When will our government and the opposition come up with some positive policies to deal with the most serious economic crisis of our time – the decline of manufacturing from 29 per cent of GDP in 1960 to less than 10 per cent now.
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Both the Coalition and Labor say this does not matter. Australia’s future, they say, lies in mining and services. This is foolish.
Recent falls in prices of iron ore and coal have shown we have too many eggs in the commodities basket.
The fall of prices has resulted in the alarming rate of increase of our government deficit.
Manufacturing is the most important sector of our economy. Economic reforms of recent years have been a complete disaster. It is time both the government and the opposition reconsider their policies.
Tony Foot, Unanderra
There are a few other groups whose lifestyle choices we taxpayers should not have to keep subsidising.
Multinational mining companies pay little tax on the massive profits they make from our resources, all the while receiving billions in fuel-excise exemptions, benefiting from public infrastructure and access to 457 visa workers instead of training Australians.
Obviously the very wealthy need to be cut off from the taxpayer’s teat. They have family and business trusts to avoid tax, extremely generous superannuation tax offsets and some still manage to get a government pension on top. How the hell does that work?
Then to hear the farmers go on you’d think they were being held at gunpoint by Islamic State terrorists and forced to work the land. They never leave, though, and why would they? Taxpayer dollars when it doesn’t rain, taxpayer dollars when it does, truckloads of donated fodder in droughts, transport subsidies, fuel tax rebates for the family car, it just goes on and on.
All in aid of running their own private business.
Andrew Sefton, Thirroul
Re Beaches Estate, Fairy Meadow expansion.
An application has been lodged with council to increase the number of apartments in the third stage from 36 to 84 (that is, five towers instead of three as originally planned).
In total there will be 170 apartments and 44 houses.
This will cause an extreme volume of traffic through the one roundabout entrance on Carters Lane.
With only 35 visitor parking spaces, this will cause an overflow of vehicles parking in Carters Lane, Dixon Street and Donald Street.
Objections to council close on April 1.
Colleen McDougall, Fairy Meadow
Ours is only a little planet. An oasis in a vast universe. The only place we know we can live. But our paradise is suffering. We have rocked the climate boat and the sheer mass of humans now consuming resources and changing the atmosphere have us headed for massive changes that are too late to avoid.
Our government is currently driven by the short-term economy, not by our long-term wellbeing. It’s hard to believe we are still subsidising fossil fuels (which are the biggest culprit) by far more than we are subsidising the only alternative – renewable energy!
Tom Hunt, Oak Flats
