The Advertiser Letters to the Editor: January 11, 2018

TODAY readers discuss the food at the new RAH, cyclists and the Tour Down Under, sex abuse allegations against celebrities, and the GST.

TODAY readers discuss the food at the new RAH, cyclists and the Tour Down Under, sex abuse allegations against celebrities, and the GST.

Food is disgusting

MY wife recently spent a week over the Christmas break in the new Royal Adelaide Hospital.

The doctors and nurses all need medals for their professional and dedicated treatment of their patients. The building is quite spectacular. However the design is way over the top and far from practical.

My main problem with this new “world class hospital” is the disgusting and totally inedible meals served to the ill and supposedly recovering patients.

These meals are truly third world. I have never seen such poorly prepared meals served up in the name of “food”.

The meat and vegetables were dried out and the gravy was a solid mass on the plate. Every meal served during the week, aside from breakfast, was tasteless and inedible.

A professional chef or cook would never have allowed these meals to leave the kitchen.

My wife’s meals were shown to the doctors and nursing staff who also agreed. Even the delivery staff said they wouldn’t eat it.

My wife, who was already underweight due to illness, lost a further 2kg while in hospital — in just a week. She would have lost more had I not brought in food from home.

The nurses had to take my wife to the food court on occasions so she could at least have something to eat.

A complaint was put in to hospital management, to which I was issued a complaint number.

I was told I would be contacted regarding my complaint but am yet to hear from anyone.

There is clearly no quality control happening in the kitchen. The incidence of a food poisoning outbreak in this hospital is inevitable.

The situation in this hospital is completely disgraceful. To serve food of this poor quality to sick and recovering patients needs the attention from the highest of authority.

ROBERT WILLOUGHBY, Somerton Park.

All a bit rich

WHAT breathtaking hypocrisy and irrationality from the Property Council and Business SA with their complaints about being denied funding by the State Government (The Advertiser, 8/1/18).

For years these two organisations have been calling for lower taxes and smaller government so that the market can make us all rich — well, make them rich anyway.

Now we find that they have been lining up to suck at the taxpayer teat and are throwing a tantrum because the tax revenues from the bank levy that they helped stop are now not there for them.

At least the health and welfare lobbyists understand the mathematical reality that governments need to raise taxes before they can provide grants of taxpayer money.

It used to be the socialists who believed in magic money trees, but now it seems it’s the high priests of capitalism.

PETER SCHULZ, St Agnes.

Guilty as charged

WE have come a long way with our laws regarding sexual molestation, especially in the entertainment industry.

The law has been upgraded from the original “innocent until proven guilty” to trial by media where the male population is automatically considered “guilty until proven innocent.

Proof of the allegations is not required” and even if/when the male is proven to be not guilty he will lose his job automatically as a matter of course, followed by his relationship because the allegations have been so scrutinised by the media he is still considered guilty.

But hey, this is progress isn’t it?

DAVID LAMB, Hallett Cove.

Keeping tabs

WHEN Sports Minister Leon Bignell claimed last year’s Tour Down Under attracted 840,000 spectators “pumping more than $56 million into the state’s economy” (The Advertiser, 10/1/17), I would like to know at which turnstile the attendances were recorded and who was the clever cashier keeping tabs on what was spent on what?

NEIL LONGBOTTOM, Minlaton.

Fix the road

NEXT Wednesday, the Tour Down Under will travel the pretty Stirling to Mylor circuit three times.

The modern bikes must be remarkably strong to contend with such a poorly maintained stretch of road.

Broken edges, ruts, holes, thinning surface and never-ending bumps make it bad enough in our cars, let alone being on two wheels.

This segment of the TDU is so well patronised, it should be worth a small allocation from a state maintenance fund.

For years we have been told of the enormous economic contribution the TDU provides our city and regions, but never has any of it found its way to the repair and maintenance of a mere 10 kilometres. Perhaps it doesn’t yield as much as we think.

ALAN D HILL, Mylor.

Bankruptcy looms

THERE have been a number of articles over the past few weeks on the subject of the allocation of the GST between the states.

Not one of these articles has mentioned that South Australia gets about 35 per cent more GST than is generated in this state. All other mainland states get less than 100 per cent, WA getting less than 40 per cent, which means that most of mainland Australia is propping up a financially incompetent SA Labor government.

