Manly move to admit mistake

I REALLY feel sorry for James Faulkner for his error of judgment but I doff my hat to him. It takes a great man to so openly admit his mistake to drink drive.

I still remember the “bad old days” when to drink to so much excess as to “chuck and chunder” was the norm and not to do so was considered “sissy”. I wonder how many of us old fogies can still remember that?

Good on you Cricket Australia for maintaining such high standards and being so very successful in changing the culture to such wonderful high standards of taking personal responsibilities for our own behaviour. Well done!

Balancing books

I HAVE a possible interim solution to the Greek debt crisis. It’s simple really. Put the amount of war reparations that Germany failed to pay to Greece after World War II against the outstanding Greek debt.

With interest since 1945, this should come to a considerable amount. Additionally the UK could contribute to a further debt reduction by paying a fair price for the Elgin marbles and other treasures it stole from Greece!

This should give Greece the breathing space it needs to put its affairs in order.

SLAPP down

LIBERAL MP Andrew Nikolic’s claims regarding tax deductions for environmental groups in his Talking Point article is disin- genuous (“The taxpayers should not fund activism”, Mercury, July 6).

What he does not want to admit is that big business makes massive claims against the taxpayer to fund their campaigns. Take, for example, Gunns’ SLAPP suit against the “Gunns 20” activists. You can safely bet your bottom dollar that Gunns would have offset the massive cost of that campaign against their tax bill; so Brigadier Nikolic, let’s have some balance in your columns!

Tax-free tactics

I READ MP Andrew Nikolic’s opinion piece first with horror, then amusement, for he and his fellow Liberals clearly haven’t thought this tactic through. I was horrified at the biased and unjust attack on basic democratic principles of our society, which must be addressed first.

He bemoaned the loss of tax revenue (via deductible donations supporting legal action by the Tasmanian Conservation Trust) that could otherwise be used for public benefit, but this was not, as he asserted, a one-sided affair. The huge legal teams assembled by Gunns were also taxdeductible, as (more generally) are company donations to groups like the Minerals Council (a politically active group that ran TV ads against the former government).

Yes, this is a waste but it could have been avoided if state and federal governments enforced our laws and international conventions against rapacious corporations. I am sure the community-minded people who donate to groups like the Con- servation Trust would much prefer to donate directly to public benefit rather than battling to protect what’s left of the environment.

But I was amused by Mr Nikolic’s statement, “I believe that advocacy against otherwise legal government decisions should lead to the removal of tax-deductible status”. Setting aside whether “legal” in this case equates to “sensible” or “in the nation’s interest” (not the current Government’s strong suit), I note that while in opposition, the Liberal party advocated strongly against decisions by the Labor government. Thus by Mr Nikolic’s reckoning, the Liberal Party should be stripped of its own tax-free status.

Take a bow

THE Hobart Eisteddfod has completed another successful year. The Highlights Concert on Sunday revealed yet again the incredibly high levels of achievement attained by students from youngest primary to the more mature at university.

Just how good they are was noted by one adjudicator who said: “I am asked to do this job in many competitions around the country. I have to say that the standard here is higher than in most other places.”

This is tribute to the hard work and dedication of all the students and their teachers and should not go unnoticed. The concert is one of the cultural events of the year and this one certainly gave great pleasure to a full house.