LETTERS Greener approach Alan Reid's letter (“Power to India”, The News 13/10/15) is wrong on so many levels it smacks of the intent to be misleading. The world is facing global warming above the assumed reasonably safe level of two degrees by the end of the century, and the time of burning carbon intensive fuels is well and truly over. His pronouncement that the Greens are hell bent on denying developing nations a chance to become as destructive to the environment as the developed nations were over the past 200 years, is a falsehood. The Greens would like to see sustainable development of all nations and we in the so called developed nations have to help the developing nations in this endeavour. First we have to give an example by changing our unsustainable way of living and hand over sustainable energy production methods to them. The fact is, if we keep doing business as usual, in the way we treat the environment and encourage the developing world to do the same, it will be these nations that will face the worst effects of global warming and the climactic effects this will produce. The Greens do not want to deny them the chance of a sustainable life. On the contrary, we advocate a more equal way of living for all people on the only planet we have. It is time to set the myth to rest that it is OK to dig up, pump out or otherwise develop more greenhouse gas producing fuels. Many places in the world have realised this and some nations are 100 per cent carbon neutral in their energy production. Australia is one of the nations that could easily produce all its energy from renewable sources, but for the will of our government to make it happen. The poor of the world will not thank us if we destroy the biosphere of our planet for purely for profit. I feel Mr Reid is promoting such a way, and I cannot agree with such a dead end view of life on this world. Rupert Steiner, Balnarring
Reef protection I understand the passion of the local community to protect the Great Barrier Reef and I respect their views. We all care deeply about the reef and that is why as minister I have taken historic steps to protect the reef and put in place the $2 billion Reef 2050 sustainability plan. When I came to office there were five major plans for capital dredge disposal in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park. Those plans are now gone, so five has become zero. I have implemented a ban on capital dredge disposal in the entire marine park. We know that science is important to understand how to improve the health of the reef and improve our management. For this reason I have established the National Environmental Science Program with a tropical water quality research hub with $32 million in funding. These and other ground new measures we’ve put in place led UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee to praise Australia as a world leader in its management of the reef and to recommend against it being listed as “in danger”. We do acknowledge that there are ongoing challenges, including climate change which is a threat to reefs around the world.
I am confident that we have strong environmental policies in place to ensure Australia plays its part in tackling that challenge. We are meeting our emissions reductions targets for 2020 and on a per capita basis, our 2030 target is equal to the highest in the G20. On Thursday, a meeting was organised with a small group of GetUp representatives and local residents at my office to discuss their concerns about the reef and climate change. I was not notified that there would also be a large crowd outside the office, however I took the opportunity to speak with them. I then invited them all inside and about 30 people came to chat with me and I spent more than an hour with them. Greg Hunt, MP for Flinders and Environment Minister
PM’s praise The new Prime Minister [Malcolm Turnbull] must surely be joking. Praising Tony Abbott as a great prime minister at the NSW Liberal Party love in. Love his sense of humour. Next, he will be telling us that Joe Hockey was the best treasurer Australia has ever had. Is Malcolm trying to turn the bull? Denise Hassett, Mt Martha
Roundabout wrong In response to the letter from the Bruce and Jane MacDonald (“Roundabout support”, The News 13/10/15) about the proposed roundabouts in Wooralla Drive, Mt Eliza, I would offer the following: Firstly, I am in full agreement about the need to slow traffic – particularly down the hill towards the 80 kph zone – it’s just that a roundabout is not the only option. We certainly don’t have any roundabouts in Tower Rd, except for the overplanted one at the top of the hill, which is absolutely necessary and appropriate given the number of intersecting roads. What we have in Tower Rd are two “slow points” which are effective traffic calming devices. If the aim is to slow the traffic down the hill, surely the installation of chicanes, slow points or even speed humps would be more effective and certainly save hundreds of thousands of our dollars. This could be done anywhere between the top of the hill and Maughan Rd. Roundabouts are an excellent solution when properly placed as they allow traffic from intersecting roads a reasonable and equitable chance to enter the flow. This is clearly evident at the Moorooduc Road/Wooralla Drive intersection. I would question whether there is a reasonable case for this at both Wooralla Drive sites? In addition, the gradient and sheer drop at the Brighton Crescent site will be a serious and therefore expensive engineering challenge using money that may be better allocated within the shire. Secondly, I have still been unable to find any corroborated evidence of fatalities at either intersection. This is not to say there have been no accidents on that road, just none at the proposed roundabout sites. I am willing to be corrected on this on seeing some actual data. Greg Dixon, Mt Eliza
