Disappointing result
NOOSA Council has reported its end of year “capital works schedule” resulted in only 62.9 per cent of the planned work being completed and an underspend of $9.04 million from the $24.4 million budget.
This poor result demonstrates a lack management control and planning to achieve planned capital works outcomes. The funds were available since they are part of the rates collected. If it was a problem of time or labour, then why didn’t council use contractors? A close examination of achieved planned outcomes also highlights where higher priority work was either not started or only partially completed, but lower order work was completed. Council’s management skills are sadly lacking.
Jeff Nuske,
Noosa Heads.
Good news week
I JUST got a ‘good news’ letter from my power provider advising that my power costs would be reduced by about 40 cents per week, which is $20.80 per annum. However, I am now to be charged a new metering service charge for my hot water meter (tariff 31) of $11.60 per annum. I am also to be charged a new solar metering service charge as I have solar panels of $24.14 pa. To add further injury my supply charge has been increased by $132.37. That’s a total increase of $168.11 pa.
This means I now have total charges of $503 pa before I even use any electricity. Also, though they have lowered tariff 11 (the so-called good news) they have raised tariff 31 (hot water) and tariff 33 (pool). I give Energex back twice as much power as I use and of course still get a bill. So much for doing the right thing by the environment. Like so many others on solar, we are waiting on the new generation domestic supply batteries to come on stream relatively soon, so we can go ‘off grid’. Poor Queensland. Plenty of sunshine but locked into a coal economy.
Chris McDonnell,
Doonan.
Common practice
IT IS hypocritical of Labor’s Lucy Stanton to criticise my travel to a post Budget breakfast in Brisbane in 2014 (Noosa Today 30 July). On the morning after the Federal Budget it is usual practice for senior Government Ministers to travel around the country to explain the Budget to local audiences. Labor Ministers did it every year. Liberal and National Ministers do it when we are in office.
In 2014, I committed to a regular post Budget breakfast in Brisbane for the Conservative Club. As there were no commercial air services which would enable a trip from Canberra to Brisbane after 9pm on Budget night in time for the breakfast the next morning, I had arranged to travel to Brisbane on a government aircraft.
However, the government plane became unavailable prior to its scheduled departure and it was therefore necessary for me to secure a charter aircraft at short notice to fulfil the engagement. The use of the charter was completely within the guidelines and was properly reported and declared.
Any profits made by the Conservative Club for its functions are donated to charity.
Warren Truss,
Deputy Prime Minister.
Bad form letter
YESTERDAY, as a result of my voicing of concerns about the trade deal that is on the table, I received a letter from Warren Truss. It was a standard reply that looked as though it had been cut and pasted from a Trans Pacific Partnership propaganda sheet. It blithely informed me that the Investor State Dispute Clause in the TPP was nothing to worry about.
I did not find this reassuring. Perhaps unlike Mr Truss I am aware that because of an ISDS clause in a treaty that we signed with Hong Kong, the transnational tobacco company Phillip Morris is now suing the Australian government over its plain packaging on cigarette packages legislation. Designed as a health measure, if effective, it could save Australia a massive amount by preventing debilitating health conditions, as well as improving the health of numerous Australians. It is seen by Phillip Morris as an action that interferes with the tobacco giant’s profitability. This action, if resolved in favour of Phillip Morris, will see $50 million of Australian taxpayers’ money go up in smoke.
The reassurances about caring for Australians, made by the Abbott opposition prior to the 2013 election, went out the window the moment that they became the government. Their track record on protecting our hard-earned money is likewise not looking good. As Canada and Mexico have learned through expensive litigation, an ISDS clause DOES override governments and judiciaries.
I am not sure whether Mr Truss has not done his homework, or if he is being disingenuous, but either way I find his response deeply troubling. If it smells like a stitch-up, and looks like a stitch-up, then it most likely is a stitch-up.
Joy Ringrose,
Pomona.
Any solutions?
I LOOK forward to reading a letter from Joy Ringrose that (for the first time) actually outlines proposed solutions to the various shortcomings she claims exist, such as those relating to the Noosa Hospital (Noosa Today, 30 July). Ms Ringrose’s proposed solutions to the various problems that clearly eat away at her and like-minded Greens should, of course, include her thoughts on how such solutions are to be funded and by whom. To do so would show that the Greens can, from time to time, move away from the negative and, in addition, show that they can actually do their sums. But I won’t be holding my breath.
Eric Ash,
Boreen Point.
Simply deluded
YOUR columnist Benny Pike and letter writer Ian Lawson both suffer from the same simplistic approach that Jeff Nuske takes to development issues. They believe that all development is good development, and that Noosa should become more like everywhere else.
But Noosa has a strong brand and great tourism industry because it has not gone down the same development route as everywhere else. The differences that define Noosa are its real strength.
As to the Noosa Civic expansion, those who think it is a good thing should bother to read the development application. This expansion will provide nothing that isn’t already here – Coles and Aldi supermarkets and a discount chain store. It’s just more of the same. Ian Lawson suggests we look at other shopping centres in Qld. Doing so reveals that in places like Maryborough, out-of-the-box shopping centres based on the fringes kill the town civic centre. It was stupid of Noosa Council to put Noosa Civic where it is, because it can’t help but impact on places like Noosa Junction, Tewantin and even Cooroy.
When Noosa Civic opened, lots of smaller shops were forced to close – including three family-owned camping stores across the shire. In any case, the business model that supports these large shopping malls is old hat. Just look to Europe and the USA and see how many of these big shopping centres are closing down. Online shopping and a desire for more personalised shopping experiences are the way of the future.
Gary Bright,
Noosaville.
Just beautiful
I LIVE in a beautiful part of Noosaville in Lake Entrance Boulevard where the council provides a doggy bag dispenser (at Noosa Retreat wall) for those community-minded people to use so that they can keep the environment clean for others who also walk their dogs. However some people do not care to use the bags and let their dog’s poo just lie where their dogs put it.
As if this was not bad enough, some people use the bags and then leave the bags with poo inside near the dispenser or they just throw the bags into the nearby bush. Can these disgusting and un-community minded people please think of all the other people who take care and respect others who also take their dogs walking, and please do the right thing, use the bags and take your dog’s poo home and dispose of it properly.
Les Lloyd,
Noosaville.
