Discussion needed
Having read the letter by Wayne Parkin STN 8.4.16, I feel it necessary for me to respond.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Personally I have many issues I am concerned about being overridden by Council however my point of view has always been respected whenever I have approached them.
The global problems of crippling poverty and refugees cannot be solved easily. I agree wholeheartedly with the argument put forward in the You Tube presentation “Immigration and Gumballs” by Roy Beck: ‘the best way to help those in poverty is to keep them where they are, HELP THEM THERE’. But how do we do that?
Much discussion is needed -The United Nations; the World Bank; the IMF and Trading Partnerships are all key players for solutions. I cannot see a reasonable effective outcome in the near future.
In the meantime in Australia we are living in comparative ease, seen as wealthy by many less fortunate. On a recent trip to Canberra with a 200 strong group of Grandmothers and friends we listened to speeches and agreed Australia’s Refugee Policies are rotten to the core. We were collectively ashamed that our country is so cruelly treating innocent people who have tried to find safe haven here.
NGSC being Refugee Friendly is a small but in my eyes wonderful start to generating a better world for all. I will appreciate further discussion toward finding reasonable solutions for this distressing plight that too many are having to endure.
Rosalind Byass, Stawell
Willing workers
Several weeks ago I observed four young men begin spreading large piles of soil that had been dumped in the grounds of St. Patrick’s Church.
A week or two later these piles were smaller but there were only two of the four men still shovelling. Today I happened to meet these two gentlemen-and I use the word gentlemen very specifically.
They told me they have been part of a Work-For-The-Dole scheme and have turned up every day for the past several weeks and, using only shovels and rakes, have spread a huge amount of dirt which will eventually become part of a landscaped garden between the church and the presbytery. They have also installed the watering system pipes. Both are quiet, polite, hard working men with excellent work ethics and positive can-do attitudes. Meeting them was a refreshing experience.
Through your paper I would like to congratulate them for their persistence with a task that must have initially been quite daunting. If I was a local business looking for a couple of reliable workers, I'd definitely be seeking out these two men and giving them a chance and a fair go. I know Father Eric would endorse my statements.
And by the way, I'm not related to either of them. I'm just mightily impressed. Well done fellas and good luck with finding employment.
Bonnie Carter, Stawell
Tour success
Late last year the Rotary Clubs of Ararat and Stawell conducted a Students' Discovery Tour to Cambodia as a positive alternative to “Schoolies' Week”.
The students who came from schools in Stawell and Ararat bonded together as Team Cambodia 2015 and were excellent young ambassadors for the Australia and did their schools proud. With the two Rotary Clubs they helped raise $12,000 which was allocated to three projects in Cambodia – Friends International in Phnom Penh; Morodok a Cooperative and Development NGO in Sre Ambel and funds to establish a School Library for a Primary School in Sre Ambel.
The team was well led by Ms Carly Garonne who recently got married and we were fortunate to have a Cambodian friend of Carly's, Chanthol join us in Cambodia.and she proved also to be wonderful team leader. As well the students were able to glimpse a view of modern Cambodia and its culture which is recovering from genocide of the Khmer Rouge and the tensions of the Vietnamese occupation.
Visits to the Royal Palace, Tuol Sleng and the Killing Fields followed by a tour of Siem Reap and Angkor Wat helped round a cultural,and historical adventure which they all enjoyed.
Both Rotary Clubs are in the planning stages for Cambodia Team 16 for November and December this year and would love to have the cooperation of the schools in the formation of that team and the fund raising for the above projects, all of which we hope to again visit and support. Mrs Kristine Austin (Stawell) and I will be working together to develop our Tour Plans.
We would like to thank the communities of Ararat, Stawell and Lake Bolac for their support during 2015 and would again seek their support for the humanitarian projects again in 2016.
John Launder, Rotary Club of Stawell
Self praise not on
Council’s latest scheme, a brainstorming event for ideas and now needing a ratepayer survey offering money vouchers as enticement for completing a performance rating.
Maybe council needs a constant reminder on their latest achievements, in the form of an ‘Achievement Theme Park’ built adjacent to the highway but away from the ‘new servo’. Starting with the erection of a giant cucumber, then a safe distance away a statue of Mayor Emerson bending over holding a magnifying glass with the caption “looking for grey matter’.
Then a small pile of crushed rubber with a sign ‘8,999,999 left’. lastly a huge mural of a faded school crossing with the words ‘We were first’. This may reduce the risk of councillors having ‘head explosions’ or self inflicted back injuries from constant slapping. – J Hosken, Stawell