Right of passage As a pet owner, I empathise with the anguish of a hurt animal, however as a cyclist I feel the let-
ter (“Ring the bell”, The News 13/10/15) lacked vital information to enable a balanced opinion. The path in Karingal referred to is surely the Peninsula Link path as this is often frequented by “Lycra-clad” cyclists and is the only shared thoroughfare in the area. I also feel that had your pet been leashed, this would have been a strongly argued point in your piece and certainly an avoidable accident. I also question how the cyclist managed to get back on her bike and ride off if she didn't stop to begin with. This track is a shared path for all, but does not extend to off-leash dogs being exercised. There are designated areas for this (which can be found on the Frankston Council website) and it is an offence that often causes issues. Calling the cyclist careless is possibly correct as we didn't bear witness, however, allowing an animal to carelessly roam a very busy shared path is equally (if not more) irresponsible. Mark Williams, Carrum Downs
Helper thanked I write to thank the kind lady who stopped, assisted and drove my daughter to the Rosebud hospital following a collision among a peloton (group) of Round the Bay riders, of which my daughter was one, at the corner of Carmichael St and Point Nepean Rd on Sunday 11 October. Inquiries the next day at the hospital revealed no details of this wonderful lady, to whom I am very grateful. Fortunately, my daughter sustained only minor injuries. Incidentally, some riders in other mishaps were admitted to this hospital with far worse injuries. I would appreciate being able to thank this kind lady personally for her concern and kindness to my daughter so, if she reads this, or if anyone knows who she is, please call me on 5985 9537. Peter Longmire, Rye
Concreting Somers It started as an idea around seven years ago and was described as a soft meandering path. The group called the Somers Residents Association promoted the project in a newsletter. A petition requesting a show of support for this project was circulated among the residents and the results tabled. Imagine the response of the residents when these figures of support were submitted to Mornington Peninsula Shire to support the development of a three to five metre wide slash through our natural nature strip vegetation to lay down a proposed 2.2 meter wide concrete path. Somers residents will be paying for this ugly path - $1700 if it passes in front of your premises or $ 400 plus, if you are a ratepayer living anywhere in Somers. This type of ratepayer pays path project has never been done on the peninsula before. The council said it has been but has still failed to tell us where or when. There is a massive groundswell of disbelief and opposition. Red and white “no concrete paths” signs are visible on the properties of many of the Somers residents. Many are opposed to this project and want a clear and transparent survey of all ratepayers to show honestly the level of support for the paths. Many ratepayers are writing to their local MP
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Power cut THE state government is offering “a new tool” to help users save money on their power bills, following the release of figures showing that nine out of 10 Victorians are paying too much for electricity. Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio says the Victorian Energy Compare independent price comparison tool lets Victorians enter data online from their smart meter or power bill to find the best offer. The average Victorian household spends about $2800 on energy bills every year, which represents about 2.3 per cent of the average household income and up to about seven per cent of income for lower income households. Ms D’Ambrosio says 90 per cent of Victorians who have compared their offers using the energy comparison tool have found electricity offers that could save them money, with half of them finding offers that could save more than $330 a year. Victorian Energy Compare replaces My Power Planner. “It is the only independent comparison tool in the market that has every generally available electricity, gas and solar tariff and lets consumers use their own energy usage to find the deal that can save them most on their bill,” Ms D’Ambrosio said. “Despite the fact that regularly reviewing energy plans is proven to be one of the most effective ways to save on energy bills, one in three Victorians have never switched electricity or gas retailers. Victorian Energy Compare can be found at www.vic.gov.au/victorianenergycompare
Talk about Christ THE “Hebrew roots of the Christian faith” will be discussed next week at a meeting at Frankston’s Full Blessing Church. David Ward says results of his studies into the origins of Christianity were “amazing and have challenged much of what I thought I knew about Jesus Christ”. “For starters, I asked myself about this name Jesus, how many babies born in Israel are called Jesus? Never happened. In Mexico perhaps, but not Israel or any other Jewish community,” Mr Ward said. “Turns out he had a name that was very common among Jews, it was Yeshua. This name means salvation and was a common contraction for Yahushua, or Joshua, which means Yah, and is short for Yahovah. Mr Ward’s discussion about Christianity starts at 8am, Saturday 24 October at the Full Blessing Church, 56 Yuille St, Frankston. Bookings: 0404 881 888. Cost: $7.50, including breakfast.
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and the councillors involved in this project approval process. The Somers Village Community Group will have a stall at the Somers Art Fair, Sunday 25 October with more material and the chance for discussion. Michelle Gregory, Somers
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Mornington News 20 October 2015