LETTERS
Letters - 300 words maximum and including full name, address and contact number - can be sent to The News, PO Box 588, Hastings 3915 or emailed to: team@mpnews.com.au
Shire’s less than perfect approach to road repairs How come the Romans, with no qualified engineers, could build roads that last 2000 years and are still going strong? {Mornington Peninsula Shire Council] can’t even fill a pothole that lasts one day. I watched a team of four, including one woman, fill a pothole the other day. Three stood around, doing nothing. One tossed a bit of hot mix in the hole then flipped the spade over and whacked it in once and then they all drove away. Elizabeth Drive in Rosebud is shocking. [The council] had a repair team in there last week but it left the major part of the road untouched and there are still huge dangerous potholes all over with circles painted around them. This road needs totally rebuilding from scratch. Not just a spray and patch. Philippe Morgan, Rosebud
Cyclists take care I write to support cycling on the Mornington Peninsula as an ideal way to exercise and see this beautiful area. However, as an older (quite a bit older than average) cyclist, I wish to ask those of you who are younger and fitter to provide some warning when you are about to pass. To be descended on by a fit and fast-moving group of fellow cyclists can be quite disconcerting and potentially dangerous. Wishing everyone a safe ride. Richard Doery, Blairgowrie
Don’t look back We have just had a referendum with the ultimatum of voting Yes or No, with a resounding No vote being the end result for the Mornington Peninsula Shire. Now we find out that our dysfunctional council wants to change the ward names from the colonial era, namely 1778, to go back 60,000 years to the recognised origin of our Aboriginal people (“Indigenous names sought for shire’s 11 new wards” The News 7/11/23). I say our people because, as far as I am concerned, we are one, and not black and white as the extremists say. For the council to want to change the Mornington Peninsula Shire ward names is ridiculous. Is this just a whim of fancy, what will they achieve, and at what cost to the ratepayers? Is it just for the councillors to feel good about themselves? For goodness sake get on the same planet and concentrate on the necessities and needs of the shire instead of living in fantasy land. David Lines, Tyabb
No was not enough Strewth, these No voters of the referendum are the pits. They won the referendum and they’re still peddling their ill-informed claptrap. Before the vote they told us the Aboriginals were going to take our land if we voted yes. The no vote won and now the Aboriginals are still going to take our land (“Lease is not title” Letters 31/10/23/23). Your correspondent is talking through his nether regions. Native title has never been or will be a threat. He is reviving the Tim Fisher “Bucket loads of entitlement” statement from way back when. All the first Australians wanted was a fair go and they’ve been denied it. John Cain, McCrae
Help homeless, not flags Hear, hear to brilliant and eloquent words (“Council’s ‘discriminatory’ choice of flags to fly” Letters 31/10/23). I wholeheartedly agree, and with Cr Susan Bissinger who also queried the flying of these flags (“Councillor to undergo ‘development training’” The News 24/10/23). It is time the shire removed any and all flags in excess to the four stated in the Mornington Peninsula’s charter. The council’s responsibility is wholly to ratepayers purely for local business rather than a voice for the government of the day. Otherwise, why are we paying rates? Council is a local body funded by us, the ratepayers and, as such, councillors should definitely not be pushing a government LGBTQIA+
agenda with our rates and on our time. Coloured stripes on their flag represent MAPS, which is minor-attracted people, which I believe means pedophiles, which is a criminal offence, and most people would be opposed to have our council and our money publicly be seen to support it. The cost of these flag poles is $40,000 each. We have two extra at the three shire offices of Mornington, Rosebud and Hastings, which is $240,000 unnecessarily spent, wasted. As recently reported we now have a record 200,000 homeless people of which 100,000 are in Victoria, that is 50 per cent here in our state. This is a disgrace. What an appalling legacy after nine years of Dan Andrew’s governing. Helping our homeless is a far better use of our rates than flagpoles and flags. It is hard to believe Cr Bissinger was ordered to submit to “development training”. She is doing an excellent job as a representative of her constituents. Is there a hint of misogyny here or is there another reason? Monica Martini, Mornington
Put brakes on tax If someone buys a property in Sorrento for $1.78million to rent out to tourrorists and decides best way to go is Airbnb and rents out for 2O days at $6000. Then they deduct such things as interest, supplies and maintenance of $107,569, one might wonder if $5000 for toilet paper might be a bit much and another $10,000 maintenance cost is a bit high. I wonder how much personal expense has been allocated to the rental on the basis that the ATO will probably never get around to auditing? So, we end up with a loss to set against an executive salary to reduce taxes of $101,569. When applying “proportional negative gearing” principles, only 5.5 per cent of expenses would be deductible, based on days rented out of 365 available, only $5586 of expenses would be allowed, thus a taxable amount of $414 and even more if the ATO did an audit and found all the illegitimate deductions taken. I am guessing that would drive these “land bankers” to rent full time. And don’t get me started on the tax breaks they get when they sell the property. Joe Lenzo, Safety Beach
There’s no going over the rainbow in bird count ALTHOUGH counting continues and the winner won’t be announced until December, the rainbow lorikeet is leading the field when comes to being the most commonly spotted bird. BirdLife Australia received more than 100,000 lists accounting for more than 3.6 million birds seen during last month’s week-long bird count. Preliminary analysis of the lists, which featured more than 658 bird species showed rainbow lorikeets leading the flock with more than 420,000 sightings. The colourful parrots were ahead of noisy miners (220,000) and magpies (154,000). “The enthusiasm with which Australians have taken to the Aussie Bird Count has been outstanding,” BirdLife Australia's national public affairs manager Sean Dooley said. Over the past 10 years, the Aussie Bird Count had helped raise the profile of Australia’s bird
life and encouraged thousands of people around the country to connect with nature. “In addition to being good for our mental health, bird watching is often the first step towards nature conservation. We can’t protect something if we don’t know how it is faring in the first place.” Dooley said that with nearly one in six bird species in Australia at risk of extinction from threats such as climate change, habitat loss, fires, and invasive species, BirdLife Australia relied on data to inform priorities and insights from monitoring projects such as the count to help shape its bird conservation strategy. The strategy aimed to halt bird extinctions by 2032 and overall bird declines by 2050. To find out more about Australia’s biggest citizen science event go to: aussiebirdcount.org.au Keith Platt
Christian approach It is November and we have seen the running of the Melbourne Cup and Remembrance Day is coming and in the stores there are Christmas decorations and Christmas items already on sale. The stores are starting much earlier to cash in on the Christmas season as they do when straight after Christmas they start selling Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies for the Easter festivities to make more sales and profits and the government gets more GST. At the same time there is an attack on the Lord’s Prayer being said at the beginning of meetings, such as the beginning of state and federal parliaments and council meetings, which was the case recently at Frankston Council. If Australians do not want Christianity then there should be no Christian festivals and Christmas and Easter should be abandoned and the Easter and Christmas holidays should be scrapped without being replaced, which will add to Australia’s productivity. We should stop the hypocrisy and decide if we want to be a Christian nation or non-Christian. nation. Russell Morse, Karingal
PC is boring How I agree with the call to “cheer up” Christmas along Main Street, Mornington (“Decorate Main Street to ‘cheer up’ Christmas” Letters 7/11/23). It has become so boringly politically correct these days. Even the little main street in Korumburra is better than Mornington’s and I’m sure their budget would be a lot less than affluent Mornington. Carole Saunders, Mornington
3MP.COM.AU DOWNLOAD 3MP FROM THE APP STORE OR GOOGLE PLAY
Mornington News
14 November 2023
PAGE 27
