Parking wipeout for nipper parents
As a parent, one of the things you want most in this world is to bring up your children to be respectful and healthy and get a pass in Year 12 so they can maybe go to university or get an apprenticeship and, hopefully, become a useful contributor to our society.
So you try to choose a sport that they can participate in and make friends – hopefully for life.
Enter the surf lifesaving movement, which I have been fortunate to be involved in for almost 50 years.
This included being an age manager for my little mate where you attend training up to three afternoons a week and then Sunday mornings. There are sacrifices and travelling to surf carnivals can mean a great amount of time and expense, which brings me to the point of this rant.
It relates to what I have witnessed at surf lifesaving events held on the Sunshine Coast and, most recently, the Branch Championships held last weekend at Mooloolaba.
My question is: Why do parking inspectors choose to follow these events with great gusto and inflict much misery on the people who are actually trying to keep their kids off the streets and guide them to be useful, respectful members of society?
PHIL PERREN, Alexandra Headland SLSC
‘Common’ could ease housing crisis
I believe , during the Great Depression, people with desperate housing needs; for whatever reason, could camp on what was known as the “common”. Council-owned land with very basic amenities.
I don’t know if any charges were involved, but at least they could legally camp. Obviously, and hopefully, a short term measure, but people in crisis situations need somewhere to put their belongings and camp.
TREVOR KNOWLES, Hervey Bay
Leaving Aussies stranded a mistake
Many people seem to believe that our Federal Government under PM Scott Morrison has done a good job in handling the COVID-19 outbreak but I beg to differ.
Our Federal Government has really left most quarantine matters up to the states to handle, but just think how much safer (physically and economically) we would all be if Scomo had brought all Australians overseas home by mid last year, or at least before Christmas.
Maybe Christmas Island or work camps like Darwin could have been used as well as spare capacity at migrant detention facilities and even spare army/air force accommodation.
A big ask, I know, but not impossible – maybe those idle Qantas jets could have been used.
As we all know, this was not done and all those Australians still overseas are becoming more and more exposed to variants of the virus and likely to bring these back home with them.
These variants have only mutated in the last few months so if all Australians had been back home they wouldn’t have been exposed to these dangerous variants.
Obviously hindsight is a great thing but I believe Scomo has been negligent. The Federal government should have taken responsibility and treated bringing home all Australians who wanted to come home as the major crisis it obviously was.
SHELAGH HEWITT, Buderim
Feds need to lift game on stadium funding
It seems a shame that the Libs/Nats in the Federal Government will not chip in a measly $20 million to complete our stadium.
Pity we live in a safe conservative seat, and they take the vote for granted.
With all the other ducks lined up, seems the Feds are proving to be gooses.
RAY MARX, Bli Bli
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