Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Penni is missing something and so am I
Dear Editor,
It is not surprising that well respected and successful businesswoman Penni Tastula is wondering whether she is “missing something” about the proposal by the Henderson Labor Government to introduce a Container-Deposit-Scheme here in the NT.
Well I am also confused and like Penni, also “missing something” when it comes to the need for such a scheme.
Recycling, if that is what the aim of the legislation is; is already happening in most NT towns. Two bins are provided – one for rubbish, the other for recyclables. The bins are picked up at set intervals by efficient contractors, and the cost is included in everyone’s rates. What is better than that?
Why then the need to introduce a Container-Deposit-Scheme? A scheme that will impose an additional cost burden on Territorians and force them to drive across town (surely increasing those emissions we hear so much about) with bags full of cans and bottles. Of course, that is assuming they choose to recover their deposit.
Why? What additional benefits will this proposed scheme provide? I suggest none. Actually, it is extremely likely this scheme will be a retrograde move.
But let’s look at the main “litterers”…..:
Will the people who litter most in the NT; those who can be found at various places in most Territory towns lying around with bottles, cans, wine casks, soiled clothing, used nappies and a whole lot more, suddenly make their way to the local recycling depot to return their packaging and receive their deposit back? We all know the answer to that.
Forget this latest crazy scheme Paul Henderson. It is unwarranted and total madness! And you probably know it!
Yours truly,
Dave Wane
9th February, 2011
Saturday, February 5, 2011
More Federal Funds??
Dear Editor,
So the writer of the NT News Editorial of 31st January, 2011 seriously believes that more “Federal Funds” is the answer …….. In the writer’s own words: to “solve the Territory’s terrible social problems”.
Is the person who wrote this Editorial for real?
The Northern Territory now has more expenditure on bureaucracy (17,000+ on the taxpayer-funded payroll and growing) than probably any similar size jurisdiction in the Western World!
And to make matters worse, Clare Martin and Paul Henderson have added at least 5,000 extra taxpayer-funded employees since Labor was elected in 2001 – at an ANNUAL cost to the NT budget of around HALF A BILLION DOLLARS!
Even if extra Federal Funds could somehow “solve” the problems that are described in the Editorial (which of course I very much doubt), could it be that the lions share of the NT Government’s funds are gobbled up by their massively overstaffed, poorly managed, wasteful and scandalously inefficient bureaucracy – leaving only a pittance for expenditure at the “coal-face” where it is claimed to be needed?
In Health, Education, Police, in fact everywhere within the NT Government, it seems that the first priority of available funds is to hire more and more unnecessary staff, accommodate them in bigger and more salubrious surroundings, and pay them salaries way over what they would ever hope to receive in the REAL world - in the market-place!
And finally: the suggestion that this incompetent debt-ridden Martin-Henderson Labor government should ask the also incompetent “Drunken-Sailors” from the now deeply (and unnecessarily) in debt, Rudd-Gillard Federal Labor government for more funds has to be the biggest joke of all!
Yours truly,
Dave Wane
Friday, February 4, 2011
Unnecessary Container Deposit Scheme.
Dear Editor,
Independent Member for Nelson, Gerry Wood claims that Kate Carnell and the Australian Food and Grocery Council, are orchestrating some kind of con to mislead Territorians about the Government’s Cash for Containers scheme.
However, as an independent observer, I believe it is Gerry Wood and the NT Government that are either willingly, or through total head-in-the-sand ignorance doing the “conning”, and therefore misleading Territorians on this totally unnecessary scheme.
Firstly, all NT local governments (councils) already have an effective rubbish collection and recycling regime in place. All NT councils have two wheelie bins – one for waste, and the other for recyclables. I understand this works very well here in the NT – apparently about the best in Australia. So why the need to put deposits on every container sold in the NT?
Secondly, can Wood or Henderson actually dispute the figures provided by the Australian Food and Grocery Council? The examples of additional costs provided by the Australian Food and Grocery Council seem to me, in view of the massive additional expenditure required to collect, store and transport all these containers, to be, if anything, on the conservative side. Currently the majority of all recyclables are efficiently and cost-effectively, collected by the various council waste contractors from households, and similarly by waste contractors from commercial premises.
Again, I ask: why are Henderson and Wood advocating such unnecessary nonsense when it will achieve nothing other than push up prices? I know it was originally Wood’s idea as part of his backing of Henderson’s minority government. But Henderson has now (at least publicly) embraced it with gusto.
