LetteroftheWeek
Have strong opinions, write in an engaging way? You could win our Letter of the Week, and with it a book from our friends and sponsors, the publishers HarperCollins. This month’s book prize is Cross her Heart by Sarah Pinborough. Some secrets are worth dying for – the mind-blowing thriller from the author of the bestselling Behind Her Eyes.
Rules: Best letter competition runs untill January 19 next year. Entries close each Thursday at 5pm. The winner is selected by 2pm each Friday. Book of the month valued up to $49. Entrants agree to the Competition Terms and Conditions located at www.goldcoastbulletin.com.au/ entertainment/competitions, and our privacy policy. Entrants consent to their information being shared with HarperCollins for the express purpose of delivering prizes.
THE Surfers Paradise music event over the weekend was truly amazing. However it demonstrated that the Bruce Bishop Car Park is to small, and a larger Car Parking facility in Surfers Paradise is needed.
As it was almost full when my wife and myself drove past an hour before the main event had even started.
MARK TOMLINSON
I AM glad that the Bulletin is now publishing Andrew Bolt’s article on Thursdays.
Not everyone will agree with him, but it is an opinion piece, and not everybody has to. I think he is right most of the time.
It is good that a newspaper can express a range of views, and be balanced. The national broadcaster (ABC) should do the same.
JASON COOKE, ROBINA
IN the Budget Scott Morrison says that the annual household power bill fall by $400 from 2020. Will the saving be based on the 30th June 2018 power bill or from the 31st December 2020 power bill?
ANGELO, BIGGERA WATERS
I CONGRATULATE the Federal Treasurer on this year’s 10th budget deficit in a row, and wishes him many happy returns for next year’s 11th.
This deficit is a truly astounding example of fiscal profligacy.
The Liberal Democrats won’t be holding their breath for the miniscule $2 billion surplus we’ve been told to look forward to in 2019-2020. The level of spending delivered in this budget is, quite frankly, unforgiveable.
Our debt is massive and the expected budget surplus further down the track is negligible.
Real spending per person is already at a record high and will rise again next year.
The Government has made decisions that reduce net spending for the coming four years by $0.4 billion, but this conveniently leaves out the decisions that increase net spending by $1.6 billion this year.
It relies entirely on decisions that reduce net spending by $2.3b in 2021-22 – the never never.
And while the Government’s Personal Income Tax Plan reduces tax by $13.4 billion over the coming four years, revenue expectations have gone up by $31.5 billion over same time. So the Government is returning less than half of that revenue windfall.
DAVID LEYONHJELM, LIBERAL DEMOCRATS SENATOR
IT’S time for a cuppa – a cuppa for a cause!
Thursday, May 24, is Cancer Council Queensland’s Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea and we’re calling on locals to pop on the kettle and pour a cup of tea to help make a difference.
Most of us know someone who has been impacted by cancer – grandparents, parents, siblings and friends. This is our chance to work together, raise our cups and create change. With your generous support we can continue investing in lifesaving cancer research, patient support services and prevention programs in Queensland.
While the official day to host is May 24, people can hold an event – big or small – anytime throughout May or June.
There has never been an easier way to show your support. Simply set a date, invite family or friends, and register your event at biggestmorningtea.com.au or via 1300 65 65 85.
Together, we can make a difference to Queenslanders impacted by cancer every minute, every hour, every day.
CHRIS MCMILLAN, CEO, CANCER COUNCIL QUEENSLAND
MORE than seventy concerned locals gathered in Lismore on Tuesday night to hear about NSW’s looming koala crisis and sent a big ‘thumbs down’ to reject the NSW Government’s recently-released Koala Plan.
The Liberal-National Government’s Koala Plan is largely a conjob that doesn’t address the root causes underpinning the crash in koala numbers across NSW.
The Government’s Koala Plan fails to end the destructive logging of our native forests, fails to wind back habitat clearing laws that are decimating koala habitat on private land, and fails to establish a Great Koala National Park in the Coffs Harbour hinterland where 20% of NSW’s wild koalas are being harmed by logging operations.
While the Greens welcome the additional funding for koala care centres, we are alarmed that the few new reserves that the Government has said they will create are too small, degraded and most likely bits of land that the logging industry has said they no longer need, rather than any genuine attempt to strategically protect high priority koala habitat.
The Koala Plan is designed to make it look like the Government is acting to protect koalas, but the North Coast community can see the sham for what it is.
DAWN WALKER MP, GREEN PARTY
SINCE 2016 Scott Morrison and Malcolm Turnbull have rejected calls for a Royal Commission into the Banksters about 23 times, they said there was no need for a Royal Commission – the evidence today shows there should have been an inquiry over 40 years ago when these heinous acts were first raised in the press.
They didn’t want to hold an inquiry in spite of many detailed press articles on the devastation caused by the Banksters rorting innocent people, with financial devastation to families and suicides from broken people.
The total ignorance of previous ALP and LNP Governments on these provable charges against the Banksters shows the contempt politicians have held for the people. The reason we have this inquiry is due to the current ALP searching for a subject to win votes, previous ALP Governments like the LNP flatly reject the people’s calls for an inquiry.
The final realisation by the LNP that the PM was a dud goose on this matter and the ALP were amassing votes was the only reason the scurrilous activity of the Banksters was fully exposed.
JON VOLK, FORESTDALE
HAWAII’S Kilauea volcano is yet another reminder - nature is unstoppable and it will win in the long run. It also shows the beauty of nature even when it is rolling over our roads on its own path.
What is sad overall is that the damage we are doing to nature is more severe than anything it can ever do to us. Time to plant a tree and get a reusable coffee cup.
DENNIS FITZGERALD