YOUR VIEWS

IT’S devastating to see Queensland in such a state of economic disaster with thousands of businesses going to the wall, including the state’s vital tourism and hospitality industry.

Business owners having to close their doors and simply walk away when this government could come to their rescue by opening up the borders, that would generate tens of thousands of jobs, and a big welcome of the tourists dollars injection, which apart from the mining export revenue, is Queensland’s economic survival lifeline.

However what amazes me is the fact that the Governor of Queensland, the Honourable Paul de Jersey, a former judge appointed by the Queen as head of the State whose main constitutional responsibility is to ensure Queensland enjoys a stable Government, which is certainly not the case in Queensland today, but is failing to use that authority.

The Governor-general Sir John Kerr sacked the Whitlam Labor Government in 1975 for incompetence, which the Palaszczuk circus is also guilty of, so what is the point of having a Governor in place who hasn’t the authority to dismiss an incompetent state government guilty of gross mismanagement, but instead a regular cocktail party host for dignitaries?

KEN WADE, TWEED HEADS

RE Emily Toxward article on Ashmore Plaza (GCB 21/5), I wish to add another side from Ashmore Plaza Shopping Centre’s tenants and locals complaining about residents

from the nearby Cotlew Manor and “undesirable types” visiting the centre.

Cotlew Manor is home to a variety of people who all suffer with varying degrees of mental illness, intellectual and physical disabilities who have been dealt a very poor hand in the card game of life.

For most of them it is not a result of self abuse or anything they have done personally which sees them in the circumstances they are in. Quite simply they cannot cope in the real world.

Cotlew Manor is owned by a family who have run the facility for decades. Lee Tsiboukas and his father and mother John and Helen are living saints and look after all of their residents like family.

For anyone to suggest that the issues at Ashmore Plaza, particularly in relation to Cotlew Manor residents asking for money, are caused because they do not get enough to eat is purely fanciful.

The Cotlew Manor residents live in a clean, well run, caring environment where their ample meals (six a day) are provided and their medications are administered in a controlled way. Most also receive daily support from carer organisations such as Oz Care.

I am yet to witness any hint of violence or aggression shown by any residents at Cotlew Manor and would have thought I would have, if it existed, having visited the place twice a week, 52 weeks a year for more than a decade to visit a relative.

In my experience most of them fall over themselves to be polite and to say hello when visitors arrive.

If there are any issues at Ashmore Plaza with any persons visiting then I believe it is a matter for the police as it is everywhere else.

To tag Cotlew Manor and its unfortunate residents as the cause of problems that exist in virtually in every suburb across society is unjust. They may be disadvantaged and challenging, but they are human beings and they too have rights.

PAUL WILSON, VARSITY LAKES

WHILE Queenslanders have been very conscious of the necessary precautions to take during COVID-19, the same cannot be said of New South Wales residents, especially in parts of Sydney. Many Sydney beach goers have behaved as though there was no serious virus in their midst to the extent that popular beaches had to be closed.

One wonders if the closure of two Sydney eastern suburbs schools on Tuesday reflects this lackadaisical attitude.

Could it be that Premier Palaszczuk does not fully trust the actions of her southern counterparts hence explaining her government’s stance on border closures?

Only time will tell.

KEN JOHNSTON, ROCHEDALE STH

LIFE is full of little surprises.

And the Gold Coast Mayor’s siding with the Premier is one them.

Unlike the LNP who see nothing wrong with opening our border

we have two leaders who have the intestinal fortitude to rise above those who oppose them.

D.J. FRASER, CURRUMBIN

I FOUND Yvette D’Ath’s letter in the GCB (27/5) rather laughable. Nowhere did she mention any achievements by her Labor government in the last five years, mainly because there haven’t been any.

All she does is tell us what Labor will do in the future. Great, we should put our faith in an incompetent band who have done nothing except put us $100,000,000,000 in debt. No thanks. This is not an LNP endorsement as they lack leadership & quality members.

RICHARD GAGIE, ORMEAU

RE: article on pages 4 & 5 of Tuesday’s Bulletin regarding the development of cane lands in the vicinity of Norwell Valley.

As a former primary producer dating back to 1948 in southern Queensland, now residing since 1984 on the Gold Coast, I wish to again express my concern that arable land in the area above is threatened with urban development.

This must not happen if an alternative use can be found for such land.

In my opinion, it is a tragedy that the beautiful soils of Toowoomba and Moreton Bay areas have already been taken for urban development.

GEORGE HANNAFORD, GOLD COAST