Does Henderson’s serial interventionism in so many aspects of our lives (and Martin’s before him) ever achieve anything of value for normal everyday Territorians? Certainly Not, in my view! These leaders (Henderson and Martin) seem to be under the complete influence of their army of advisors, most of whom would be unlikely to make it in the real world. Are these faceless, highly paid and unelected men and women (mostly from failed southern states) the kind of people we want running our once fiercely independent and free-thinking Territory?
Yours truly,
Dave Wane
Independent Member for Nelson, Gerry Wood claims that Kate Carnell and the Australian Food and Grocery Council, are orchestrating some kind of con to mislead Territorians about the Government’s Cash for Containers scheme.
However, as an independent observer, I believe it is Gerry Wood and the NT Government that are either willingly, or through total head-in-the-sand ignorance doing the “conning”, and therefore misleading Territorians on this totally unnecessary scheme.
Firstly, all NT local governments (councils) already have an effective rubbish collection and recycling regime in place. All NT councils have two wheelie bins – one for waste, and the other for recyclables. I understand this works very well here in the NT – apparently about the best in Australia. So why the need to put deposits on every container sold in the NT?
Secondly, can Wood or Henderson actually dispute the figures provided by the Australian Food and Grocery Council? The examples of additional costs provided by the Australian Food and Grocery Council seem to me, in view of the massive additional expenditure required to collect, store and transport all these containers, to be, if anything, on the conservative side. Currently the majority of all recyclables are efficiently and cost-effectively, collected by the various council waste contractors from households, and similarly by waste contractors from commercial premises.
Again, I ask: why are Henderson and Wood advocating such unnecessary nonsense when it will achieve nothing other than push up prices? I know it was originally Wood’s idea as part of his backing of Henderson’s minority government. But Henderson has now (at least publicly) embraced it with gusto.
Does Henderson’s serial interventionism in so many aspects of our lives (and Martin’s before him) ever achieve anything of value for normal everyday Territorians? Certainly Not, in my view! These leaders (Henderson and Martin) seem to be under the complete influence of their army of advisors, most of whom would be unlikely to make it in the real world. Are these faceless, highly paid and unelected men and women (mostly from failed southern states) the kind of people we want running our once fiercely independent and free-thinking Territory?
Yours truly,
Dave Wane
Monday, December 27, 2010
The effects of Big Bloated Government on labour supply in the NT.
Dear Editor,
In Darwin and throughout the territory we are again hearing of Employers who are unable to find workers for their businesses.
The Martin-Henderson government has of course already increased public sector employment by well over 5,000 since coming to power -and continues with this scandalously expensive practice by providing even more costly and mostly unnecessary “jobs”, almost on a weekly basis.
Could it be that the reason there are so few people available for real jobs out in the marketplace is a direct result of this government’s corruption of the Labour Market through excessive hiring of thousands of public servants?
Put simply: the “supply” of labour in the NT is limited, but the unnecessary and mostly artificial “labour demand” created by this government has used up so much of the “labour supply”.
Sadly, as a result of this, many young people now actively seek a safe, secure “claytons” job in the government with wages and conditions that are unaffordable in the real world - in the marketplace, leaving real employers without workers.
And of course all this was totally unnecessary, as there was never any justification whatsoever to increase the size of the already bloated NT public service of the Burke Government by 5,000.
Big Government causes Big Problems. The lack of workers available for real work in the NT is of course only one problem caused by the Big Bloated Henderson Government. There are plenty more.
In Darwin and throughout the territory we are again hearing of Employers who are unable to find workers for their businesses.
The Martin-Henderson government has of course already increased public sector employment by well over 5,000 since coming to power -and continues with this scandalously expensive practice by providing even more costly and mostly unnecessary “jobs”, almost on a weekly basis.
Could it be that the reason there are so few people available for real jobs out in the marketplace is a direct result of this government’s corruption of the Labour Market through excessive hiring of thousands of public servants?
Put simply: the “supply” of labour in the NT is limited, but the unnecessary and mostly artificial “labour demand” created by this government has used up so much of the “labour supply”.
Sadly, as a result of this, many young people now actively seek a safe, secure “claytons” job in the government with wages and conditions that are unaffordable in the real world - in the marketplace, leaving real employers without workers.
And of course all this was totally unnecessary, as there was never any justification whatsoever to increase the size of the already bloated NT public service of the Burke Government by 5,000.
