LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

TTC prizemoney

NOT for the first time Toowoomba Turf Club finds itself the poor prizemoney relation among its southern Queensland contemporaries.

Parity with the likes of Ipswich, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast turf clubs was hard earned and only made possible by the success of off-course betting with the advent of twilight racing through the 1990s.

So the performance-based privilege should never be taken for granted.

As concerning as the latest snub to racing in Toowoomba is, all is not lost. The club can take a leaf out of the book of previous administrations which year after year committed substantial amounts of their own funds to boost prizemoney.

During the 1990s the club’s Spring Carnival, which extended from August to November, boasted numerous feature races carrying stakes superior to their counterparts.

The carnival attracted considerable support from most of the leading south-east Queensland stables and off-course wagering sat around $750,000 for most meetings.

Sponsorship generated from sell-out marquee and social functions underpinned the carnivals.

This avenue remains a very viable option for the club. — ALLEN VOLZ, Toowoomba

Bypass name

MANY suggestions have been forthcoming in regards to the naming of the new city bypass; names of city people who have contributed much to the development of our local surrounds and yes, there are many.

The question of a title seems a no brainer to me. An Aboriginal name should be the only consideration. After all, the bypass traverses land that the Aboriginal people have held dear to their traditions forever and the least that we can do at this late stage of settlement is to name the bypass for them.

Why part of the Warrego Highway has been dedicated to Darren Lockyer one will never know. Yes, Mr Lockyer has contributed much to his game and to local life in general, but to name a section of highway after him is totally, totally, absurd.

Hopefully the same mistake will not be made in naming the new Toowoomba bypass:

Give the Aboriginal people something they can be proud of ... something in compensation for the use of their lands.

There is hardly any visual representation of the Aboriginal people here in Australia in comparison to The First Nations People of the US and Canada.

We owe our Aboriginal people that much surely. It is really a no brainer. — JNETTE HARVEY, Rangeville

Second nationality

IT IS a good thing that the “second nationality” saga has sent politicians scurrying to read the Australian Constitution.

I hope they all - including our republican PM - read it carefully: they will discover that it never mentions the term “head of state”.

They will then understand that the republican myth of the “foreign head of state” is a deliberate racist lie. — STAN KLAN, Toowoomba