GOVERNMENT AD MISSES THE MARK
To the Editor,
The latest Albanese Government advertising campaign supports the view that tighter regulations are required over government advertising.
Using taxpayer dollars on prime-time television screens, the government is making emotive and inaccurate claims about the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
This expensive campaign is no doubt designed to try and overcome all the negativity around this failing plan, and in particular the genuine concerns of rural communities in relation to water buybacks.
There are pretty pictures of birds which are supposed to be threatened, and parched lands showing the effect of drought, effectively used to stir the emotions. But surely the use of misleading information in this advertisement is a step too far.
For starters, the greatest threat to our food supply is the Basin Plan itself. The plan is removing massive quantities of water from food production, and the only possible result is higher prices at the supermarket and a heavier reliance by Australia on food imports, in contrast to our historic legacy of being a significant exporter. This, of course, will also impact Australia’s balance of trade.
Rivers will not run dry, as the advertisement claims. Under the Basin Plan we are recovering unnecessary volumes of water and storing it in upstream dams, with the resultant increased flood risk to public and private infrastructure when unexpected rain events occur (as we have seen in recent years).
Nor will the current focus of the Basin Plan protect us from fish kills, because these are predominantly in the Darling River system and the stored water is in the Upper Murray. You cannot use stored Murray water to fix problems in the Darling.
So, rather than trying to hoodwink Australians with falsehoods, the Albanese Government would be better served by trying to work with communities and improve this failing Basin Plan. On the present path, the plan will leave a sad legacy for future generations as it adversely impacts food security while at the same time not maximising environmental outcomes.
Yours faithfully,
Sue Braybon
Tocumwal, NSW
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY
Our community is full of extraordinary women doing amazing things.
So often we see women whose achievements, leadership, and contributions don’t get the recognition they deserve.
International Women’s Day is this Friday, and it’s the perfect opportunity to celebrate the work women do to better the lives of people in their community, work and homes.
Every woman’s success should be an inspiration to another. We are the strongest when we support each other.
I’ve thankfully always had strong female role models in my life that showed me the possibilities available to women, and that has been incredibly empowering.
With that being said, there are still barriers for women, particularly in rural and regional areas.
Extreme childcare shortages are keeping women in more traditional roles, with women often having to sacrifice employment opportunities to be a full-time caregiver.
Maternal health is another challenging area for women in our communities.
Everyone deserves safe healthcare close to their home but sadly this is not always an option.
Thank you to all the wonderful women in our community and happy International Women’s Day.
Annabelle Cleeland MP,
Member for Euroa
PRIVATE SCHOOL SPENDING
Government spending in private schools has continued to be a contentious issue amongst advocates across the political spectrum, however I feel that the magnitude of this issue has been highlighted by a report commissioned by the Australian Education Union.
With one single private school in Sydney spending more than $63M on new buildings, a staggering amount which totals more than Victoria’s government spending on all capital works across the state.
While my position would never to be to abolish the ability for private schools to exist, it should be a bipartisan issue that private schools should not receive taxpayer dollars when they already charge exorbitant fees, or have other funding pathways.
Funding inequity across schools is a concerning and growing issue across the nation, we see elite private schools purchasing land for experiential learning’ – which effectively means providing a private camping experience away from the public – while many public schools struggle to provide the basic fundamental support for their students to learn in healthy and stable conditions.
Malfunctioning on non-existent cooling systems, seemingly permanent portable classrooms and staff shortages have plagued the public education system.
Public schools are so underfunded that barely over one per cent are fully funded, compared to practically all private schools meeting the fully funded standard.
Allowing free-market mechanisms to work for those who choose to send their children to religious, or specialist private schools is certainly a valuable tool, however where government funding is concerned the private education market is not a market failure for our elected officials to be concerned with fixing.
However, without proper funding there is a clear failure in the provision of funding for government schools, we are well and truly overdue for proper funding practices to provide every student in society with the support they need to achieve in school and beyond.
Sincerely,
Rowan
Mooroopna