Big Government causes Big Problems. The lack of workers available for real work in the NT is of course only one problem caused by the Big Bloated Henderson Government. There are plenty more.
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
NT Environment Centre - proposed water restrictions.
Dear Editor,
So Stuart Blanch from the mostly taxpayer-funded NT Environment Centre is calling on the NT Government to introduce water restrictions (NT News 30th November, 2010).
He goes on to tell us: “It’s a lot cheaper than building a new dam”.
Of course this is the typical “green” argument of no progress – just staying put and watching the world pass us by.
An argument which no doubt would advocate the following and a whole lot more:
No building of new roads – but putting restrictions on drivers;
No building of new ports – just restricting world trade to and from Australia;
No building of new power stations – just restricting power usage.
Well not for me. I am proud of man’s progress in Australia.
A country which prior to white man’s arrival was an under-utilised place inhabited by nomadic hunter/gatherers with no chance of developing a robust civilization able to take this huge land mass forward into the modern world in which we now live. A country which would have been unable to defend itself.
Of course the NT government should build more dams to store water for the future growth of our territory. It is a wise and prudent thing to do.
To do as Stuart advises would put us in the same desperate position as most of the other states where water restrictions are commonplace from time to time due to a succession of weak governments over the last 2 to 3 decades who have been afraid to build dams because of a fear of “green” whingers.
We should be using our abundant water supply here in the top end to make our city lush, green and attractive, like Singapore. Not the brownish dry-season dustbowl that Darwin can become - often resembling a Wild West frontier town.
The NT Government should be actively trying to reduce the cost of water, instead of increasing the price - on the back of some way-out “green” ideology.
And maybe Stuart should go back to wherever he came from if water restrictions really are so attractive to him.
Yours truly,
Dave Wane
Woodleigh Gardens
30th November, 2010
So Stuart Blanch from the mostly taxpayer-funded NT Environment Centre is calling on the NT Government to introduce water restrictions (NT News 30th November, 2010).
He goes on to tell us: “It’s a lot cheaper than building a new dam”.
Of course this is the typical “green” argument of no progress – just staying put and watching the world pass us by.
An argument which no doubt would advocate the following and a whole lot more:
No building of new roads – but putting restrictions on drivers;
No building of new ports – just restricting world trade to and from Australia;
No building of new power stations – just restricting power usage.
Well not for me. I am proud of man’s progress in Australia.
A country which prior to white man’s arrival was an under-utilised place inhabited by nomadic hunter/gatherers with no chance of developing a robust civilization able to take this huge land mass forward into the modern world in which we now live. A country which would have been unable to defend itself.
Of course the NT government should build more dams to store water for the future growth of our territory. It is a wise and prudent thing to do.
To do as Stuart advises would put us in the same desperate position as most of the other states where water restrictions are commonplace from time to time due to a succession of weak governments over the last 2 to 3 decades who have been afraid to build dams because of a fear of “green” whingers.
We should be using our abundant water supply here in the top end to make our city lush, green and attractive, like Singapore. Not the brownish dry-season dustbowl that Darwin can become - often resembling a Wild West frontier town.
The NT Government should be actively trying to reduce the cost of water, instead of increasing the price - on the back of some way-out “green” ideology.
And maybe Stuart should go back to wherever he came from if water restrictions really are so attractive to him.
Yours truly,
Dave Wane
Woodleigh Gardens
30th November, 2010
Monday, November 29, 2010
Retrospective legislation
Dear Editor,
Territorians who can still remember the freedom this place enjoyed before the Martin/Henderson Labor Government came to power must surely becoming increasingly frustrated with the CLP opposition, who clearly have become advocates of excessive regulation and big government.
The very idea of introducing a legal amendment to compel all homeowners to install smoke detectors in existing houses strikes at the heart of what the CLP should stand for. Simply put – freedom, freedom of choice.
Retrospective legislation is an abhorrent concept, and whilst popular with the Labor socialists, it should rarely, if ever, be considered by any party who professes to believe in freedom and the rights of the individual.
Of course, I have no argument about the value of smoke detection devices. They can save lives. But where does government intervention in people’s lives stop?
Since coming to power in 2001, the Martin/Henderson Labor government has trashed the rights of Territorians in so many areas – including: unnecessary pool-fencing laws; removal of open speed limits on our highways; forcing businesses to install no-smoking areas…. And a whole lot more.
