No place for tears in sport

WHATEVER the circumstances are surrounding the alleged incident between a junior rugby league player and a parent on Saturday, it just shows spectators should never get involved in a game.

No players should come to blows in any junior game but the reality is it does happen during sport.

But having anyone come on to the field and intervene, whether their intentions are good or not, is not on.

There are officials and referees for sorting out things on the field when they get heated. This child was left crying after Saturday’s final — sport should never get to that point.

There is intense scrutiny on crowd behaviour at all levels of sport now, from the elite level down to junior sport.

This is encouraging and its important that everyone does the right thing.

Crowds are there to support the people on the field. They should not be doing anything that jeopardises this.

Remote towns need support

The situation North Queensland communities face to create jobs for the future is very difficult.

More remote councils out west and even the smaller towns like Ingham are battling to get people to stay.

They face the near-impossible task of trying to grow or at least maintain their population while struggling to create new job opportunities.

A Senate inquiry is examining the problem, which although it’s a good start, if there’s no commitment to helping find a solution, what’s the point?

As the world becomes more and more technologically advanced, jobs will be lost and this will affect regional and remote areas. Mckinlay Shire Council is looking at innovative ways to try and deal with the problem including diversifying. It’s the same story at Hinchinbrook Shire Council. Economically Townsville has struggled for a few years but the fact we have such a diverse economy means the city is able to deal with any downturn better than some other places. These places should be supported and incentives to get people living there permanently is a good start.