Letter of the Week

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 The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley. In a remote hunting lodge, deep in the Scottish wilderness, old friends gather to celebrate New Year’s Eve. One of them is killed. Not an accident – a murder among friends.

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BOB Janssen being a CST advocate must be able to answer some simple questions.

Can Bob tell us how deep the current sea floor is at 1.2km offshore at low tide which is the proposed distance the CST would be from shore? (9m.)

What under-ship clearance does a cruise ship need for safe navigation to avoid hitting the bottom? (2m.)

How far below the water level does a cruise ship sit? (10-12m depending on design.)

How wide an area would need to be prepared for a cruise ship to dock and turn around? (2 x ships length, 800m x 800m. That’s why the Seaway entrance was not suitable.)

How wide a channel is required for a cruise ship to enter to dock? (2 x its length 800m, which is why the Seaway was not suitable.)

How long does a channel need from the dock to reach deep water?

Can Bob tell us how dredging areas this size would be accomplished in open ocean, in sand with currents constantly pushing sand into the hole?

Has Bob ever dug a hole in the sand at the beach? Can Bob tell us what happened to that hole and what would happen to the beaches if areas that big were dredged 5m deeper than the current sea floor?

Sure the CST sounds great in theory, but when you realise what needs to be done for a clear passage, you soon realise it will never happen, unless Bob has answers for these questions which no one seems to have. DARRYN PATCH, GOLD COAST

BOB JANSSEN REPLIES:

DARREN Patch raises some valid questions and I would guess he has read the latest PIANC report as have I.

These questions relate to the council’s offshore proposal which I agree presents some engineering and logistical challenges and they are therefore for council to answer. That said, history has shown that in many cases these challenges can be overcome dependent on how much effort and capital you are prepared to throw at them.

The Queensland government put a lot of effort into building a second terminal in Brisbane boasting the revenue and job benefits. Yet here we are, the nation’s tourism capital suffering political manipulation and green agitation to prevent us from having one while watching the tourism dollars sail by.

There is no doubt that a landbased CST would be optimum and preferable but due to the government’s caveat over the northern Spit, the only viable land has been placed off limits. In my opinion, this was no accident. Knowing the many benefits a CST would bring our city, and left with no other alternative, council has virtually been forced to go for the far more challenging option of its offshore proposal.

While I am clearly involved with the Breakwater Group Spit proposal on a pro-bono basis I believe in a Gold Coast CST and have for 20 years.

In saying that it means that all options should be considered and judged on their merits allowing the proponents time to address the various challenges without political interference.

Excluding any discussion about a CST in The Spit masterplan public consultation process rendered it an absolute farce. This government is incapable of shame. What this government has demonstrated is it is really good at its ability to manipulate a process.

I have one question in response. Why is this government so determined to prevent us from enjoying the same benefits they boast Brisbane will receive? I won’t hold my breath waiting for an answer.

IT’S about time our judges were made aware that due to technology, most of their draconian suppression orders on the press are now meaningless.

Take the case of George Pell. Five minutes after his guilty verdict

was announced, the world knew via the internet, resulting in the Pope disappearing him from the cardinals’ power group and the Vatican bank.

However it took over two months for the news of his guilt to be “officially” disseminated in this country. Big Brother really rules here. JJ GOOLD, MUDGEERABA

THE media thrives on disasters – floods, cyclones, heat waves, droughts and fires – each one “the worst evaaaah” (evaah since the last one). Each report of catastrophe is usually followed by a religious chant about “man-made global warming”.

Pretending we can change the climate by waging a war on carbon dioxide is foolish and dangerous nonsense. But what we do need, urgently, is to weather-proof our essential infrastructure.

When cyclones, floods, droughts and bushfires strike we need disaster-proof helipads, rail links, roads, bridges, water and electricity supply.

Not one solar farm or wind turbine will survive a severe cyclone, and in wild, cloudy weather they will produce zero power. And giant batteries are just a short-term energy crutch.

We cannot change the climate no matter what we spend. But we must adapt and prepare for the inevitable cyclones, floods, droughts and bushfires.

Three things are needed: To prevent catastrophic bushfires, we need to remove excess fuel with frequent small controlled fires.

To reduce the severity of droughts and floods, we need more dams and weirs.

And for everything, we need the continuous reliable electricity that comes from coal, gas or nuclear. VIV FORBES, WASHPOOL