Now it seems the CLP, together with Labor are supporting Gerry Wood’s crazy Container Deposit Scheme. This is yet another silly and totally unnecessary impost on Territorians, and one which will achieve nothing except to extract more funds from our pockets.
If Territorians want to live in an over-regulated nanny-state, they most certainly have one under the Martin/Henderson Labor government. But sadly they will also continue to have one under any future CLP government.
Yours truly,
Dave Wane
Woodleigh Gardens
Territorians who can still remember the freedom this place enjoyed before the Martin/Henderson Labor Government came to power must surely becoming increasingly frustrated with the CLP opposition, who clearly have become advocates of excessive regulation and big government.
The very idea of introducing a legal amendment to compel all homeowners to install smoke detectors in existing houses strikes at the heart of what the CLP should stand for. Simply put – freedom, freedom of choice.
Retrospective legislation is an abhorrent concept, and whilst popular with the Labor socialists, it should rarely, if ever, be considered by any party who professes to believe in freedom and the rights of the individual.
Of course, I have no argument about the value of smoke detection devices. They can save lives. But where does government intervention in people’s lives stop?
Since coming to power in 2001, the Martin/Henderson Labor government has trashed the rights of Territorians in so many areas – including: unnecessary pool-fencing laws; removal of open speed limits on our highways; forcing businesses to install no-smoking areas…. And a whole lot more.
Now it seems the CLP, together with Labor are supporting Gerry Wood’s crazy Container Deposit Scheme. This is yet another silly and totally unnecessary impost on Territorians, and one which will achieve nothing except to extract more funds from our pockets.
If Territorians want to live in an over-regulated nanny-state, they most certainly have one under the Martin/Henderson Labor government. But sadly they will also continue to have one under any future CLP government.
Yours truly,
Dave Wane
Woodleigh Gardens
Reply to Murray Schneider - NT News
Dear Editor,
Murray Schneider (NT News 30th November, 2010) like many youngish modern-day “environmentalists” makes the silly and totally incorrect assumption that people who were born in the immediate post war years (1945-1960) are not concerned about Australia’s natural environment.
What Murray and so many of his ilk obviously forget is that without a well-managed, productive, low-debt economy, the environment will eventually come off second best in any list of government spending priorities.
After Julia Gillard and the other economy wreckers in all Labor states and territories have once again taken Australia back to bankrupt, basket-case status (like Greece, Ireland, Portugal etc) through their massive unnecessary spending and atrocious management, does Murray really believe anyone will want funds allocated to such esoteric pursuits as “tackling” the theory of “man made climate change” - especially when Australia contributes only 1.5% of total world carbon dioxide emissions?
Only responsible economic managers, such as the former Howard/Costello government, can ever hope to achieve a high level of environmental outcomes whilst at the same time ensuring a good standard of living for all citizens with competitive prices for gas, electricity and water.
The Greens and their fellow travellers in the Labor Party will only ever be able to provide a warm-inner-glow for those folk, like Murray, who choose to believe in some socialist Utopia where the theory of Gaia is the guiding light.
Yours truly,
Dave Wane
Woodleigh Gardens
Murray Schneider (NT News 30th November, 2010) like many youngish modern-day “environmentalists” makes the silly and totally incorrect assumption that people who were born in the immediate post war years (1945-1960) are not concerned about Australia’s natural environment.
What Murray and so many of his ilk obviously forget is that without a well-managed, productive, low-debt economy, the environment will eventually come off second best in any list of government spending priorities.
After Julia Gillard and the other economy wreckers in all Labor states and territories have once again taken Australia back to bankrupt, basket-case status (like Greece, Ireland, Portugal etc) through their massive unnecessary spending and atrocious management, does Murray really believe anyone will want funds allocated to such esoteric pursuits as “tackling” the theory of “man made climate change” - especially when Australia contributes only 1.5% of total world carbon dioxide emissions?
Only responsible economic managers, such as the former Howard/Costello government, can ever hope to achieve a high level of environmental outcomes whilst at the same time ensuring a good standard of living for all citizens with competitive prices for gas, electricity and water.
The Greens and their fellow travellers in the Labor Party will only ever be able to provide a warm-inner-glow for those folk, like Murray, who choose to believe in some socialist Utopia where the theory of Gaia is the guiding light.
Yours truly,
Dave Wane
Woodleigh Gardens
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