Letters to the editor - May 5

RVC roused

Rous Water sent Richmond Valley Council a letter asking that any requests for CSG mining or exploration be forwarded to Rous for evaluation and comment. Cr Donella Kinnish put up the motion and not one of the Richmond Valley councillors would second it. So it could not even be discussed.

Let's be clear what we're talking about here. This is a request by Rous Water to be notified if our water could be impacted by CSG. It is not a call to stop it, it's just a request to be notified of threats.

This tells me that Cr Donella Kinnish is the only one on that council who cares about our health and environment and our precious water supplies.

Mayor Col Sullivan and Deputy Mayor Stuart George are on the Rous Water council. I find it confusing that they didn't support the call from Rous Water.

I believe that the viability of the cattle and agricultural industry in this area is continually eroded by the strange decisions by this council.

Dean Draper

Casino

 

Open letter to Clarence MP Steve Cansdell

The mining companies are pulling the wool over your eyes mate. This quote (below) comes from the report you sent via email that you say justifies the use of fracking chemicals. Tell me why it is illegal under the Clean Waters Act for me to pour a bottle of beer down a stormwater drain (something I have witnessed police do over and over) but it is okay for a company to direct inject a bunch of poorly researched chemicals into substrata that adjoin and interact with water tables and lenses that people and stock use for potable and irrigation uses.

Mate, I'm a farmer, and an environmental scientist and will not sit by and let this sort of thing happen on my land so you better get with the program and take a stand for farmers and the land we love and help avoid a revolution out there. Because if just one person gets mad enough about this, it won't be just fracking chemicals that seep into the groundwater. I fear that you underestimate the passion farmers have about this issue, and as it's not just one big open cut somewhere, the drillers are eventually gonna piss off the wrong person. I hope it's not me.

“Available scientific literature indicates that hydraulic fracturing fluid performance became prevalent in the late 1980s and the 1990s. Most of the literature pertaining to fracturing fluids relates to the fluids' operational efficiency rather than their potential environmental or human impacts. There is very little documented research on the environmental impacts that result to the injection and migration of these fluids into subsurface formations, soils and USDWs.”

Stuart McConville

Barkers Vale

 

Rousing rendition

I've been following the machinations of Rous Water Authority for more than 33 years.

To my consternation, I have been repeatedly told by general managers and assorted councillors that in spite of the fact Rous councillors were nominated as representatives by their constituent council, the reality is Rous councillors owe their allegiance to Rous Water and not their council.

The evidence backs up these verbal statements. There have been many times a Lismore councillor has requested information about Rous from a Lismore-Rous councillor only to be told the Lismore councillor is not privy to that information.

Now, regarding the vote to access DA information on coal seam gas explorations from constituent councils, Richmond-Rous councillors have voted against the best interests of Rous Water in favour of their council's position.

Rous' charter obligates them to be concerned strictly about supply of bulk water. Obviously coal seam gas mining is a potential threat to water quality and quantity.

Richmond Valley has mutual obligations to protect the environment and to promote economic development. In their legally permitted irrational stupidity, they obviously are on the seamier side of this political equation.

In writing this letter, my concern is: what is the LEGAL truth? Do Rous councillors represent Rous first and foremost or their own council?

I want to stop the shenanigans whereby a Rous councillor can change their hat to suit their whim. This is not democracy.

Personally, I believe it's a nonsense that a Lismore representative on Rous should be pro-Rous all the time or be in the invidious position of while at Rous voting for what serves Rous' interests but then voting the opposite at a Lismore meeting because said Rous policy is not in Lismore's interests.

A Lismore-Rous councillor should always put Lismore's interests first. Lismore, Byron, Ballina, Richmond Valley councillors should get Rous business papers when they get their council's business papers. Rous councillors should be made to answer any queries from councillors pertaining to Rous business.

As an aside, being a Rous councillor is a prized position with lots of wheeling and dealing after council elections to see who gets the postings to Rous.

Rous is the prize.

$7000 for 11 meetings that last no more than three hours and if you miss a meeting you still get paid plus of course your expenses are met… car, lunch…

I'm not sure about the lunch.

Dr Paul Recher

Dorroughby

 

Save the date

Carl Calleman's positioning of the end of the Mayan calendar at 28.10.11 makes more sense than 21.12.2012. Why? Because the Powers That Were are well known for their disinformation labyrinths. As the High Maya knew nothing of the Gregorian calendar (invented in 1582, about 700 years after their demise) why would they design such a symmetrical date for the end of time? 21.12.2012 appeals to the ego (it sounds cool) which has not delved beyond pop spirituality. So, spunky numbers... but maybe you've missed the boat? My favourite quote from wingmakers.com is “the end of time will be very much like a strong wind that passes over a calm sea – only those yachts with their sails unfurled will catch the breeze.” Perhaps not, though, with comet Elenin set to zoom by Earth in late September 2011... Are you really waiting for 2012?

