Letters: Queensland in dire need of a plan
Readers have their say on the need for a plan to lead Queensland beyond COVID, the lack of fruit pickers, and Redcliffe’s bid to become the next NRL club.
Opinion
Don't miss out on the headlines from Opinion. Followed categories will be added to My News.
WITH the state heading to the ballot box next month and, according to your polling, only 13 per cent of Queenslanders happy for leaders to continue operating with “things as they are” (C-M, Sep 21), Queensland deserves a leader and government who can clearly demonstrate a cogent economic recovery plan and vision to realise Queensland’s potential over the next decade.
With Queensland’s budget debt set to hit $100 billion by mid-2021 and unemployment at 7.5 per cent, the state is at risk of having little financial maneuverability with – immovable expenses, GST revenue distribution shortfall and debilitating debt – just when strong leadership is required to reignite broader business confidence to restart the economy.
As the state’s prosperity hinges on strong economic growth, it’s clear Queensland deserves better.
Milvio DiBartolomeo, Wellington Point
FOR months the state government has been hounded to produce a “Post COVID-19 Plan” and deliver it before the October 31 election.
Now that it has done just that in a 60-page economic plan, your Editorial (C-M, Sep 22) claims it is packed with motherhood statements.
I agree the plan is pretty standard, with $51.8 billion in a four-year infrastructure spend and growing manufacturing, as well as adopting new technology and practices and backing small business.
On the other hand, I don’t think many of us want to read about pipe dreams of fast rail, more dams and diverting water across mountain ranges which all take decades and multibillions of dollars to build.
Remember how long the residents of Redcliffe had to wait for their promised railway line.
Your Editorial finishes with the remark: “In a few weeks’ time you get to be the judge."
My vote will go to the party that I believe will keep me and my family safe from the ravages of a virus that has completely changed life as we knew it.
Valdy Kwitowski, Salisbury
ONE upside of the COVID situation is that most people have had more than enough time to consider and decide their vote in the coming state election.
Whatever the “plan”, nothing will change the huge debt (and rising) that is now the inheritance of Queenslanders.
If not for coal royalties, we would be even further down the chute.
Claire Jolliffe, Buderim
LEADERSHIP and vision are important issues in people’s minds at present.
Taking tough decisions is somewhere in the mix. But that only lasts until someone is adversely impacted.
Vision seems to be about promising things. The more bizarre and unlikely the greater the vision.
It’s why “flying pig” projects are popular and promised.
There’s a hope that there’s an easy solution. Except in the 21st century there isn’t. We have big issues to address.
Pretending they don’t exist, hoping they will go away, blaming everyone else or that it become someone else’s problem and chanting leadership and vision won’t work.
Andrew Moran, Battery Hill
*********
TOO LAZY FOR FARM WORK
I BELIEVE a majority of today’s unemployed are spoilt on government assistance schemes, using coronavirus as a crutch and not prepared to travel out of their “comfort zone” or to roll up their sleeves and do some hard yakka on farms, which are crying out for workers.
With the current high unemployment rate in Queensland, you’d expect many would take advantage of the government’s $6000 incentive package to move to a regional area, instead of a mere 84 Queenslanders who have taken advantage of this generous offer
(C-M, Sep 22).
A dire assessment has predicted that the 71,000 shortfall of workers in regional areas, mainly for farm work, will start hitting consumers’ hip pockets, as one wholesaler remarked that some summer fruit crops could double in price.
I recall picking peas and strawberries on school holidays with my sister in Geelong, which was handy pocket money and far from demeaning.
We integrated with similar migrant kids and no, it wasn’t “slave labour”, but a rewarding experience. My late parents, who migrated to
this “lucky country” in 1950 from war-torn Europe, accepted whatever work was available.
My stoic parents didn’t receive any government assistance incentives to move their growing family to Queensland, but did so just through sheer guts and determination.
Hard work never killed anybody.
Rudolf Bojtschuk, Brisbane City
PLEAS for more unemployed Australians to turn up in regional areas to be employed on farms in various capacities such as fruit picking will continue to fall on deaf ears until it can be guaranteed that nearby accommodation and transport to and from farming jobs is readily available.
It’s hopeless offering long-term unemployed Aussies up to $6000 to move to regional areas if they are unable to source where they can live and how to travel to and from work on the farms.
Eric Palm, Gympie
*********
MASKING GABBA TRIAL
THE 200 members taking part in the COVID-19 trial at the Gabba on Monday night were required to wear masks when entering and leaving the ground (C-M, Sep 22).
They were encouraged to keep their masks on while sitting in the clearly defined area. Very few did.
In the grand final on October 24, will Chief Health Officer Jeannette Young insist on the wearing of masks as a condition of her approval, or will such wearing again be optional?
Bob Meadows, Mansfield
REGARDING your photo of the “guinea pigs” trial at the Gabba for the AFL, Deputy Premier Steven Miles said that people at home were more at risk than the 200 at the Gabba trial.
As you look at the photo with fewer than 50 per cent wearing face masks one cannot help but wonder what the experiment has achieved?
Tony Miles, Chermside
IN RESPONSE to Susan McLochlan (Letters, Sep 22), there is a large proportion of Queenslanders who don’t enjoy watching football, and believe the money spent on securing the AFL Grand Final by Queensland is a waste.
The exemption to have 30,000 spectators at the Gabba is an insult to all those families who are abiding by the current restrictions concerning funeral attendances.
The state government needs to govern for all Queenslanders.
Glenda Forster, Bilinga
*********
DOLPHINS DESERVE TO WIN NRL BID
THE kicker headline to Peter Badel’s report (C-M, Sep 22) said it all – “The $100 million Redcliffe expansion bid NRL can’t refuse”.
After all, the Redcliffe RLFC is operated by astute business people, most of whom are former Redcliffe players who love the club and understand its history and culture.
Chairman Bob Jones and chief executive Tony Murphy are but two examples. Not only that, the club owns a flourishing leagues club and has other business interests, the envy of NRL clubs, including the Broncos.
Most importantly though, the Dolphins have a genuine junior rugby league base.
That means kids as young as six and seven can sign up as junior Redcliffe players and then, should an NRL licence be granted, these kids would have a legitimate pathway to the NRL, years down the track.
With the Moreton region growing and for the reasons above, there are $100 million good reasons why it seems logical to award the next NRL licence to Redcliffe.
Frank Edwards, Sandgate
**********
SURF SAFETY A PRIORITY
AUSTRALIAN surf beaches are like magnets to hundreds of people with little or no experience of the hidden dangers in the enticing waters.
Undertows, rips and dumpers are extremely dangerous, especially to children, migrants, the elderly and people from regional Australia who mostly swim in dams or creeks.
The latest case of drowning (C-M, Sep 22), involving a woman from Toowoomba, is a dire warning for the summer months.
On crowded beaches, it is nearly impossible to detect anyone in trouble, even between the flags, and it takes only moments for a person to drown.
Peter Corran, Wakerley
**********
Join the conversation. Send your letters to couriermail.com.au/letters or email to letters@couriermail.com.au