Letters
The Age
Saturday January 2, 2010
Help restore my faith in democracyTHE litany of disasters in the delivery of essential services by the State Government is the result of a Government buoyed by unprecedented electoral popularity; an Opposition in disarray; and an electorate suffering from an overdose of self-serving political dogma.Notwithstanding the spin doing the rounds, the Brumby Government has failed the public by bungling on a number of essential services. The biggest so far is the myki debacle. Surely, anyone would realise that somebody is profiting from the escalating cost of implementing a relatively simple ticket system? A system that is similar to ones working elsewhere.Then there is the decision to build a desalination plant at a cost that could equip Victorians with water tanks and solar panels and an energy policy that would reward rather than penalise; and the obsessive building of freeways instead of revamping the public transport system.But the worst failure of all is the Government's inept planning policy that will affect us all, whatever our political affiliation. This Government has been far more successful than Jeff Kennett in consummating its relationship with the all-embracing money bags. In doing so, it has lost its political plot and mandate, its duty of care to the ordinary Victorians.Consistent with the prevailing festive season's hopes and resolutions, I wish that the new decade will restore my faith in the simple notion of democracy.Alex Njoo, St KildaAppallingly high tollEVEN though the number of deaths on Victorian roads was a record low in 2009 (The Age, 1/1), the annual road toll is still appalling €” 295 deaths, 6000 serious injuries, many more minor injuries, much property damage and untold suffering.The tragedy is that many of these deaths and injuries need not have occurred because they were due largely to inappropriate road-user behaviour, including excessive speed, alcohol, drugs, fatigue and non-use of seat belts. Other factors include over-confidence in one's ability, peer pressures, impatience, arrogance and a sense that crashes occur only to others.Road-user behaviour must continue to be vigorously tackled by education, training, publicity and enforcement programs. However, it never will be possible to eliminate all road-user weaknesses or errors.If there is to be further significant reduction in the road toll there must be greater emphasis on applying known effective road and vehicle safety measures, including speed management, so that roads and vehicles are more tolerant and forgiving of lapses in user behaviour.Robin Underwood, Ringwood EastIneffective solutionsBECKY Chanock (Letters, 31/12) is spot on. We learnt in Geography 101 that no freeway on earth has, in the long run, solved a traffic problem. We also learnt in Biology 101 that growth is a temporary event, eventually to be limited. But over in Economics 101 they learnt that growth can continue forever.Given that most of our politicians seem to have studied the latter but not the former, it's no surprise they keep building things like freeways to "solve" our growth problems.Ralph Judd, Blackburn NorthAdding fuel to fireREGARDING Diana Richardson's complaint about dirty fuel (Letters, 31/12), I had a similar experience, with my car stalling in the middle of an intersection at Mooroolbark. The RACV arranged towing to my long-time, trusted mechanic who, after three days' work, told me the culprit was fuel contamination-sticky goo in the filter and white powder on a new set of plugs. He flushed the tank, and changed the filter, fuel pump and distributor, and all was well. Cost: $978.I had filled the tank the previous day at a discount supermarket/petrol outlet.I sent a detailed report to the company acting for the outlet. Its findings €” that there was no evidence of contaminated fuel at the service station €” came in writing dated before my letter had been posted. I rang them and was told my information had no bearing on the findings.Michael Clarke, KilsythAncient conceptTO THOSE who complain that myki will be able to track you, I hope you don't have an e-tag, breeze tag, licence plate on your car, mobile phone that's turned on, ATM card, a driver's licence with a photo that's registered with VicRoads and pass any CCTV camera, a supermarket loyalty card, a movie loyalty card or credit card. If you do you're already being tracked daily, so myki will be no different.Privacy is an ancient concept from the last century.Matthew Gilbert, Hampton ParkGoing nowhere fastTHE Age website on Wednesday carried pictures of China's new 350 km/h super-fast train that will link Wuhan with Guangzhou, as well as pictures of the brief introduction of one faulty new train to our network.On the one hand a "developing" country is putting in luxuriously appointed, 1000-kilometre, high-speed rail links, and on the other a "non-developing" country is going nowhere. The cost of China's new line is about $20 million per kilometre, with about two-thirds of it in tunnels or on bridges. The 3.5 kilometre extension to the Epping line will cost $562 million.Alan Ide, MurrumbeenaHappy huntingRECREATIONAL duck hunting is a sustainable and healthy pursuit that has no effect on waterfowl numbers. All Australian game species are migratory and have taken advantage of excellent breeding conditions in different parts of Australia in recent years. Hunters eat all the game they shoot. Lean, healthy game meat and physical activity outdoors is a recipe for better health. It is also the case that is duck hunters and organisations like Field and Game that spend the most time and money improving and maintaining waterfowl habitat. The last thing any hunter wants to see is waterfowl numbers decline.Geoff Draper, BenallaNo progress in yearsPETER Singer's views on the immorality of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to prolong the lives of people in affluent societies by a few days or months compared with our unwillingness to spend even a few hundred dollars to extend the lives of people in poor countries by decades (Comment, 31/12) echoes a similar sentiment by Macfarlane Burnet, one of our few Nobel laureates.In his 1978 book, Endurance of Life, he wrote: "At the present time the predominant attitude is that every individual is entitled to go on living as long as is possible at whatever the cost to the community or to himself and his family, and that the primary objective of medical care within the welfare state is to let this be achieved. That climate of lay and medical opinion is almost wholly responsible for the insanely mounting cost of medical care."His preference was to "shorten the pre-death period €” the time that elapses between the day when the patient first became continuously dependent on full-time care and the day of his death €” it will be better for all concerned".It seems that in 30 years we have made zero progress in dealing with this very difficult issue of resource allocation.Carolyn Mooney, Ivanhoe EastSoy is no panaceaPAUL Mahony (Letters, 1/1) is correct, a significant amount of water is needed to produce one kilogram of beef. But in pasture agriculture, that water ends up on the grass along with some nutrients. Massive stands of monoculture crops like soy are not without environmental impacts, because of their use of pesticides, herbicides, imported fertilisers, the energy cost of processing, and refrigeration of most soy products.We could eat less meat, but soy is no panacea; all industrial agriculture involves similar environmental and energy impacts. Soy protein is a highly processed semi-artificial creation. In its raw state soy meal is toxic. Unless processed correctly, soy contains proteins that inhibit tryptophan (essential amino acid) uptake in humans and agents that can interfere with thyroid function.Soy is traditionally eaten in Asian cultures as a side dish, often with seaweed or bone soups (which counter these effects), or as a last resort. Soy consumption took off in the West when the protein waste product from soy oil production was successfully marketed as a health food. Multinational companies really don't care who or what eats the soy meal.Shane Perryman, Margate, TasBackward approachWE TRAVELLED around Australia for three months and found a country of extraordinary beauty. We met very friendly Australians, which made travelling a nice and easy experience.Our trip would have been perfect had we not read newspapers. Australia seems to be the only Western country where man-made global warming is not taken seriously by a substantial part of society, including business and politicians.Australia is the second-largest per-capita producer of carbon dioxide emissions in the western world (after tiny Luxembourg). Emissions are 10 per cent higher than in the United States. Whereas the numbers have remained more or less stable for the industrialised world, Australian emissions have been growing substantially over the past decade. And they will continue to grow!The construction of a brown coal-powered desalination plant in Victoria is just one horrible example. How can a rich country that is so heavily afflicted by climate problems act so irresponsibly? After three months in your country we were disillusioned by the way environmental problems are tackled. Australia does not merit the good image as a travel destination it still has in Europe.Fritz Schneider, St Gallen, Switzerland
© 2010 The Age
