LETTERS No safety in program
Peta Murphy’s statements (“Safe Schools needed”, Letter, 8/3/16) are misleading. Roz Ward of La Trobe University, who developed this program, told the 2015 Melbourne Marxism conference that its purpose was to undermine the capitalist-imposed cultural and moral norms around sex, marriage, and the family. To make the program palatable she presented it as an anti-bullying measure, but it has nothing to do with bullying. Bullying for sexual reasons is a very minor reason for bullying. Further, if it was about bullying, it would present advice on how to stop bullying and what to do if bullied. Children as young as 11 are taught that their physical gender does not matter – their gender is whatever they feel it is. So, if a boy feels he is a girl, then he is a girl. Schools, instead of recommending psychiatric help for this delusion, are encouraging it. For example, Frankston High School encourages boys who feel that they are girls to dress in girl’s uniforms and use the girls’ toilets and changing rooms. This program directs children to the Minus18 website, where girls who think they might be boys are shown how to bind their chests to prevent their breasts from growing. It also tells children how to hide their trails so that their parents won’t be able to check what web sites they visit. This sexualisation of young children and the promotion of homosexuality and pathological gender dysphoria are psychologically damaging. If you are concerned for your children’s welfare, you should take action to prevent or stop this program being taught at your school. John Rodda, Safety Beach
hosting the naval sea cadets, and toured many facilities. It was down memory lane to visit the museum, superbly run by Warrant Officer Marty Grogan in company with many fine volunteers. We were old navy so it was delightful to inspect the training schools and note the technological advances. The commanding officer, his executive officer, his visit liaison officer and his command team made a personal contribution in their own weekend down time to welcome us back from a future in 1966. All involved should be commended, as well as all those outlets which accommodated and victualled us. Thanks should also to the wider Western Port and Mornington people who may have been unaware of our visit but they should not remain unremarked. They drive very safely. We lived among you once and it was nice to be back with you again, if only briefly. Whatever happened to those raw young men? Many of us returned to throng again. We were also honoured when decorated Vietnam veteran Dave Sabben of Mt Eliza bade us farewell. Mike Fogarty, Weston, ACT
Sorting time: Mt Eliza Rotarians Carolyn Such, Linda Morris, Judy Thompson and Janet Richards sort through items for their club’s annual garage sale being held at the Peninsula School on Saturday 2 April. Picture: Yanni
Boomers take stock for garage sale DVDs and second hand clothes. Breakfast and coffee will also be available. The annual garage sale is one of the club’s main ways of raising money for Rotary programs, many of which are community based. The garage sale runs 8am-3pm Saturday 2 April at the Peninsula School, Wooralla Drive, Mt Eliza (entrance gate 2, Melway 105 F/G4).
talking about 20 per cent reduction with an absolute minimum of 40 per cent by 2050. Today, we hear that February was the hottest on record. How often do we hear phrases like “the hottest on record...”; “it has never been so dry....”; “the worst storm to hit....” and “the highest flood ever recorded...”? Climate change is the most serious problem the world has had to face. Some countries take it seriously by implementing permanent means of reducing the CO2 in the atmosphere. Why then would a country, when every possible effort has been made to reduce CO2 emissions, decide to move their most experienced and knowledgeable climate scientists to another field and reduce the funding for climate science? Why would they plan to open huge coal mines when any other country would be finding alternatives to polluting the atmosphere with CO2? Does the news that our Great Barrier Reef is bleaching at an ever increasing rate not create panic with politicians? Australia desperately needs scientists who are creating progressive programs to avoid the above disasters. We need a scientist who understands and is prepared to act on climate change as a Minister for the Environment. Peter Strickland, Balnarring
other cabinet reshuffle before he dares and calls a double dissolution election, because I don’t believe Greg Hunt is up to run the portfolio he has held for far too long. Rupert Steiner, Balnarring Beach
My Vote is for sky rail the sooner the better. It seems the major parties are in disagreement again, with the Liberals calling for the elevated rail plans to be dumped and the local Liberals favouring undergrounding the railway. The Labor government, which committed to fix our traffic problems, believes that lifting the railway high over the many crossings would be cost effective. The cost of tunnelling from Mordialloc to Carrum in the bayside primary sand dune and the cost of defending the tunnel from the high water table, concrete corrosion and puddling from vibration is overlooked by the tunnel lobby. The travellers on the elevated railway will enjoy a great view, not locked into a spooky dark tube. Objectors, instead of frustrating the government on sky rail, how about getting it moving on the long awaited length of the Mornington Peninsula Freeway from Springvale Rd towards Moorabbin. Les Williams, Edithvale
I do wish that Michael G Free would stop misquoting me (“Illegal proof”, Letters 8/3/16). At no stage did I say that Tony Abbott “invented” the phrase “illegal Immigrant”. What I did say was that it was “coined” by him. If Michael G Free would care to look at a thesaurus, to coin a phrase means “as the saying goes”, “in a nutshell”, “axiomatically”,”platitudi nously”. No mention of the word invent. I hope Mr Free still enjoys reading those three large study books as I couldn’t give damn as to who invented “illegal Immigrant”. As far as my political preferences go, both Liberal and Labor parties are nothing more than pathetic shadows of what they once were. Because of his red herrings I can only assume he thinks gulag is more acceptable than concentration camp. The turmoil that the world populace is experiencing is down to George Dubyah, Tony Blair and, to a small extent, John Howard. Up until the invasion of Iraq there were no car bombings throughout the world and no Middle Eastern cities being destroyed as is in Syria and Libya or the hundreds of thousands of people being killed or displaced by America, Russia and the splinter groups. Why Mr Free mentioned baby Asha from Nepal is beyond me. He stated that Nepal was a “country with no war”, [but] Maoist terrorist groups have been operating in Nepal since 1996. The United Nation High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has deemed that Asha’s parents are refugees and not criminals and that goes for all those people in detention centres. John Cain, McCrae