Sonique Senshun

Tweed Shire

 

Destination Kyogle

As a citizen it is distressing to continually hear comments comparing our town with other small towns in the state. Kyogle is a wonderful town, but something is seriously wrong; it is a drive-through town, not a destination town. Our council has spent millions of dollars upgrading our footpaths and tending to the gardens in the main street, but our main street lacks the vibrancy which says to people stop, look and buy. Oh yes, we have the new shopping mall, I refuse to call it Kyogle Shopping Centre, this term is reserved for the whole of the CBD not a small section. It is as though the community is trapped in a stagnant stream – little changes, but there have been huge changes to the composition of Kyogle's population in the last 20 years. I urge you to stop and look at the vista in front of you when you look straight down Summerland Way towards the Ranges – what a magnificent sight – then look around you.

Perhaps better use could be made of the Post and Rails Sign display at the entrance to the town to promote such things as the art gallery. If you are driving a RV or car and caravan you don't want to drive to the bottom of town to the Visitors Information Centre and then back to the art gallery.

Why isn't there an artisans' co-operative in this town where members of the public can view and purchase those wonderful creations made by these people in their homes? Many of us are totally ignorant of the vast array of talent that exists in our community, mores a pity.

Retailers, if you want people to walk into your business you must make it inviting for them to do so. Old posters stuck up in windows, stock poorly displayed or having price tags that are faded and dusty are not inviting and send the wrong message to the customer. If your business does not sell goods then use your windows to promote the town and its environs, but clean the windows first. Most importantly welcome the prospective customer with a smile, they might just contribute to your wages.

The Council can play an important role here too by advising businesses and the community through the newsletter what they are permitted to do, eg. if a business wants to, can it have baskets of flowers hanging from its awning. Other towns do, why can't we? Many of the Council staff live locally and it is in their interest to see this community prosper because it is the community that pays their wages and a prosperous community will result in job security for them and locals alike.

You may ask what right do I have to be critical – I have every right, I am a citizen of a town in the jewel of the crown and I want to see it grow in a manner that reflects the character of the community. I don't want to see it stagnate because it is being strangled by red tape which has drained people's motivation from their veins and sapped their energies.

J Hayman

Kyogle

 

Unfair policy

I have toured refugee camps on the Thailand-Myanmar border and observed that over 100,000 people are housed in these primitive facilities. Refugees at “Villawood” complain bitterly of their conditions and time spent in detention, but some “Karen” refugees in Thailand have been in Thailand camps for 40 years living in appalling conditions. They, too, are seeking refugee status in “Western” countries, but appear to be forgotten about. They do not burn identity papers, accommodation, canteen and medical facilities, as in most cases, these things do not exist. Numerous aid organisations from around the globe do fantastic work assisting these refugees with health, education and relocation, but I know they are becoming extremely frustrated when they observe that in Australia “boat people” are prioritised. Australia has an admirable migration policy, but at this particular moment in time decidedly unfair.

Rod Grierson

Lismore

 

Sustainable answer

If Paul Recher wants an answer to his questions, “Why would we want to rapidly increase our population? What's so great about constant growth? What are the advantages for average Australians?” (Echo, April 28) all he needs do is read the reports from every corporation on Earth which have the underlying ethos of “Greed is good and more is better” as their fundamental beliefs. With this mindset they then paint the world as some kind of horn of cornucopia which magically never runs out or, if it does seem to, presents not problems but further opportunities for growth and profit. This empty shell of logic is presented to shareholders as what has now become known as ‘good corporate governance' which is simple code for more profits makes for happy shareholders which makes for bigger executive bonuses. One needs to look no further than the boardrooms of corporate America and now China to see where this madness is emanating from. The only plausible solution is a boycott of investment into those companies which are not actively engaging with communal, ecological and economic sustainability. That is a word we hear much bandied around nowadays. Just last week Justine Elliot parrotted it off mantra-like in her reaction to the concerns about coal seam gas fracking and it poisoning our water and destruction of our food bowls. I think Justine needs to find out what is actually meant by the word ‘sustainable' she so eagerly runs off her lips as if it were true. In fact the entire ALP and their Liberal mates, because we all know that secretly they are all mates, should learn what it means and apply it. Either that or the Greens will show them how, come July, when sanity enters our Parliament after decades of being unsustainably left out in the dark to rot and fester. Perhaps then Mr Recher will get an answer to his questions.

