"Free" Public Transport

Dear Editor,


Has the Henderson Government now gone completely mad? Free public transport – really?

There is no doubt that the Martin/Henderson Government “lived-well” during the halcyon days of the Howard/Costello Government. Martin and Henderson spent up big as the GST revenues rolled in. 3,000 extra public servants were hired at an ANNUAL cost of at least $300 Million. Taxpayer’s money has been thrown at everything from water-slides at Lake Leanyer to wave-pools at the new convention centre. Life was good – whilst the funds kept coming.

However whilst all this big-spending largesse was taking place the services provided by this government became more and inefficient. Health, Education, Police and of course Electricity are of course the obvious examples. All these areas received more money (mostly wasted on bureaucrats and lesser public servants) yet there is little doubt that services have declined during the Martin/Henderson period of government.

Now Henderson has a grandiose “plan” to waste even more taxpayer’s funds on providing “free” public transport.

Does Henderson not realize that his mate Rudd has already wasted billions of taxpayer’s funds and plans to borrow even more - eventually saddling Australia with a debt of $300 Billion?

When the Australian economy is in tatters as it inevitably will be under Rudd, how does Henderson think he is going to fund “free” public transport – or his vast army (and increasing) of bureaucrats and public servants or any of the other hair-brained schemes he and his southern-Labor “advisors” have devised?

Henderson’s only positive contribution to the NT was his efforts to lure Inpex here.

Well he is going to need Inpex and Arafura Harbour and a whole lot more if he is going to keep his very expensive show on the road in the very uncertain times that lie ahead.


Dave Wane

Woodleigh Gardens