Glowing in the dark
They are a weird mob, the NT politicians. Every time there is a crisis at the Ranger uranium mine one of them volunteers to drink water contaminated by radionuclides and a cocktail of other industrial strength contaminants.
Paul Everingham, Barry Coulter, Marshall Perron and now Fred Finch.
This "glow in the dark drink" is becoming so popular with the NT government members that ERA is considering piping it directly to their homes.
One way to solve an excess water problem, I guess. Perhaps they'll do the same with the tailings and spent fuel rods.
Richard Ledgar
Darwin
Ord River scheme
The intention of the Northern Territory Government to expand the Ord River irrigation scheme to the Keep River black soil plains just inside the NT/WA border shows that this government has an appalling lack of understanding of the critical environmental situation facing the world today.
Land clearing is a major contributor to atmospheric pollution and world governments are meeting later this month in an attempt to find some method of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Even the Federal Opposition have declared that land clearing is the greatest environmental threat facing Australia today.
But not the Northern Territory Government!
This latest outrageous proposal, coming on top of opening up of 440,000 hectares of land in the Katherine-Daly Rivers area for intensive agricultural and horticultural development, the granting of a large area of land in the Lambell's Lagoon area for growing bananas for export by a company renowned for its ruthless exploitation of rural workers world-wide, the yet to be announced intention to allocate large tracts of land in the Berry Springs area to selected horticulturalists and the unchecked clearing of rural blocks shows that this government and the ever-silent Territory Opposition have adopted the same philosophy as the Federal Government — if something smells of money then damn the environment.
C.M. Friel
Alawa NT
To New Zealanders
The Royal New Zealand Society for the Protection of Animals (RNZSPA) is currently circulating a petition for a Citizens Initiated Referendum on the question: "Should the production of eggs from battery hens be prohibited within five years of the referendum?" For a referendum to be conducted, 230,000 signatures are needed, of which more than 180,000 are already collected. But time is short. Unless the remainder are collected in the next few weeks this historic opportunity to achieve important animal welfare reform will be lost.
Can you help? If you are a New Zealander, have friends or family resident in Now Zealand, or if you have an electoral address in New Zealand, Animal Liberation NSW has petition forms available for signing. Switzerland and Sweden have already shown the way; Switzerland by banning the battery cage; Sweden by legislating for the phasing in of more humane methods of egg production to replace the discredited battery cage system.
The battery hen is the most miserable and exploited of all animals currently farmed for food. This situation can and will be changed. Each one of us must accept a share of the responsibility. To sign a petition takes but a moment or two but offers a lifetime of relief from suffering for the battery hen. Please contact Animal Liberation, (02) 212 6253, if you can help.
Margaret Setter
Sydney
CARE and Moi
We were alarmed at the report that CARE Australia had "bribed" the Kenyan dictator, President Daniel Arap Moi, with ten tonnes of rice. The Chairman of CARE, Malcolm Fraser, claimed that the food aid was to be used to feed the refugees and the poor in Kenya. What we know about Mr. Moi and his government is that food aid is a weapon to be used against the opposition and to buttress the starving poor into joining his ruling but unpopular party, KANU.
The Roman Catholic Vicar-General of Kenya, Boniface Lele, has strongly criticised the government for selectively distributing famine relief food to KANU supporters. According to a report in ENI Bulletin, starving people are forced to register as members of KANU in order to get the relief food.
Our concern is whether CARE is aware of the practice or doesn't actually care? The Moi regime has also been doing little to stop the rape of refugee women (mainly Somalians) by its security forces. In fact, although Kenya is a host to several thousand refugees, aid agencies are always frustrated by the Kenyan officials. Could this be the reason why CARE was trying to placate the dictator? We feel that the responsibility should be to expose the problems and not try to entrench them.
The giving of food aid to Moi also raises greater issues of the responsibility of aid agencies in propping up dictators like Moi and Mobutu (whose thugs have been hired to provide security in the Rwanda refugee camps). The foreign currency brought in by the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (for refugee allowances), the hotel occupancy by the aid workers and the soldiers on rest and recreation leave from Somalia have been a godsend to President Moi.
Moi is intolerant to any criticism and a massive crackdown, similar to the crackdown of 1986-88, is currently taking place. Even the church people criticising the misuse of famine relief are risking their lives. In 1990, Bishop Muge, who criticised the government on various issues, was assassinated. CARE is doing the Australian people a disservice by diverting food aid for Rwanda to prop up the Kenyan dictator.
Ndungi wa Mungai
President, Union for Democracy and Development in Kenya
Rev Richard Wootton
Executive Officer, Australian Human Rights Foundation
[Edited for length.]
Medical co-payments
Any form of co-payment for medical services should be strenuously opposed.
As a protest against co-payments for chemical prescriptions I wrote to the then Minister of Health, Brian Howe, on 9/12/91. In the letter I told him "... I attended a workshop conducted by the Office of the Aged some years ago. We were told about a woman of Collie WA, who faced with payment for a specialised medication, previously free, walked out of the chemist's shop without the prescription. A few days later she was found dead in her house. We were assured there would be other cases. Accusations made that day would be on official files somewhere ..."
The above evidence convinced me and I'm sure it should convince others that co-payments for medical services are murder."
Richard Chiffings
Gosnells WA
Trojan horses
Beware the Trojan horses on the Upper House ticket. You may be tricked into voting for a party you don't support.
For example, preferences of the Seniors Party go direct to the Shooters Party and Coalition preferences go direct to Fred Nile's CTA.
A vote for John Fahey in the Upper House is also a vote for Fred Nile.
Don't waste your vote on a single issue party. Make sure your vote works hard for you by voting Democrat.
I will work to protect the State's triple A rating and our last old growth forests.
I have worked for community groups all over the State in the last seven years and pledge to do the same after March 25th.
Richard Jones MLC
Australian Democrat