Credit where credit is due
I live on the “flat” and raised in 2014/2015 concerns to the council of the lack of upkeep, maintenance and upgrade of the drainage and kerbing and guttering systems. I must give credit where credit is due to the council. Experiencing in recent months downpours coinciding with a king tide, no “tinnie” at my place was required.
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Gabe Eichler
Narooma
History back on wall
It’s good to see signs regarding the Narooma Pool’s history up again on the wall inside the complex. It was a long hard battle, one the people of Narooma deserved displayed. Lots of people, tradesmen, the two clubs, residents, Pop Brown, who started the ball rolling, and the guys from the hydrotherapy club – too many to name – I say thanks to them all. To see the cover go up, was my thanks to them all. I congratulate Tracie from YMCA, the swimming club, and hydrotherapy for their contribution in seeing history back on the wall. Also, the two girls from council (who were hassled by me!) who followed it through; and to Leigh-Anne Syndenham, who did the lovely art work. Thanks to the two guys who put them up. It took time and persistence to get them up, but it was worth it.
Patricia Eaton
Narooma
Innovation
I almost choked on my Wheaties hearing that Greg Hunt had won an international award of “World's Best Minister”. Given his lamentable performance in addressing the most serious environmental problem facing the globe, climate change, how could this be? I then heard this award was made in Dubai at a meeting dominated by countries almost entirely dependent upon the sale of fossil fuels for their economic survival.
Question answered. Despite the departure of climate cynic Tony Abbot and lofty promises made at the Paris Climate Summit, it’s clear the government is still doing very little to address climate change. Hunt continues to support the ineffective direct action policy and approve massive fossil fuel mining proposals. Australia's carbon emissions continue to grow. In other words, it’s business as usual for the big end of town, the mining and energy sectors.
Now the Minister for Science "Poodles" Pyne appears to have given his tacit approval for the new CSIRO Chief Larry Marshall to slash climate change research. Indeed, Dr Marshall’s appointment reeks of political expediency, rather than scientific merit. His stated intention of diverting climate change research funding to areas such as “turning coal into a cleaner form of diesel fuel” and “making mining more profitable and sustainable” must be music to the ears of the above two sectors. A "Bold new age of innovation"? Pull the other one, Turnbull!
Richard Tilzey
Tilba
HuntFest – ‘We didn’t know’
I read with interest the story from last week’s Narooma News, headlined "We Didn't know" in reference to the Animal Justice Party’s application to hold an event on the same weekend as Huntfest.
Huntfest brings to the CBD many hundreds of visitors, both local and from all over the southern half of the state. These visitors spend money at local cafes, stay in local accomodation, patronise local craftsman at the venue and purchase hunting and outdoor items here, that they would otherwise have to travel to major centres for.
In comparism, those attending the other event may purchase the odd lentil burger and soy latte - hardly an economic boom. But wait, that’s stereotyping those people, just as the anti-huntfest lobby would stereotype shooters and hunters as rampaging dangerous characters, killing wildlife with gleeful abandon at every opportunity. A modicum of common sense would indicate neither is true.
As an ex-police officer of more than 30 years, I suggest events like Huntfest not only serve the purpose of entertainment and retail, but are also educational. I can also assure the community that no customer can, on a whim, just walk in of the street and purchase firearms. The vetting, licensing and cooling off process by the NSW Police takes many weeks.
Readers should also be aware that licensed hunters in State forests, since the inception of the Game Hunting Licence system, have culled many thousands of feral animals that would otherwise have been destroying fragile ecosystems and preying on wildlife, pushing more of our endangered species towards extinction. In turn this may have reduced the widespread baiting using 1080; we can all be happy about that.
Perhaps, the AJP, local anti-gun/anti-Huntfest lobby and the Greens councillor should turn their attention to something more worthwhile, such as the wanton destruction of our local forests by Forestry Corporation and its contractors. I’m all for sustainable logging, but after having worked at logging sites in the Northern NSW Forests, South East Forests, Badja Forest and Forests to the West of Bodalla, I have never seen log harvesting so damaging and with so little regard to the forest. I would also hazard a guess that the degraded rainforest, with many fallen trees and trees that have lost their tops, is due to the cover of tall eucalypts being removed in previous logging operations, exposing the delicate rainforest to the full brunt of passing storms.
So in conclusion, stop trying to damage the the economic viability of the town, during this quiet time of year, for your own selfish agendas, and start putting those who are destroying another one of our local tourist attractions, our forests, to the same amount of scrutiny as you have Huntfest..