M Mizzi

Tabulam

 

Rites of passage

How good it was to read Lee Andresen waxing lyrically about “good religion” (Echo, April 28).

He is right to challenge us all as to how religion is dealing with the threat of climate change at Easter. This is a time when nature-based religions celebrate renewal and Christians celebrate the salvation of the world and our hope for the future. And after all, the Biblical vision of the Kingdom of God does include – among other things – an Earth renewed.

But his transcendent ecstasies about Bolivia's “Law of Mother Earth” which is soon to be shared worldwide through a proposed United Nations treaty with the Earth should surely be treated with a healthy dose of agnostic scepticism.

What we are talking about here is basing the answer to the rescue of this planet on a worldview which is in effect a primitive pantheism more suited to a pre-industrial economy of herders, farmers, hunters and gatherers. And this is the economy we can probably look forward to if we head down this track.

When all material objects are made sacred and worshipped, the entire Western philosophical and religious foundations of both the scientific and industrial revolutions are annihilated. Mother Earth cannot be disturbed unless proper sacrifices and special rituals observed.

A priestly elite is required to make sure the proper rites are performed and sacred areas are provided for the god's dwelling places. Throw in a few drug-fuelled sexual rituals to stimulate the gods and renew the life-cycle and you just about have the complete picture.

But even more disturbingly, tragic events like earthquakes, floods etc will all be seen as evidence that Mother Earth is upset with those who have violated her. What rite will be required to propitiate the Earth goddess now? Some human sacrifice? 42 million innocent children slaughtered every year enough? That must help to keep the population down and restore the balance!

OMG… the forced conversion to pantheism is already happening!

John Hannaford

Ballina

 

Easter lesson

In his latest weekly commentary (Echo, April 28) Mungo MacCallum presents some half-factual, half-scathing comments on the origin of Easter. I would like to round out the picture. It is true that Adam and Eve “broke the rules”, being tricked by the chief rebel (speaking through a serpent) into believing that God was trying to withhold something good from them. Their disobedience did not take God by surprise, for He had already allowed for that eventuality, and had formulated a plan which would allow Him to forgive them while at the same time being strictly just. In this plan the Son of God came to Earth to live in perfect obedience in the way Adam and Eve should have lived, and then to die the kind of death which otherwise they would have had to die. Thus not only they but their sinful descendants would have the opportunity of accepting this sacrifice and being admitted to eternal life on a re-created Earth. The alternative choice is indeed destruction by fire on the day of judgement, but not eternal torment as so many think. That is another deception of the chief rebel, the Devil, who would like us to think the worst of God. When the fire has done its work it will go out and God will again make a perfect Earth with perfect inhabitants. So why didn't God get rid of the Devil in the first place? Because that way the inhabitants of Earth and heaven might have had lingering doubts about whether the Devil might have been right after all. When people see that he inspired the torture of the Son of God, as well as the cruelty, terrorism, greed, corruption, addictions, and deceit of today's world, they will see God's justice in ridding the world of him and those who choose to follow him. Easter reminds us of an important part of God's plan.

Don Halliday

Alstonville

 

Peak oil

I wish to express a mea culpa. In The Echo of April 7 I described “peak oil” as the point at which reserves are half depleted. Actually it refers to the point of maximum production. I suspect, though, that these two points may be near coincident. In any case I still hold to the balance of the general sentiments outlined previously.

Derek MacKenzie (Echo, April 14) states, citing the IEA, “peak oil” happened in 2006. My information is that a series of apparently credible commentators have made “peak oil” predictions that range over decades. I doubt that much of significance was observed in 2006.

Present oil production (perhaps including some non-conventional oil) is around 80-90 million barrels a day (mbd). About a third of this comes from the OPEC cartel. This cartel has been known to modify output for reasons other than availability – say for political or commercial reasons. Suppose they halved production voluntarily (something that in my view would be prudent). World output would then be 70-80 mbd. Alternatively they might increase production on some whim unrelated to supply. Such changes would discredit the “peak oil” concept which is supposed to relate directly to availability and thence to production.

I insist that what we need to know about oil reserves (ie recoverable reserves) are these four things – how much has been discovered, how much has been used, how much remains and in this country how much is imported. Figures for these quantities need to be revealed regularly and rammed down the throats of drivers and machinery operators.

