to major arteries or a penetrating wound to the eye.

Either injury could lead to fatal consequences for the victim. Surely no decent citizen residing in NSW could be content with the legal status quo in NSW in terms of the level of punishment for those brutish individuals that indulge in the heinous crime of glassing?

Unfortunately, it would appear that until the law in NSW makes glassing an automatic charge of attempted murder, the thugs and cowards who resort to it will continue to ensure that it remains a brutal feature of society.

Barry Swan, Balgownie

Harbour secrecy

Post ICAC - Wollongong and our community is no longer tolerant and accepting of corruption and is looking for good governance.

Lands Minister Tony Kelly can, with an apparent flick of a pen, declare Bellambi Marina an unsuitable alternative, at $50 million (Ron Tindall, Mercury Letters, August 23), to Wollongong Harbour. At the same time he uses a failed, and politically biased secretive consultative model by which developers and business houses can again be government tools in mocking the preferences of the Wollongong residents.

The State Labor Government said in November 2007 that it is "committed to facilitating the redevelopment of the Wollongong Harbour". Nine months later the people of Wollongong remain uninformed of why or what Government is intending. In that time the community has emphatically declared its preference of NO to Mr Kelly's proposal and suggested a considerably more favourable alternative at Bellambi Bay.

Mocking community preferences and the lack of transparency is not good governance Mr Kelly.

Ray Robinson, Corrimal

Ryles tribute

I have never been or never will be a Dragons Supporter.

However I am a fan and supporter of a local rugby league product, Jason Ryles. It will be a sad day when another local junior leaves the district, as many before him have done.

I met Jason some years ago and was very impressed with his down-to-earth manner. In my opinion he would be in the top five props playing in the NRL.

Greg Robinson