Letters Little more hope The two major parties don’t represent me, and what I want for this country. But I feel a little more hope than I usually do before a federal election – because the Greens have a real chance of winning this seat. How heartening it would be if my values – on matters such as climate change and the treatment of refugees – were to have greater voice in Canberra. Sarah Armstrong Mullumbimby
Drug law reform Question for candidates of Richmond electorate: What is your policy on drug law reform (not just medicinal cannabis)? Debbie Turner Ocean Shores
Cooking with gas As a visitor from Queensland I am impressed by the region’s environmental consciousness and activism. In the May 11, 2016, Echo I was overwhelmed with the enthusiasm and effort demonstrated by the Knitting Nannas Against Gas.
This is a compliment coming from an oil and gas worker of 30 years. My nanna had a sharp eye and always set an example. So with a heavy heart I have to expose that most restaurants in Byron Bay cook with natural gas. Don McMillan Brookfield Qld Q If you want to see the north-
ern rivers declared a CSG exclusion zone then please take the time to write a submission to the NSW Draft North Coast Plan. Submissions close on June 2 and should be emailed to northcoast@ planning.nsw.gov.au. Despite public assurances it appears that both the state and federal governments are still promoting the ‘potential’ for CSG mining in the northern rivers. Until our region is declared an exclusion zone this issue will continue to bubble away like the Condamine River in SE Queensland (due to CSG drilling in the area). Not only is CSG being promoted in the Draft North Coast Plan state government document but it has also been
revealed that a NSW government promotional CD was handed out to thousands of mining company executives promoting CSG opportunities on the north coast at a recent mining conference. Now who is running the show, the politicians we elect? The bureaucrats? Or the multinational mining companies? Clearly it appears that the people are being told one thing and the corporate donors another. It’s time to let the NSW government know once and for all that the northern rivers should be an exclusion zone and this needs to be articulated (and promoted) in the final version of the North Coast Plan. Cr Jeff Johnson Lennox Head
Corporate capitalism Libertarianism, and its current radical offshoot, neoliberalism, is the backbone of today’s globalised system of corporate capitalism. Phillip Frazer (Echo, May 18) does a good job in articulating its essential features, although neoliberalism needs to be
Letters to the Editor Send to Letters Editor Michael McDonald, fax: 6684 1719 email: editor@echo.net.au Deadline: Noon, Friday. Letters longer than 200 words may be cut. Letters already published in other papers will not be considered. Please include your full name, address and phone number for verification purposes.
understood as both the byproduct of the 18th century Scottish enlightenment and reflective of the ‘shared mentalities’ of today’s establishment powerbrokers. As Owen Jones insists, we need to understand how neoliberalism has neutralised the social in favour of the market and how its tentacles reach into the most routine aspects of everyday lives, including our own. Its ascendancy in western countries, and particularly in the US, came about in large part through ideas peddled by displaced anti-communist European intellectuals and home-grown ideologues who, for various reasons, argued for the centrality of the free market in all things, at the same time as opposing ‘big government’. As noted in Merchants of Doubt, these same people occupied key positions in think tanks opposed to action on climate change, acid rain, the ozone hole, and in many cases tobacco, maintaining that
THE
this was big brother interfering in the affairs of private citizens. These days, the offspring of neoliberal architects like Friedman, Von Hayek, Thatcher, Reagan and the rest are ensconced in various theatres of the establishment, presiding over what Tariq Ali refers to as the ‘extreme centre’ of political culture. The task facing progressives is to unravel/unpack/dismantle the assumptions peddled by advocates of neoliberalism – namely, that we have reached the ‘end of history’ and that ‘there is no alternative’. The Ngara Institute, based in Mullumbimby, is dedicated to the task of exposing neoliberalism’s illusions, its violent and dehumanising effects, and to asserting that another world is indeed possible. Richard Hil Ngara Institute
Jobs and growth Let’s contemplate the meaning of ‘Jobs and Growth’. Growth is measured in inflated
numbers, dollars. Buyers get less for hours worked. Good for profits. House prices keep rising. Terrific if you own one. So do the number of man years required to pay for one. The real gains are with the developers and bankers. Primary producers receive less, enabling profit growth to retail cartels. There is mortal competition for profits between suppliers and buyers. It’s free enterprise, all is fair. Growers can’t afford to attract resident workers. So bring in the backpackers and guest workers. It helps keep wages down in the rest of the economy. That’s supply and demand! Who can’t find a job? Don’t blame yourself for not trying hard enough. You made an essential contribution to supply-and-demand’s unemployment pool. That is the market working. Some people just don’t get it. It’s a game of pass-the-parcel. If you’re in, another is out. Sometimes you retire from continued on next page
RAILS
THE RAILWAY FRIENDLY BAR, BYRON BAY 6685 7662 • therailsbyronbay.com
AND THE FAMOUS
RAILS kitchen
Thursday 26 May
DAN HANNAFORD Friday 27 May
BOHO COWBOYS Saturday 28 May
BETTY BLISSETT Sunday 29 May
SQUEEK LEMAIRE Monday 30 May
NICK CUNNINHAM Tuesday 31 May
STEPHEN LOVELIGHT Wednesday 1 June
PURLING BROOK North Coast news daily: www.echonetdaily.net.au
The Byron Shire Echo May 25, 2016 9