Responding to John Cameron
The second sentence of John Cameron’s comment in the February 27, 2024 edition of the Gippsland Times is commendable for the shrewd observation that a transition to net zero emissions will involve “immense cost and extreme complexity”. He follows this with an impressive sounding set of figures and observations, and a truth that “Australia is undertaking a gigantic socioeconomic, environmental and geopolitical experiment on a scale that is unprecedented, with many unknowns, uncertain outcomes, and considerable risks”.
The most dangerous part of John’s concerns and the implied argument against such a transition is that he is only half-right. That allowance overlooks the numerous occasions where he misrepresents the financial costs from the 2023 Net Zero Australia report and competing government priorities, raises irrelevant facts about geological time, and invokes the so-called “drug dealer defence” in reference to fossil fuel exports from Russia.
John fails to meet F. Scott Fitzgerald’s test of a ‘first-rate intelligence’, “the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function”. In failing to directly and honestly address the real unprecedented socioeconomic, environmental and geopolitical experiment that is catastrophic climate change, he shies away from the uncomfortable truth that the null hypothesis – continuing business as usual – will be vastly more expensive and complex than a rapid transition to net zero.
There are a plethora of individually simple and low cost actions that people, communities, businesses and governments can each take to reduce emissions toward zero. The most reckless part of this transition is having waited so long to start planting the literal and metaphorical trees under which future generations will shelter.
Jordan Cowley
Sale
Electricity should return to state government
It was excellent reading Matthew Ridgeway’s article (Letters, 03/03/24) on our current electricity suppliers – it is totally hopeless and should return to a Govt entity as said in the piece. Currently we don’t know who owns what, is it Chinese owned or super funds? There is no one accountable for the ancient infrastructure now falling at any weather event and also starting fires. It is the same problem with water, there are too many authorities and we are paying a fortune for the desalination plant to keep it functioning ready for the next drought in lieu of managing our water supplies.
Jo Skinner
Sale
Many thanks
THE Lions Club of Sale wishes to express their heartfelt gratitude to the people of Sale and surrounding areas for their continued and unwavering support during the past twelve months.
By supporting the Saturday morning Lions sausage sizzles, Carols by Candlelight, Lions Christmas Cake project and many other events undertaken by our Club, you have enabled the Lions Club of Sale, as a community service organisation, to support local, national and international needs. Our Club had funded assistance dogs for hearing and medical alerts, giving those people much needed support.
Our Club has supported the Licola Lions Wilderness Village by donating $300,000 to assist in the refurbishment of staff accommodation. A further $10,000 was donated for state-wide flood relief. The Club has supported local health service, kindergartens, CFA and sporting clubs.
In co-operation with other Lions Clubs in the district, Lions Club of Sale has been involved in free vision screening at schools. This important project assists in determining the eye health of primary school children.
The Lions Club of Sale is involved in and supports many other projects, large and small, too numerous to mention. We couldn’t have achieved so much without you.
The Lions Club of Sale wishes the local community a safe and happy festive season and we look forward to your support and our involvement in the community in the coming year.
If you are interested in joining the largest community service club in the world and would like to serve your community, please contact Sale Lions at secretary.salelions@gmail.com
Frank Birthisel
President of Lions Club of Sale
Land tax hits renters
Many Gippslanders will be suffering bill shock this month as the result of the Allan Labor Government’s land tax changes begins to hit mailboxes and hip pockets. While my colleagues in The Nationals and I opposed the changes, the Allan Labor Government last year pushed through legislation that reduced the valuation threshold for land tax exemptions from $300k to just $50k. Landowners can expect a new land tax bill of $500 for taxable landholdings valued between $50,000 and $100,000 and $975 for land between $100,000 and $300,000. These new land taxes will simply be passed on to renters. Keep in mind that Victorians already pay the highest taxes – $5074 per person – of any state in Australia, including the highest property taxes per capita in the nation at $2120. In the midst of a rental crisis, the Allan Labor Government should be looking at ways to incentivise additional rental stock rather than driving people out of the market.
Danny O’Brien
Member for Gippsland South
Cat curfew Pffftt… good luck with that
Had a stray visit me yesterday. Nice kitty. Stayed around all morning. Lay down on my bed texting my daughter, and the stray cat fell asleep on ME!
Anyway, I enjoyed its company, but it kept coming back. I scanned it for a microchip and got its number. Seven digits. It had a tattoo, so I think this kitty is loved.
My only issue with cats is the threat to other critters that are about. Marsupial rodents and native birds mostly are a worry for me. It matters not what time because I know cats will be cats and adapt their “free time” to suit their purrrsuits.
Most of all, my view about pets is, that if they are above your ability to care for them, or you cannot separate them from other wildlife while not in your care (you are at work etc.), then, you should not have such pets. It is a stiff view I suppose, but really, I get my animal appreciations from wildlife that visit me. Awesome stuff. You may be surprised how wildlife get to know you if one acknowledges them. Playing “peek-a-boo” with a wild cockatoo perched on the guttering through my kitchen window a few times. That was ok. So they come here now and then and you know they are getting familiar with you.
Attitudes around pet ownership need to change, and in some cases, domesticating rare species may be a key to re-establishing numbers in the wild. It is up to humanity and its communities to decide the moralities about the keeping of pets, and we can always improve in what we currently have in place. If you want a cat, yes, it is more than keeping it indoors at night. A proper aviary size cage in the back yard with a play jungle is essential in my view. A decent space for climbing and running. Enclose your whole back yard if you can, then no wild life get in, and your cat can not get out.
Enjoy your pets people, and if they visit me, I will scan them for a microchip. I wish I could have a pet, but my life situation disqualifies me from such, as my standards are too high for myself on that matter.
Matthew Ridgeway
Sale
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