Letters to the editor for January 23

NICK Kyrgios, Airbnb and the Malaysia Airlines emergency landing in Alice Springs are on the minds of NT News readers today

Nick Kyrgios, Airbnb and the Malaysia Airlines flight emergency landing in Alice Springs are on the minds of NT News readers today.

IDEA AROUND AGAIN

I READ with considerable interest and a wry smile the proposal by Airbnb calling for the NT Government to introduce an “accommodation tax” or levy to “fund local infrastructure and drive demand by funding tourism campaigns” (Govt pans tourism tax, NT News, January 18).

This is not a new idea; in fact, the NT Government implemented exactly this kind of scheme with the infamous “bed tax” 30 years ago.

As I recall, the bed tax was announced by Tourism Minister Ray Hanrahan in 1987 as a revenue raising measure that was part of a suite of increased charges, expenditure cutbacks and changes to conditions in an attempt by the NT Government (then CLP) to counter significant shortfalls in Commonwealth grants.

Notwithstanding that revenue raised by the bed tax was devoted entirely for the promotion of tourism, it was deeply resented as the NT was the only jurisdiction to levy this charge.

And it worsened the disadvantage already experienced by the Territory’s tourism industry.

Hanrahan departed politics in 1988 but his legacy of the bed tax continued; and matters weren’t helped the following year when the national pilots’ strike, which lasted about three months, brought the entire tourism industry to its knees.

This was followed by an overall downturn in the economy, eventually leading to the recession of 1991.

With the Territory’s tourism industry in the doldrums, the NT Government commissioned an inquiry into this sector which resulted in the Kennedy Report released about April 1992.

Among its many recommendations was the abolition of the bed tax which was duly enacted.

Airbnb’s “accommodation tax” suggestion is yet another example, all too common in the Northern Territory, of the corporate amnesia that afflicts our region.

There are virtually no ideas being put forward which haven’t been considered or tried previously.

Moreover, the timing of this idea is exquisite, coming as it does in circumstances that are reminiscent of the NT in the late 1980s and very early 1990s.

Alex Nelson,
Alice Springs

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AIR CREW WERE CALM

YOUR reporting of the Malaysia Airlines jet which made an emergency landing last Thursday gives the wrong impression (NT News, January 19).

You quote one passenger as saying that the flight attendants “all seemed nervous and clueless”.

I was a passenger on the flight and, yes, it was a frightening experience but my impression of the crew on board was totally different.

All the cabin crew I saw remained calm and acted competently, giving clear information on emergency procedures despite the fact that they, too, would have been as frightened as the passengers (if not more so, as they would have known the exact nature of the “technical” problem). The captain should be congratulated for landing the plane safely and without incident in Alice Springs, despite relying on just one engine.

It was a smooth and good landing. Passengers applauded on landing.

There should be no criticism of any of the crew on board MH122 and I am grateful for the fact that their actions saved the lives of all of us on board.

Joan Noble,

Elizabeth Bay

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GIVE US TAX BREAK

IT’S amusing that only now do some people want to see electric cars taxed in the same way that combustion engine cars cop it at the bowser. Did it ever occur to these people that hybrid and other LEV’s have been effectively dodging the tax by using less fuel?

Heck, why should a Camry driver pay less than a Commodore?

Look, the amount of tax that a Tesla owner is paying is more than enough to offset the 40.03c/L excise (plus GST) in fuel it doesn’t use.

It’s also enough to offset the damage to parking lots from dripping oil and fuel.

Imagine all the effort of finding ways to tax people more was instead put into ways to get Australians out of OPEC chains, and fuelling our own country with our own goddamned offshore fuel reserves! Come on politicians, serve US for a change.

Aaron Mead, Ludmilla

Fine parenting

RE: Parents skip food for kids (Wednesday, January 17, 2018).

Unfortunately this is not unique to this generation.

It has been happening over many years, but never spoken about in public because of embarrassment to those suffering these circumstances.

Good parenting entails things such as this to ensure your offspring are given appropriate care for their wellbeing, unselfishly to the children we love so dearly.

Being a parent entails many facets to our deliverance of care and support to the children, enabling them to survive to adulthood and to continue the same loving service to their offspring.

My heart goes out to these struggling families but today they have much more help and kindness and will survive to see many more good days.

Betty Clarke, Herbert

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Spread burden

RE: Road taxes and electric cars.

I’m of the opinion they should roll the taxes into general tax because even if you don’t drive a vehicle the conditions of the roads will affect you – be it public transport, trucks delivering to your local store or emergency services ability to get to your location when needed.

Doing this would lower the per person rate and spread the burden to everyone.

Owen from Jingili

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WE LOVE YOU, NICK

GOOD on you, Nick Kyrgios.

Now that you’ve changed your ways, you might get some public support. And good luck with your foundation.

Dennis of Driver