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 You Were Made For This, a bold, sharp, gripping debut novel about a couple whose perfect life in the Swedish countryside is not what it seems. It’s a gripping page-turner that provocatively explores the darker side of marriage, motherhood and friendship.

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THE Gold Coast is one of the fastest growing cities in Australia because others learn what locals know – we enjoy a great lifestyle and are a modern city.

Our city is built on small and medium-sized businesses. Locals expect Government to back our city in, and I am committed to doing exactly that.

That’s why the Federal Coalition is committed to reducing taxes for small businesses so they can invest, hire and grow. It’s why we have delivered over $1 billion dollars to widen the M1. It’s why we have funded all of the stages of the light rail.

Similarly, it is why we are now deep in the middle of rolling out the NBN across the Gold Coast. We are delivering this six years to eight years sooner compared to Labor’s “fantasy fibre” plan. And, we are also saving taxpayers around $30 billion – your hardearned money.

These are the reasons I call Brisbane resident, Labor Senator Murray Watt, a lightweight.

Not only would Labor’s plan not see NBN on the Gold Coast for many more years, it would cost us all billions of dollars more and drive up internet bills by more than $500 a year. They are now playing catch-up with a so-called NBN guarantee which piggy-backs on work the ACCC already has under way.

The only guarantee under Labor is you’ll pay more and wait longer for better broadband. The Labor Party are treating Gold Coasters as mugs, hoping we have all forgotten about Labor’s disastrous NBN plan.

And to rub salt in the wound, Labor proposes big tax increases on Gold Coast businesses who power our local economy and employ tens of thousands of locals just to pay for all of their extra spending. STEVEN CIOBO, FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MONCRIEFF

IN his book 2052: A Global Forecast

for the Next Forty Years, Jorgen Randers states that world population is likely to stabilize in the 2040s. This is due to increasing urbanisation and standards of living.

Only Africa still has significant population growth because of the greater survival rate of children not more births. Japan and some European countries are already experiencing negative population growth.

Certainly, if the Australian population is to reach 50 million by the 2040s it is important to maintain high levels of immigration. I previously pointed out that this high rate of migration has significant costs and benefits in the short term and that it is important they are “shared equally”. There are also long-term benefits and costs as well.

The costs are mainly caused by higher usage of natural resources and the need for their replenishment. These costs are not insurmountable but will rely on an innovative energy policy.

The new infrastructure that is built must be viable until the end of its design lifespan. Fossil fuels are nearing peak supply and will only become more expensive. Both fossil

fuels and uranium have huge costs associated with waste disposal.

Once energy supplies are guaranteed then so too is water supply by using solar powered salt filters. This is the case for agricultural production as well as human consumption. Further enhancements in technology may solve natural resource replenishment problems with a reduction in current environmental impact and a large increase in population.

There are also economic benefits from increased economies of scale and many more industries reaching critical mass (e.g. car industry). In the long term, increasing population density can also reduce the unit costs of transportation, housing, communication and defence infrastructure. ED DONOVAN, LABRADOR

DEAR Radish,

Firstly I’m not sure if I am addressing a cartoon horse from decades ago or a vegetable. It would be much more fitting if you used your real name as I and most others do.

I began teaching in 1966 and retired in 2002. So yes, Radish, I was a teacher – for 37 years, 29 of those as a head of department in the one state high school in Brisbane that in my early days boasted almost 2000 students.

So I have been there, done that! And politics cannot be left out of the discussion about danger to teachers within schools. I hope that answers your question. KEN JOHNSTON, ROCHEDALE SOUTH