DOWNSIZING baby boomers are among the main contributors of items for this year’s Rotary Club of Mt Eliza’s garage sale. The club has been collecting and sorting goods for the past three months for next month’s sale of collectible items, including artworks, books, bric-a-brac, furniture, kitchen ware, plants, pots, tools, sporting goods, toys and games, CDs and
Back on board, briefly
Underachieving
No change with new PM
May I extend a Bravo Zulu message (naval talk for well done) to all your readers. Early this month, a naval reunion at HMAS Cerberus marked the 50th anniversary of the entry of supplementary list RAN midshipmen to HMAS Cerberus, or Flinders Naval Depot. The three individual intakes included those of the seaman, aircrew and supply (logistics) branch. We got to tour our old gun room, now
At the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference in 2009 the world representatives came to the conclusion that in order avoid the disastrous consequences of climate change we must become a society creating low carbon emissions. Australia, as a member of the “haves”, was committed to a reduction of 25 per cent to 40 per cent of emissions by 2020 (four years away). At Paris last year our representatives were
Greg Hunt [Flinders MP and Environment Minister] seems to be still stuck in the Abbott era. His insistence on the proposed disenfranchising of environmental and civil defence groups if they dare to question untenable and sloppy development proposals, show how twisted his vision for the protection of our environment really is. I would suggest our prime minister have an-
Sky rail support
Misquoted
Suicide alarm The latest Australian Bureau of Statistics figures on suicide show this is a national calamity. On the Lifeline Facebook page was reference to the trending up of male suicide figures since 2005 to three quarters of the total, representing 41.5 men a week. The Age had a front page heading mentioning the 12 per cent increase in suicides of younger women (that men were 75 per cent of the total was mentioned on page seven). Suicide Prevention Australia has described suicide as a “human behaviour - a response to unbearable psychological pain”. Lifeline CEO, Pete Schmigel stated: “Devastating is the only way to describe the increase in deaths by suicide in Australia”. Jasmin Newman writes on Facebook that “systems and structures should be working with men, not against them, family court, child support agencies, family violence, and child protective services, and of course financial ruin, homelessness, and helplessness, when they feel everything is taken away from them”. It is time we all realised the huge deficit in management of suicide completions. Tony Nicholl, Mt Eliza Letters to the editor can be sent to The News, PO Box 588, Hastings 3915 or emailed to: team@mpnews.com.au Letters should be kept to a maximum 300 words and include name, address and contact phone number for verification purposes.
The Western Port Whisperer
ALTHOUGH the whispers reached Whisperer HQ a while ago, The Whisperer believes the relationship between Victoria Police, the Shire, the Cerberus Ward Councillor and the State MP for Hastings has reached troubled waters. A war of words is erupting over the effectiveness of CCTV cameras in Hastings at night time. At a recent meeting of bureaucrats and locals, The Whisperer has been reliably informed a local asked a police officer based at Hastings why the cameras weren’t being used for vandalism targetting local buildings. The response: the cameras aren’t fitted with infra-red technology, thus are ineffective at night. This claim was backed by the local councillor. The local pursued the matter with our State MP and the Shire hierarchy, who confirmed the
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cameras have infra-red technology because ‘the cameras are state of the art’. Four hours later, the local in question received a phone call from a different Shire department claiming the initial information given was incorrect, the cameras are not infra- red. This situation is messy as the police member, the local ward councillor and one department of the shire say the cameras are not infra- red, and yet the State Member (whose government funded the cameras) and another Shire department are claiming the cameras are infra- red (capable of night time vision). Either way, this situation leaves questions to be answered. If the cameras are infra-red, why are the police not using them to proactively monitor the streets and prevent/attend when crimes are occurring? And why is the local councillor
backing them? On the other hand, if the cameras are not infra-red, why aren’t they? The community was promised the cameras would make Hastings an “inclusive place where people can feel safe and welcome at all hours” (Western Port News, 8th July 2014). The Whisperer wonders if this infra- red/ not infra- red issue is happening in the Port Phillip townships, or is this just another example of Western Port townships being shafted again. One thing is certain, someone will have a red face after this issue is sorted, probably four or five years down the track! *** ‘THE Climate is changing…and so are we’ proclaim the bumper stickers the propaganda machine at Besgrove Street has created. What a wonderful way to tell everyone you’re
passionate about climate change, by using the earth’s resources to create these. The Whisperer is optimistic he will never see the bumper stickers we want…‘I contacted the Shire... still waiting for a response’. *** IN response to an e-mail The Whisperer received from a business owner who claims to be ‘the real Western Port Whisperer’, this Whisperer would like to advise you the real Mrs Whisperer (the other half of Mr and Mrs Whisperer) enjoys watching The Whisperer suffer fixing the car. Unfortunately, The Whisperer cannot accept your offer to fix the car, as Mrs Whisperer has a mean streak a mile long. *** Heard any Whispers? Let the Whisperer know at: westernportwhisperer@gmail.com