Frank Hardy
It was great to read Frank Enright's well justified tribute to Frank Hardy in your issue of Feb 9th. I was most surprised to read that when he rang prominent people from the CPA they declined to comment, "I couldn't think of anything nice to say"!!! Who were they?
I was in the Party in Melbourne for 20 years, I was always active though not one of the "prominent people" but I could easily find a dozen things to say in Frank Hardy's favour, and for the reasons, it is not necessary to look further than Frank Enright's article, starting with "He was implacably opposed to injustice and fought it wherever he found it".
His prolonged and strenuous support for the Gurindji people at Wave Hill when they took strike action against the mighty British leaseholders Vestey's is well known, together with the North West Workers Union victory which was achieved and a blow for Land Rights was struck. Additionally the late and much lamented Prof Fred Hollows was then alerted to the chronic conditions of Aborigines going blind from cataract and he pioneered the use of intraocular lenses to restore their sight. Frank Hardy and Fred Hollows were mates. He would have had much in common with Henry Lawson.
I'm unconcerned about those who were absent from the gathering in Melbourne at the Collingwood Town Hall on February 4th for "A Celebration of the Life of Frank Hardy", it was a privilege to be present on an historic occasion. The hall holds 1000 and there was standing room only. Of all the tributes, I liked best the reminder that "He always remained true to his class".
Norman Taylor
Henley Beach SA
Population
The issues of refugees, migration, population and the environment are clearly worthy of serious discussion. Diana Evans' letter (GLW #132), unfortunately, does not rise above the level of hysterical abuse. Does Australians for an Ecologically Sustainable Population have members capable of discussing the issue calmly?
Richard Ingram
Sydney
Woomera
There is a simple answer to Woomera's current identity crisis.
The world's accessible sources of fossil fuels are due to run out in about 50 years.
Nuclear power is not only dangerous and unhealthy, it is also inefficient. According to economist Richard Douthwaite, deducting the amount of energy used to build a nuclear power station (including mining and manufacturing building materials), to mine and process the uranium, to dispose of the waste produced and to decommission it when it reaches the end of its operational life, leaves little if any net energy produced!
Solar energy is the most viable alternative, and what better place to become Australia's solar energy capital than Woomera.
Imagine arrays of photovoltaic cells generating electricity so cheap that Australia's manufacturing industries could undercut the international competition without reducing the wages or conditions of their workers.
Long before the world's natural gas supplies run out, Australia could have stolen much of the world market with its non-polluting alternative — solar energy-produced hydrogen.
The world's leading authority on solar hydrogen energy, J. O'M. Brockis, was based at Flinders University in the mid-seventies but left for the United States in disgust at the South Australian government's lack of interest in turning South Australia into the word's first hydrogen economy. Sir Mark Oliphant's passionate advocacy for this technology also fell on deaf ears.
In 1990, Halifax Eco-City Project architect Paul Downton first presented the idea that solar hydrogen energy could provide the economic base for a future Ecopolis (city in balance with nature) Woomera.
A conversion from defence to energy technology would not only make it Australia's fastest growing boom town, it would also regenerate the ailing Australian economy.
David Munn
Adelaide
South Australia
AESP
Marina Carman in her "Viewpoint" piece (GLW #131) is critical of the Australians for an Ecological Sustainable Population organisation and Dr. Paul Ehrlich due to what she perceives they are about in regard to solutions to our environmental crisis.
She states that their primary concern is to "limit population, particularly in the third world". If I can quote from the AESP brochure regarding their aims it might clear up that misconception:
"Australia's growth rate of 1.4% is one of the highest in the OECD countries. A bit more than half comes from natural increase and the rest from immigration. The damage to our continent cannot be arrested or reduced while governments pursue growth of population and per capita consumption. If we maintain a growth rate of 1.4% our population will double in 50 years. We believe Australia must stabilise its own population as well as promote policies which will lead to stabilisation of world population."
Hardly the words of an organisation designed to limit population "particularly in the third world" as Carman suggests.
Ehrlich as well should be quoted in his defence:
"Population control in both rich and poor nations is absolutely essential. If that were achieved and the rich chose to restrain themselves and to help the poor, the remaining nonrenewable resources could be used to build a bridge to a sustainable future. (The Population Explosion, 1990 p 44)
Carman acknowledges that overpopulation is a problem and cites the "reasons" for it. She neglects completely however First World overpopulation and in doing so is guilty of exactly what she accuses the AESP and Ehrlich with.
Carman states that "we have enough food, resources and technology to provide for all the world's population and even cope with an increase". This is a sweeping statement that I'm sure even Carman would have trouble backing up with the facts.
Carman also writes that it is farcical to suggest limiting immigration as a solution to world environment problems like pollution, the ozone layer etc. She's right and that's why the AESP don't suggest it as a solution. The AESP is a very specific organisation and one of the things they recommend in solving the overpopulation problem is immigration restrictions. It is part of a solution to the overpopulation problem which is part of the environment crisis as Carman herself acknowledges.
Perhaps before Carman comments in Viewpoint next time she might do a bit more research than listening to a brief interview on the radio where concision factors are a major consideration.
The article was headed "Population: no simplistic solutions". The AESP and people like the Ehrlichs agree and that is why they don't offer simplistic solutions but genuine workable ideas that offer real solutions.
Pete Johnson
Norman Park Qld
Port Macquarie hospital
Just before the State election in April '91, the people of Port Macquarie and the Hastings were promised a brand new public base hospital by their local MP Ms Machin and the Greiner Government. It is history now that as soon as the election was over, so was the issue of the new hospital.
As a consequence our public hospital is being closed down and a new private hospital is being built. This private hospital is to be run by a $2 shelf company, called Port Macquarie Base Hospital Pty Ltd. This company is wholly owned by Mayne Nickless, as is Health Care of Australia (HCOA), who own and run the only other hospital in the town. The local people are extremely concerned about the creation of this monopoly in health care, particularly as there is no other hospital that they have access to.
ICAC, in its Report on Unauthorised Release of Government Information (Aug 92), said that Mayne Nickless was "found to have engaged in conduct liable to allow, encourage or cause the occurrence of corrupt conduct." It was shown that Mayne Nickless management illegally accessed Government files to do pre employment checks.
This disdain for the law and ethical behaviour by management has to leave people of Port Macquarie very nervous indeed. Mayne Nickless through their subsidiaries, HCOA and PMBH Pty Ltd, will have full access to all health records of the people of the Hastings and Port Macquarie. They will have access to all mental health records; it looks at this stage as if they will be also given Community Health to run, and if they are they will have full access to all social workers records.
It is incumbent on the Fahey Government, the Health Minister Ron Phillips and most importantly our National Party MP Wendy Machin to look at this issue very seriously and ensure that the people of our area are not placed in the disgraceful position of being concerned about how their medical records may be used or misused.
One way of ensuring this is for the Health Department to allow the Hospital Action Group full access to the 18 contracts for the privatisation of our public hospital. We have been trying for over a year now to access this vital information. So far Ron Phillips as Health Minister has refused us access to these documents because he says they are commercially sensitive. One has to wonder.
Therese Mackay
Port Macquarie NSW
[Edited for length.]