LETTERS: Shop minis take a lot of luck

OH THOSE little collectables being given out at Coles.

Coles Minis Mayhem. Picture: Stuart Quinn

Cabinet smiles

I MUST admit, I had to smile upon reading Max Tanzer's recent letter (NM, 28/08) relating to our new Prime Minister's choice in the selection of his new Cabinet.

Who on earth did he expect him to select?

Thugs from the CMFEU?

JOHN HOOPER

Bundaberg

Climate vision

BRINGING down electricity prices is crucial. No argument.

But please, please, as our Federal representative can't you also provide us some climate change leadership and vision?

Dare I say, leadership and vision that recognises the need for both bipartisanship and co-operation on the world stage?

PAM GRAY

Bargara

Sad reality

NATIONAL Child Protection Week runs in Australia from September 2 to September 8 and encourages us to promote safety for children in our communities.

The sad reality I have come to realise is that many young people who are abused believe that this behaviour is normal.

Adults in our community are letting our young people down.

Reports of child abuse are overwhelming and give witness to the lack of accountability for adults who abuse young people.

Courts are far too lenient on people who abuse our children; communities are looking the other way, ignoring the abuse of children because this is the easiest option.

People don't want to get involved in notifying assaults on our young people because of the fear of the consequences from the perpetrators.

We have lost the ability for adults to serve as collective parents for all the young people in our neighbourhood.

Nothing is more important than protecting our vulnerable children from abuse and neglect.

Child abuse goes beyond the tears and pain experienced in childhood.

Victims endure a lifetime of psychological and emotional distress, they often become drug users to kill the pain of abuse, attempt suicide, self-mutilate and have major trust issues.

We, as a society, must ensure that we provide our children with a safe and supportive environment, so that they have the opportunity to reach their full potential.

At Youth Off The Streets we provide an abundance of services to young people from all walks of life across three Australian states.

Above all else in our work, we hold the protection of young people paramount in our activities and programs.

I support National Child Protection week and the movement to protect some of Australia's most vulnerable young people, but I would like to see this action become an everyday part of Australian lives.

FATHER CHRIS RILEY

CEO and founder

Youth Off The Streets

Shopping trauma

OH THOSE little collectables being given out at Coles.

I have always shopped weekly at Coles and Woolworths, but at the moment Coles, for me, is not a nice place to shop.

I have given up hoping to get two sets of collectables for my family as it hasn't been a success, even when we pooled them. My brother even got in on the act to collect for me.

It takes a lot of luck to be able to get different ones each time.

When I asked for two covers I was told there were none left. We needed somewhere to put the ones we already had.

When will all this madness be over, and all those shoppers from other supermarkets go back to their former stores?

The backlash from all this for Coles will be a lot less shoppers.

It seems people have been over buying just to get the trinkets. One man said he bought 150 packs of toilet paper. Either he has a very severe medical condition or is expecting a big shortage of toilet tissue.

I am tired of being sandwiched in between a mountain of groceries in front of me and another mountain behind, the owner pushing me along.

Our weekly grocery list is not small, but I have not over bought to get the collectables.

I feel sorry for the check-out operators who are copping a bad time from all this.

Hearing that there may be an extension of the promotion must have really made their day.

When I wrote about supermarket blues in my book Water Under The Bridge I never envisaged that one day, years later, I would be writing about the bedlam that is happening at a supermarket.

Hopefully it will soon be all over and I can again experience less trauma when I go shopping for groceries.

BETTY LOWIS

Kepnock