Tim Wilkin-Smith

Tullera

 

Ballad of a thin man

To those readers who were disappointed with Bob Dylan's performance at the Bluesfest I say get off your high horse and get real. The man is a few weeks from turning 70. Read that: 7-0. Will you be touring the world, playing at night on a stage when you are 70? He never really had a perfect singing voice, that was never his signature. His band was brilliantly tight, the audio engineering quality and mix superb. And if you had any musical awareness you would realise that Bob was actually playing the vocal melody on the keyboard piano, so that while his voice might not be up to scratch the songs didn't lose their soul. The band arrangements were complex and alluring and if you had closed your eyes you might have felt it too. As for the lack of video screens yes, I agree, frustrating for those at the back who were expecting them to be on. If I was 70 with a craggy face I would probably say no to cameras as well. Dylan was of the era well before the superficial package that youth today call “music”, that which relies not so much on quality but on how good someone can look in a music video. It was a music festival, not a night at the cinema. If you wanted to watch Dylan on a screen you should've stayed at home and rented a concert DVD. Or, like my 70-year-old mother and me, get to the tent at 4pm, sit close with a good view of the stage and wait it out.

Sam Hall

Bangalow

 

One sided

Western media, aka the wealthy capitalists' propaganda machine, paints us a very ugly picture of Libya's Gaddafi. He is “deranged and criminal”, and planning “genocide” against his own people.

The reality contrasts astoundingly. Gaddafi is a socialist, the West accuses him of “undermining the foundations of capitalist economy”.

He does that, partly, by distributing “oil rent”, payment for oil largely from China, more or less equally among the people.

This results in (in $US) every Libyan family given $1000 per year, a baby bonus of $7000, newlyweds receive $64,000 covering the cost of a small house, the state provides 50% of the cost of a car, petrol is cheap, the roads are excellent, electricity is practically free and medical services and education are free.

That is all typical of socialism, wealth extracted from the land or created by industry is shared. The deprived and impoverished created by capitalistic extraction of wealth for the wealthy don't exist; everyone is adequately provided for.

That does not sit well at all with the wealthy capitalists in control of the Western world. Horrifying to think that people in capitalist countries might wake up to the fact that they, too, could all share the wealth and all have decent lives. Heaven forbid. Demonise Gaddafi and keep all that socialism stuff under wraps!

What's further enraged them is that Gaddafi appears to be hedging on re-signing oil agreements with Western profiteers, while retaining supply to China. Not surprising, then, that the leader of the “pro-democracy rebels”, Colonel Haftar, set up the Libyan National Army in 1988 with the strong support of the CIA. For the past 20 years he's lived not far from Langley, Virginia, home of the CIA.

The Euro-American alliance's attack on Libya has nothing to do with democracy. They fear socialism, for good reason. They fear loss of oil profits, and they fear the rise of China. Some believe the war against them has already begun.

You would never hear any of that in our capitalist press. I read it all in the April 13 Guardian. But who'd want to read that stuff? Not one mention of the royal wedding!!!

Doug Burt

Kyogle

 

Road block

It was with great interest that I read your editorial in last week's edition. The Rural Ratepayers Association of Lismore Incorporated (RRALI) committee can emphasise with the bewilderment and frustration you are experiencing in relation to the coal seam gas (CSG) industry and how Richmond Valley Council (RVC) is dealing with it. (RRALI's position is that landholders must have the right to refuse a gas well on their property.)

RRALI regularly attends rural council meetings only to see again and again frustrated local residents raising the same issues in relation to our run down and neglected rural road network. Unfortunately these pleas go unanswered as it would appear that rural roads have a very low priority at Lismore City Council. We simply cannot believe that they refuse to act on this matter.

We then issue media release after media release on roads to all our local papers, no matter how small, but none are printed. Hopefully after experiencing your frustration with RVC you will be able to empathise with us and consider printing articles even though they will show LCC in a very poor light indeed.

Greg Bennett

RRALI president

 

Laughing stock

What would you say the one thing the established domineering powers were most afraid of?

Violence? I don't think so.

Acts of aggression, such as terrorism, will in fact only empower the powerful even further by providing alibi for their own dominance, entitlements, and pretext for their agendas, such as wars of conquest.

Nor is it the power of reason, which the spin-doctors of the powerful often like to shrug off as being nothing more than the futile produce of ‘elitist intellectuals'.

No, the thing which the forces of darkness have always found extremely difficult to deal with is the corrosive effect of humour on their power.

And this is probably why, for example, the most hated man in the American conservative establishment is not Osama bin Laden, or someone like Noam Chomsky, but the comic genius Michael Moore.

