DOG GONE TOO FAR

WHEN concerns about dangerous dogs reach the point a public meeting is called, matters have already gone too far. There is no place in a community for dogs that attack without warning. Paradise Point residents’ pleas for action must be heeded.

ONE of the challenges of public life is the balance between responding to uninformed or misleading criticism and letting those criticisms “go through to the keeper”.

Politics, by its very nature, draws critique and critics.

Again, unfortunately, JJ Goold makes basic errors in his criticism. First, he clearly doesn’t understand the operation of the World Trade Organisation to know that countries can be an observer of a case without participating.

Second, he rhetorically asks “what’s Europe ever done for Australia” and suggests it’s nothing. Again, he is wrong.

Europe is our second largest trading partner, largest source of foreign investment, and we will shortly commence negotiations on a free trade agreement.

I never shy away from the brickbats and bouquets that go with being in public office.

It’s just unfortunate when criticism comes from those who cannot get even basic facts right. STEVEN CIOBO MP, FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MONCRIEFF

IN response to Gael of Maudsland’s frustration with successive governments not planning for the 2018 Commonwealth Games (Letters, GCB, 13/3), I think they have planned for it in exactly the same way as we would plan for a party in our own homes.

If you normally house five or six people in your home and you invite 30 more for a party, you don’t increase the capacity of your home by 500 per cent to cater for the visitors, you maximize the limited space you have for normal day to day living and “call it a celebration”.

As a result people stand shoulder to shoulder, eat “party” food instead of nutritious meals and make the most of the crowded event, in spite of there being inadequate toilet facilities, places to sleep or transport home.

Capacity management works the same way in government or business.

Organisations don’t expand their capacity for short-term events, they simply throttle back normal operations, advertise the obvious inconvenience as a celebration and invite everyone to party.

So unfortunately, we can complain all we like, but the government knows the Gold Coast is not a strategic electorate and the rest of the state – in fact the rest of the world for that matter – most probably won’t even know or care that this archaic organisation held some meaningless sporting event.

Let alone care whether the government of the day built additional roads or purchased extra trains that won’t be ready in time, for this two-week, one-off event. JOHN WALSH, SURFERS PARADISE

THE council demands that Save Surfers Paradise puts up a $200,000 guarantee “to ensure that ratepayers’ funds are not wasted”!

It is council that is wasting ratepayers’ funds by attempting to defend this indefensible sale of ratepayers’ property.

“We the People” own Bruce Bishop Car Park and it is not for sale. When the servants of the People accept this basic principle of democracy the ratepayers’ funds will be secure, and not until. ALAN MIDWOOD

RE Tom Tate’s bullying tactics to threaten those who oppose his decisions.

The council is trying to send a message to all community groups,

now and in the future, that if they attempt to challenge council decisions, the council will use ratepayer’s finances to crush any opposition to their plans.

The demand that the group opposing the sale of the Bruce Bishop car park pay $200,000 up front for legal costs is an unfair pressure tactic and an abuse of process that must not be tolerated.

The council was elected to work on behalf of the public, but many decisions are being made that are not in the interests of the ratepayers. VERY CONCERNED, SURFERS PARADISE

SO now we have an epidemic of children with rotten teeth! (GCB, 7/3).

What happened? A while back sodium fluoride (aluminum waste filings), a corrosive poison, was forced down our throats to protect and save our teeth. What a joke! The public has been duped once again.

It’s a fact that drinking this medicated water has no value, instead being harmful to our bodies as a slow, accumulated poison linked to Alzheimer’s disease, birth defects and many concerns.

Any benefits attributed to fluoride are due not to fluoride at all, but to better nutrition hygiene and supervision.

Aluminum may have many good uses, but human ingestion is not one of them. JOAN ZEENO, MIAMI

WHETHER you agree with Labor’s latest plan to tax the socalled rich or not, one thing is guaranteed – they will waste it. ROD WATSON, SURFERS PARADISE