Letters: Broncos need to grow up

Readers have their say on the Broncos’ disastrous performance on and off the field, the Queensland/NSW border bubble and the lack of fruit pickers as a result of COVID restrictions.

THE Broncos are going from one crisis to another, the latest being when 10 of them decided to go to a pub, allegedly ignoring NRL instructions not to do so (C-M, Aug 13).

Is this a case of mice playing while the cat is away or have the Broncos written off this season and resigned themselves to finish wooden spooners at the bottom of the ladder?

Coach Anthony Seibold is in NSW so had nothing to do with this alleged show of stupidity but why hasn’t the management group drummed behaviour policy into the team?

Some say they are only young 19 or 20-year-olds making the type of mistakes we have all done at that young age and they should be forgiven.

Yeah, with a big difference. They are paid massive salaries, they are role models for many kids and they are supposed to be sportsmen with a strict training and diet control, which shouldn’t include drinking sessions in pubs.

This couldn’t care less attitude that has crept into their behaviour recently is reflected in their on-field performance which is destroying the club culture and brand.

Hopefully, they will come to their senses soon and behave like elite sportsmen, justifying the financial reward the club is paying them.

Keith Whiteside, Sippy Downs

THE Broncos players’ alleged breaches of the NRL’s biosecurity protocols show a selfish disregard for the wider community, and they should be suspended from playing for the rest of the season.

Players waiting in the wings to be selected for the top team could go into immediate training to replace those who have transgressed.

Counselling should be offered to those players in disgrace to help them face up to a working life beyond their football career.

Jenny Richardson, Manly

THE problems at the Broncos are frustrating and I hope there is a lot of planning going on behind the scenes to address them for next season.

The Broncos are a basket case at the moment.

Every day we are reading more depressing news which must not continue for much longer.

The fans need some cheering up otherwise I can see a lot of loyalty shifting to the Titans who are starting to show signs of some impressive seasons ahead.

I have never been a fair weather supporter but my patience is running very low at the moment.

The cheering up could start with the appointment of Ben Ikin as CEO and maybe the recruitment of Cameron Smith to the Broncos.

Arthur Ellis, Ormiston

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BORDER BUBBLE BLUNDER

IS PREMIER Annastacia Palaszczuk really protecting Queenslanders or is she just protecting her own skin and that of her Chief Medical Officer, Dr Jeannette Young, for political gain?

The border bubble is fraught with problems (C-M, Aug 13).

Did they really think this would solve the border issue?

Did they take into account that Queensland and NSW are so intertwined that the border line is only a line on a piece of paper?

Here are some of the people who are adversely affected: Patients who have to travel hundreds of kilometres for treatment, medical staff, builders, vets, agronomists who advise property owners on stock and crops, garbage collectors who cross the bubble to collect rubbish, water carriers, rescue helicopter patients who live outside the bubble but need to be taken to Gold Coast Hospital, teachers who traverse long distances to get to work, nurses who visit the elderly, pharmacy owners who provide services to a wide area, tradespeople who keep the economy going, and so on.

Yes, we are in a pandemic, but we cannot afford to neglect basic human rights.

Health conditions and basic emergency services don’t disappear in a pandemic. To neglect them is playing with the lives of thousands of people on both sides of the border.

Do we want deaths from coronavirus? Of course not. Nor do we want deaths from heart attack, bushfires etc because of a lack of consideration by our Premier.

Shouldn’t we be saying we want a premier who looks after not only Queenslanders but who also looks after fellow Australians in this hour of need?

Phoebe Sutherland, Manly West

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GET JOBLESS TO PICK FRUIT

IT IS reported that the price of fruit and vegetables may rise by 60 per cent by spring (C-M, Aug 13).

This is because there is an expected shortfall of 22,000 workers in Queensland and 71,000 nationally.

Backpackers who traditionally could come to our country before the COVID-19 pandemic, and who were happy to do the work required, will not be coming here this year.

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud says: “No one wants to see fruit and vegetables wasted.”

What this really means is, fruit is left to rot on trees and vines, and vegetables, ready for harvest, are ploughed back in the soil as there isn’t the manpower to do the harvesting in time.

The expense is worn by the farmer who has no guarantee of a return.

How disrespectful and wasteful is this dilemma for Aussie farmers.

It is the duty for all fit, young, unemployed Australians to see that this does not happen.

Surely the unemployed should be our first answer to the workforce shortfall, not a complicated expansion of Pacific worker trial or extension of working holiday visas which could take an age to implement.

The crops are ready to harvest now, the vast numbers of unemployed exist now. The challenge is, instead of a handout at Centrelink, to move short-term and do some physical outdoor work.

This would mean prices would stay lower for all, and the crops wouldn't be wasted. Surely a win for Australia and its unemployed.

Alba Byrne, Red Hill

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ACTIVE AND HEALTHY

COLUMNIST Andrew Bolt (C-M, Aug 13) makes some fair points.

It seems the frail, aged and immobile, mostly in care homes, are, bar some exceptions, the most vulnerable to COVID-19, while older people who are younger, active and in their own homes, less so.

While not criticising authorities who are on a learning curve and doing their best, could it be that gardening, golf, shopping, driving and being outdoors are keeping the elderly healthy and total lockdown goes against this?

Roseanne Schneider, Toowoomba

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CLOSER TO THE TOP JOB

THIS US presidential election promises to be one of unusual significance (C-M, Aug 13).

If the polls are correct, and if the well-founded fears regarding Joe Biden’s mental acuity are realised, his vice-president may stand much closer than usual to what is the world’s most powerful office.

For the sake of the US and the world, let us hope that Kamala Harris is up to the job.

Terry Birchley, Bundaberg

NOTWITHSTANDING the foibles and fumbles of President Donald Trump, I think that he is more cognitively aware of the threat of Chinese influence on the world economy, and his latest comments about Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are not far off the mark.

I think Trump should just hold on to the presidency in November, but if not, I have a feeling that by this time next year, or even earlier, the US will have its first female president.

It may only be a stand-in presidency, but it will create history.

I can’t wait until November and the chaotic American voting system, which will be more vulnerable to voting fraud than the last election.

Peter Corran, Wakerley

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