Here in Australia, that honour seems to be reserved for the Chaser, and it is easy to see why.

Like the little boy pointing out that the emperor has no clothes, humour can bring the largest of opponents down a size or two with its ability to puncture pretence, hypocrisy, and pomposity.

It is no surprise that Adolph Hitler placed many comedians – including Charlie Chaplin, The Three Stooges, and Jack Benny – on his ‘death list' because of their mocking portrayals of him.

The Fuhrer would often experience fits of rage when he saw himself ridiculed.

The evil and unjust may have power and authority, but these can't protect them from the ugly truth they see in the mirror of mockery.

Furthermore, the very thought of the masses laughing at their expense must be the ultimate nightmare for any individual or establishment whose power and existence depends essentially on uncritical and starry-eyed admiration.

As it seems to be the case with the British royal family too, who interfered to the effect of banning the Chaser program from the royal wedding.

Personally, I suspect that the idea, or tip-off, probably came from Australia, from some prominent monarchists who could not bear the thought of us mere mortals laughing at their toffee-nosed idols.

It did not make any difference at the end.

As it turned out, the royal wedding proved to be absolutely hilarious in its own right.

We did not need the Chaser to have noticed that the emperor's flies were undone.

Tom Koo

Alstonville

WikiMessage

In all the excitement over the court case with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange have we forgotten about the message or the varied messages on many of the subjects that affect us personally?

For instance the US embassy cable that was reported in The Guardian Weekly on January 3 2011 that recommended drawing up a list of countries for ‘retaliation' over opposition to genetic modification.

“The US embassy in Paris advised Washington to start a military-style trade war against any European Union country which opposed genetically modified (GM) crops, newly released WikiLeaks cables show… In other newly released cables, US diplomats around the world are found to have pushed GM crops as a strategic government and commercial imperative”.

When we also learnt that US diplomats had the open ears of some of our politicians, giving the US the ready means to influence events in Australia it is very credible that we should wonder why we suddenly dropped our GM-free stance with definite favoured market outcomes in the future to pollute our island with GM food.

In addition, according to The Guardian the cables show US diplomats working directly for GM companies such as Monsanto. “In response to recent urgent requests by [Spanish rural affairs ministry] state secretary Josep Puxeu and Monsanto, post requests renewed US government support of Spain's science-based agricultural biotechnology position through high-level US government intervention.”

This was a very serious cable that really went under the radar in Australia due to the Christmas season and then the dramatic flooding of Queensland. Already there are serious cross-pollination issues occurring worldwide such as in Western Australia, where an organic farmer's crop has been rendered worthless, or in North Dakota in the US, where genetically modified canola has spread everywhere.

In the past 12 months news was reported in The New York Times and elsewhere about Monsanto paying farmers in the US to use its competitor's herbicides as a tactic to address the spread of superweeds created by the company's “Roundup Ready” (RR) GMO crops.

“The superweeds could temper American agriculture's enthusiasm for some genetically modified crops. Soybeans, corn and cotton that are engineered to survive spraying with Roundup have become standard in American fields. However, if Roundup doesn't kill the weeds, farmers have little incentive to spend the extra money for the special seeds,” said the article in The New York Times.

David Suzuki gave us this warning: “I'm a geneticist. What bothers me is we have governments that are supposed to be looking out for our health, for the safety of our environment, and they're acting like cheerleaders for this technology, which… is in its infancy and we have no idea what the technology is going to do.

Not only have there not been enough studies done… when studies ARE performed, outside researchers often have to pry the data out of Monsanto via Freedom of Information filings and lawsuits. That's a big concern as well.

Transgenic crops are, in many ways, radically new and should be subject to the greatest of scientific scrutiny, not suppressed by proprietary concerns.”

According to the Mexican News of Jan 27 the Mexican authorities rejected a request from Monsanto Co. nursery consortium to expand its pilot project in the planting of genetically modified corn in northern Mexico, because more information and tests are needed to be done, said Wednesday, the head of the regulator in that sector.

Countries have to support each other in their opposition to Monsanto railroading a nation's laws that provide the natural checks and balances that are needed before we implement new technology.

As David Suzuki said, “The difference with GM food is that once the genie is out of the bottle, it will be difficult or impossible to stuff it back.”

So many people whether consumers or farmers do not want genetic engineering in their foods but there is no planning to accommodate that sector of the population. Food labelling is totally inadequate as are the laws to protect the rights of organic farmers.

Lynne Oldfield

Nimbin