Invest in city’s future
SOME people are confused as to why I support the idea of reopening the Queensland Nickel refinery and I will try to clear the air on this. Do I like Clive Palmer? This is an irrelevant question to me as this town is drowning in unemployment and businesses failing by the day, and people are trying to turn this into a popularity contest.
I purchased a vehicle at my auto recyclers the other day from a man that has been unable to get regular work for three years in Townsville and needed to pay his power bill.
I met a large number of people late last year while doorknocking my electorate of Mundingburra that use a camp stove to boil the kettle and cook as they are afraid of using too much power to turn an oven on.
They need to conserve what little income they have to survive this recession.
This city is more like a disaster zone but I am finding that the people that have a good job and are not affected by our city’s recession have little compassion for those that are doing it real tough.
Spare a thought for some men suiciding as they can no longer face the humiliation of not being able to supply for their families and support themselves.
The food bank and support workers are being drained by the overwhelming demand for help and there is no light at the end of the tunnel for most as we have governments at both state and federal level that have turned their backs and looked away from the plight these people are facing.
So back to the question: Do I like Clive Palmer?
I am willing to support Santa Claus or even the Easter bunny or anyone, including Clive, that will bring jobs and employment to this town. And for those that want to keep looking in the rear- vision mirror, you can’t change the past but you can invest in a future. MIKE ABRAHAM, Idalia