Revise immigration policy

I AM a migrant. I came to Australia in 1977, was quickly granted permanent residency and later became an Australian citizen. I have made my home here, raised a family and have been accepted into the Toowoomba community. I’m not special, but I believe that I, and most other migrants, have helped to make Australia the welcoming and inclusive community that it is.

Five years ago a family fleeing from Sri Lanka was granted temporary protection and moved to Biloela, where they were welcomed, where they raised a family and contributed to the community - just the sort of people we want as citizens.

They were never offered a permanent place in Australia, but I suggest that they - and others like them - have earned one. The reason they are being deported is all to do with the strict application of a policy formulated at a time of perceived crisis. That crisis has now passed.

Surely, for the benefit of all Australians, this policy should now be revised.

MICHAEL ROSE-MILLER, Toowoomba

‘‘ THE INMATES WERE VERY WELL BEHAVED AND THEIR COMMUNITY SERVICE OBLIGATIONS WERE MOST APPRECIATED.

WORK CAMP

DURING my engagement as an advisor to the Central Highlands Regional Council and residing in Springsure, I had the opportunity to observe first-hand the operations of a corrections work camp. The facilities and maintenance of the camp were the premise of the department with very minimal council involvement.

The inmates were very well behaved and their community service obligations were most appreciated.

They required only one supervisor as they kept an eye on each other because the rules were if one falls out of line, everyone goes back to the big house.

MIKE FLANIGAN, independent candidate TRC 2020

STATUS QUO SUICIDE

BORIS, to answer your question (27/8) according to Climate Action Tracker, Australia’s emissions from fossil fuels and industry continue to rise, and are now 7% above 2005 levels.

These emissions have increased by about 1% per year on average since 2014, the year Australia’s national carbon pricing scheme was repealed.

Under current policies, emissions are headed for an increase of 8% above 2005 levels by 2030, rather than the 14-17% decrease required to meet Australia’s Paris Agreement target.

In addition, the UN is begging countries to increase their targets to 45% reductions to save millions of lives threatened by global heating.

But the Coalition says their completely insufficient target (that they’re not on track to meet) is set in stone.

I hope they’ll come to their senses before the UN Climate Action Summit in New York later this month. As UN Secretary General António Guterres said - “the status quo is a suicide”.

ALISON FEARNLEY, Toowoomba

NAPLAN

AS A retired teacher, I am saddened by the media’s obsession with the single point in time test NAPLAN (National assessment Plan Literacy and Numeracy).

The NAPLAN test is a useful tool for teachers and schools to identify problems that they may have missed during their use of a wide range of evaluation techniques.

I was reminded of this last week when I visited one of the schools I had previously taught at.

The dedicated team of highly trained professionals was developing programs to cover a wide range of learning styles and abilities.

The percentage of students with severe difficulties since my retirement eight years ago appeared to have increased ten-fold.

All I could do was watch in awe as a young teacher included the child who today was presenting themselves as a cat, ensuring they did not claw at other students or staff members.

On other occasions, the child presented as a horse, galloping and whinnying around the classroom. The child’s difficulties are the result of feotal alcohol syndrome. They are not of the child’s making and as the teacher pointed out, every child has the right to develop to their greatest potential as an individual.

NAPLAN is a tool for teachers not a political football for the media and the public to use as an excuse for the failings of society.

ANNE THESSMAN, Toowoomba