Rail system
After the recent track work in Sydney on May 13 and 14. I feel we should debate out the proposed three weeks' straight of track work, that was cancelled, which would have resulted in Blue Mountains trains terminating at Penrith and an extra 50 minutes travelling in both directions for commuters. Katoomba is a two hour train trip to Sydney.
Now did this decision have anything to due with next year's state election? Can our local member of parliament, Bob Debus, honestly tell us the 2007 poll had nothing to do with this decision by Rail Corp?
Last year, a similar mid week track work, not as bad as the recent projected work, now annulled, cause grief and hardship to many regular commuters. Did that go ahead because it was two years away from an election?
Since 1988, both major parties have butchered our once great, world-class rail system. The major parties have done their best ruin the railways. The Liberals supported the ALP's privatising of the profitable rail freight system and handed it on a platter to Chris Corrigan's Pacific National.
With the rising price of petrol, $1.42 a litre, tourist economies, such as the Blue Mountains, have been hit hard by people not being able to afford to drive up from Sydney; no one can afford the petrol for driving long distances. And there's the pollution from cars, including greenhouse gases and the subsequent climate change. Our railways need to be revitalised and expanded. This can be a lifeline to rural Australia with more passenger services crossing the
mountains for central west towns such as Lithgow Mudgee, Bathurst, and Orange.
Some one will say, "Where is the money going to come from?" We pay our taxes and by our train tickets! How much of our taxes have been given to Macquarie Bank for freeways? That has become nothing more than gridlocked, car parks. While our public transport has been run into the ground? Is it a surprise to anyone that former premier Bob Carr is an adviser to Macquarie Bank.
John Tognolini
Katoomba, NSW [Abridged]
Murals
The controversial murals of Che Guevara and Mike D, painted on a private building in Wentworth Falls, have been painted over by the owner, under pressure from the Blue Mountains City Council and a tiny number of vocal right-wingers. According to knowledgable sources, the owners "voluntarily" destroyed the murals exactly one month after they received a council notice ordering them to either remove the murals within 30 days or lodge a "retrospective DA" at a cost of $165!
The murals, which were visible from the Great Western Highway, were painted by aerosol artist Dan Lualdi with the permission of the building's owners. The original order to destroy the art was made after the BMCC received a complaint from "a resident". Lualdi described the order by the BMCC as "mass censorship" and pointed out that he had had many positive reactions to the giant portraits. That it was the political content of the murals that the "resident" and the BMCC found objectionable seemed to be confirmed by a council spokesperson, who told the April 5 Blue Mountains Gazette: "The owner could legitimately have a different mural painted on the wall."
Lualdi pointed to the hypocrisy of the council's decision: "There are billboards everywhere that are sexist and offensive, yet these two murals are deemed offensive by somebody and ordered to be removed. I just don't get it and I am interested in what other people think."
Following the council's clumsy attempt to censor the murals, the BMCC and the Gazette were deluged with outraged letters protesting the attempt and defending the right of free expression in the mountains. An online opinion poll conducted by the Gazette, in which more than 350 people have voted so far, revealed that more than 80% oppose the murals' destruction, with just 13% in support.
Even though the BMCC's bureaucratic intimidation and disregard for free speech has succeeded, let's tell the council that it is unacceptable and should never be repeated. Please send an email to the BMCC at < council@bmcc.nsw.gov.au> condemning the BMCC's censorship. Send a letter to the Blue Mountains Gazette atA HREF="mailto: Terry Townsend In Sydney on May 23, Cindy Sheehan mentioned a planned "evict Bush and Cheney" protest action on September 23. She called on Americans to surround the White House and demand their eviction.
Evict Bush and Cheney on September 23 by all means. But the problem is, who will replace them? Who will the new tenants be? We blame "our" leaders but the real causes, are the corporations behind them, the system they represent.
Boot them out, a temporary regime change, and the shit will surely hit the fan. But only for a little while. The insidiousness of the system will be hard to beat.
Boot them out, now, get the soldiers home now. And when the soldiers are back, they too can join in, to boot out whoever the rotten replacements are.
The real target is the system. Boot it out, and let Castro and Chavez govern by proxy, until Americans learn what true democracy is.
And we have to do the same in Australia, and the UK, and wherever in the world the rottenness of capitalism is, until the evil that puts our morality to sleep, is buried forever. Grow as a society that values lives.
Sheehan showed us what boot camp really is, in Crawford, Texas. It's just the beginning. Booting them out, is a hard and long, slog. But we have started now.
Niko Leka There is a disturbing shortage of liberals in the Liberal and National parties. First, Amanda Vanstone objected to resettling West Papuan refugees in Australia, rather than another country, because the refugees might organise protests against Indonesia. Now, De-Anne Kelly has added, "We don't want them here, they're troublemakers".
If, for any reason, any person wishes to publicly express their dissatisfaction with any government, good luck to them. Those who incite unjustified violence, in Australia or overseas, should be liable to prosecution; but, beyond that, free speech should prevail. And we should not presume that individuals will break the law before they have done so.
The proposition that refugees fleeing a nearby country should not be welcome in Australia just because they might engage in political activism against the government which allowed their mistreatment is shameful.
Brent Howard The newly elected socialist Bolivian government's nationalisation of its gas fields is not so radical an idea. It follows Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's lead in exercising his nation's right to appropriate its resources for the benefit of its citizens. Venezuela now gets 35% royalties from its oil to spend on social problems like bringing health care, education including free university education, housing and food to its poor. Venezuela is the envy of Latin America because of these social programs with Chavez enjoying the support of over 80% of the population.
Contrast this with royalties of less than 5% from Australia's oil and gas contracts with the multinationals. While most Australian profits go to offshore shareholders we are giving away the resources that rightly belong to all Australians now and for future generations. As Alan Bond said about the Barrow Island contracts, the least we should have got was a northern university and trades college in Karratha, a railway line to Perth and even a water pipeline form the Kimberley which would have secured Australia's future sustainability forever.
Dr Colin Hughes From Green Left Weekly, May 31, 2006.
Katoomba, NSW
Evict Bush?
Mayfield, NSW
Refugees
Rydalmere, NSW
Oil and gas
Glen Forrest, WA
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