While Turbo Tom may boast that the state Budget is in surplus, this has only been achieved as the result of the over-generous GST allocation and the sale of government assets.

If the GST imbalance is ever rectified and SA runs out of saleable assets it faces bankruptcy. No wonder Premier Jay is in overdrive defending the indefensible.

FRANK NEWMAN, Linden Park.

Very fortunate

I’M often struck when I return home to find how quick Adelaideans are to criticise; juxtaposed against the impressive improvements in infrastructure and public services made in the two decades I’ve been away.

This was brought home to me in a very personal way when I returned home at Christmas to see my father, who had been admitted to the Laurel Hospice at the Flinders Medical Centre. The Laurel recently replaced the Daws Road Repat facility to much, as I understand, uproar.

Living now in the UK, and subject to the vagaries of the National Health Service, I could only marvel at the quality of the facilities and the professional and compassionate care my father received.

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all at the Laurel for the exceptional care they afforded my father in his last days and to remind Adelaideans how fortunate they are.

STEPHEN McDONALD, London.

Lollipop lollipop

AS a volunteer driver for the Cancer Council I regularly drive down Flinders and Franklin Streets to get to the new Royal Adelaide Hospital

Yesterday morning it took me 35 minutes to get from West Tce to Hutt St. The four building sites have restarted work and the lollipop people are back in force. The speed restrictions vary from 40km/h to 25km/h. Why the difference?

I also question why vehicles leaving or exiting these sites have right of way (enforced by the lollipops) over all other vehicles. They are not emergency vehicles.

I also am mystified why the tram station at the nRAH whilst closed (for a while) is still included in the traffic signal sequence at the intersection.

DARRYL GOLDING, Paradise.

Rule breakers

REGARDLESS if you are a professional racing cyclist or just a “hack”, like most of us, there is one rule consistently being broken when riding on the vehicle carriageway, and that refers to riding more than one abreast.

Regardless of any road rules, has commonsense been forgotten?

Why would you, as the outside abreast rider in that situation, want to risk injury by adopting this practice, and then curse caring motorists who are directly affected by your irresponsible and dangerous riding?

ELDERT HOEBEE, Torrens Park.

Helping hand

I NOTE the letter by Anne Moran regarding homeless people in the Adelaide CBD and, in particular, an elderly man in an inner city park (The Advertiser, 9/1/18).

I understand that Anne Moran lives close to the city and also has many connections with the Adelaide City Council.

My question to her is how and what did she do to assist this person?

This was not portrayed in her letter.

C.M. MILTON, Belair.

Ban the cars

I FULLY support a ban of cars on our beaches (The Advertiser, 10/1/18). In years gone by, as the volume of population and cars was considerably less, it was not an issue.

Sadly there will always be a minority who spoil it for the majority, a bit like nude bathing really.

Perhaps we could have two beaches in our state, as like Maslins and Lake Bonney, near Barmera, for exclusive for those without clothes.

The same could be delegated for cars on the beach.

Problem solved.

NANCY FAHEY, Woodville.

Special place

THANK you for the article about Brighton Beach written by Bernard Humphries as part of your SA’s Beach Secrets series (The Advertiser, 5/1/18).

I am so glad to read that the tourists love our Brighton Beach.

The memories I have are my parents’ stories of them having to sleep on the beach during the 1939 heatwave. Brighton was their local beach and the only place to get relief from the heat of the day.

I remember the kiosk that was built on the actual jetty, buying an ice cream or drink before strolling along the beach or jetty, learning to swim during the school holidays of 1958, the wooden changing sheds and watching the kids jumping off the end of the jetty (just like they do today).

Some things never change, including watching the sunset from any of our wonderful beaches along the coast.

But Brighton Beach will always hold a special place in my heart.

DENISE TARRANT, Happy Valley.

New greeting

DEAL or No Deal germophobic host Howie Mandel is credited with starting fist-bumping — now the new greeting and closed fist high-five.

Real deal-maker Trump has further dazed body language watchers with awkward handshake habits. Body language gurus have never been so confused. Obama once said: “We’ll extend a hand if you’re willing to unclench your fist.”

ARTHUR GIANNOPOULOS, Mitcham.