YOUR VIEWS

MORE has to be done to protect consumers, suppliers and contractors alike from unscrupulous builders such as Future Homes.

I have witnessed in the past contractors lose their marriages, their homes, everything. Sure there are those that band together, survive the financial and daily stress and strain, but many don’t.

New home owners paying tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars to be left with unfinished dream homes.

Both owners of Varsity-based Future Homes had been involved previously with Queensland One Homes that as your front page story states went into liquidation owing $6 million. How are these people allowed to have any managerial position at all?

It’s time for change, the banks and tax office will get the most if not all of everything that can be salvaged, the suppliers and contractors if anything left will be paid x amount of cents per $ they are owed.

The QBCC has to become accountable and be proactive rather than reactive. Developers or builders who are found guilty of trading with bank accounts showing they don’t have the funds to pay are trading fraudulently and must lose all assets to help cover costs.

Jobs and growth means nothing when you’re sending people to the wall so yes, governments also have to be accountable. P. RADISH

NICE to read a letter (Don Robertson, GCB 1/3) that wasn’t being pushed by the same self interest groups with their opposing facts, full credit though for their dedication.

Prayer is communication, vocally or in thought, with Deity - what ever your God may be.

I would suggest that we have all done that (prayed) at some stage, maybe subconsciously, even those who profess no belief.

That’s because we find prayer cathartic or at least comforting because it includes requests for guidance, for peace of mind, thanksgiving and praise.

For me, I’m trying to be part of a Christian family because the basic tenant of that faith is what holds society together in a morally uplifting way. It is sad that while most churches have some basis of truth, many have drifted with the precepts of men, and no longer follow the doctrine as was intended 2000 years ago. This causes conflict and confusion. BOB, BROADBEACH

BREAKING through the forcefield of warnings on my postal box re the unwelcomeness of junk and advertising material , ending with a polite “thank you” , the City Guide to the Games managed to sneak through the defences. Maybe martial law has been enacted and nobody told me.

Anyway, the guide contained welcoming news. l can shop at Runaway Bay and completely ignore the Games. How good is that? DAVID HALL, LABRADOR

IT is disappointing but not surprising that more than a million

Queenslanders will be stuck on Malcolm Turnbull’s second-rate copper NBN with its slow speeds and unreliable service (“Slow State of NBN”, 27/2).

NBN’s figures show Queensland has got the short end of the stick under Turnbull’s NBN receiving three times less fibre than NSW and Victoria.

Why is this important? Three of every four households on copper NBN will never be able to achieve the maximum advertised speed of 100Mbps.

When Australians are doubling their data consumption every two years, it is vital that we have the capacity in the network to accommodate our future needs.

In addition, we know that copper is adversely affected by wet conditions.

It’s hardly a surprise then that 1600 copper pits – the part of the network which actually connects homes to the internet – are at risk due to wet weather.

The LNP’s NBN is a far cry from the fibre optic telecommunications upgrade that Labor had planned and customers know it. Over 12,300 formal internet complaints were registered with the industry Ombudsman, last year. This is the tip of the iceberg.

No matter how you look at it, copper is the poorer technology choice and Mr Turnbull is leaving regional Queensland stranded with slower speeds and substandard service. STEPHEN JONES MP, SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS